College football Week 8 overreactions: Penn State’s issues run deep

Penn State was justified in its decision to fire coach James Franklin. Though the Nittany Lions’ precipitous fall midway through the 2025 season catalyzed the move, discontent had been brewing for a while due to Franklin’s persistent inability to deliver in big moments. 

At the same time, Penn State may have also put itself in some rather rough waters with its decision to fire Franklin. Not only are the Nittany Lions on the hook for one of the largest buyouts in college football history — unless another school hires Franklin which is, admittedly, likely — but a lot of their top options to fill the vacancy are looking like busts. 

Take Nebraska’s Matt Rhule, for example. He played linebacker at Penn State. He got his coaching career started as a volunteer assistant at Penn State. He has deep connections in Pennsylvania from his time as an assistant, and then as the coach at Temple. 

As soon as the Penn State job came open, he emerged as the most common-sense choice. Rhule’s a proven program builder with a verified track record of success at Temple and Baylor. 

Then his 25th-ranked Huskers lost 24-6 to unranked Minnesota on Friday. Maybe that game saved Penn State from making a massive mistake. Rhule hasn’t fared much better than Franklin in big games throughout his career, after all. 

There’s also Manny Diaz, who was the defensive coordinator at Penn State from 2022-23. He’s done a fine job at Duke, but the Blue Devils dropped to 4-3 on the year with Saturday’s loss to No. 12 Georgia Tech. Diaz’s previous tenure at Miami also provided significant evidence that he wouldn’t be enough of an upgrade to justify moving on from Franklin in the first place. 

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti just signed an extension with the Hoosiers, further culling Penn State’s possibilities. Other choices will surely emerge as the year wears on, and Penn State has the resources to take a big swing. Looking at you, Eli Drinkwitz of Mizzou. 

But the competition for coaches is about to heat up. It feels like Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell and Florida’s Billy Napier are on borrowed time. Those are two huge vacancies. Auburn’s Hugh Freeze is in hot water, and it’s not clear what the future holds for LSU and Brian Kelly at the moment. Florida State’s Mike Norvell has work to do to cool his seat off, though his gargantuan buyout may preclude the Seminoles from making a move if he’s able to stay above .500. 

The point is, Penn State isn’t going to be the only notable vacancy during the 2025-26 coaching carousel. Other desirable schools are going to join it very soon and with each name that drops off the board, an upgrade over Franklin becomes less likely. 

Tennessee is headed in the wrong direction 

Don’t read that and think it’s saying Tennessee needs to fire Josh Heupel or anything like that; the Vols coach has done tremendous work in Knoxville. He pulled the program out of its darkest decade and has completely reset the standard in less than five years. 

He’s the best coach Tennessee has had on the sidelines since Phillip Fulmer, but he’s going to have to make some tough decisions after this season if he wants to prevent what he’s built from tumbling down. 

The 2025 Vols are a fundamentally bad football team. That doesn’t mean they’ll have a bad season. They still have enough talent to beat most opponents and finish well above the six-win cutoff to make a bowl game. But this isn’t a squad that should be anywhere near the 12-team College Football Playoff, which is the bar that Heupel has established over the last few seasons. 

Tennessee struggles with some of the most basic football concepts. In Saturday’s loss to Alabama, the Vols allowed touchdowns drives of 91 and 99 yards. Quarterback Joey Aguilar also threw a 99-yard pick six on a poorly designed goal line play at the end of the second quarter that all but doomed Tennessee’s hopes of walking out of Tuscaloosa with its first win since 2003. 

Defensively, the Vols cannot tackle. On one play, Tennessee ‘s defense had Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard dead to rights 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Bernard broke at least five tackles en route to an 18-yard gain. 

Tennessee’s wide receiver corps — talented on paper — is plagued with horrible drops. Tackling and catching are two major sore spots that severely limit Tennessee’s upside. They’re also two core tenets of a functional team. 

Heupel is loyal to his coaches, but a lot of the same units are consistently underperforming. After Tim Banks’ defense carried Tennessee last year, it’s been a liability this season. Outside of 2024, Banks has largely underperformed in his role as defensive coordinator. Though he’s recruited well, Tennessee’s wide receivers have consistently floundered under coach Kelsey Pope’s tutelage. 

Discipline in road games also remains an issue. Tennessee had nine penalties for 63 yards against Alabama. That’s a poor reflection of Heupel himself. 

Change has to be made if Tennessee and Heupel want to ensure that 2024’s playoff appearance wasn’t a flash in the pan. 

Georgia Tech is winning the ACC

Maybe that isn’t a scorching-hot take given the Yellow Jackets are bound to be the highest-ranked ACC program in Sunday’s AP Top 25 poll, but there’s still a long way to go. I’ll put myself out a little further, though: Georgia Tech is going to enter the postseason 12-0. 

The Yellow Jackets will undoubtedly be favored in their next four games. Only half of their opponents in the coming month have a winning record, and NC State is just barely above that mark. 

Tech’s real test comes in Week 14 when it plays host to interconference rival Georgia. The ninth-ranked Bulldogs stormed to 6-1 with a big win over Ole Miss in Week 8, but they aren’t the unstoppable goliath that we’re used to Kirby Smart putting on the field. 

This Georgia team is fallible. Tech will stamp itself as one of the nation’s best in the final weekend and ride that momentum to its first ACC crown since 2009. 

Ty Simpson will go No. 1 overall in 2026

Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson’s draft stock certainly benefits from a largely disappointing crop of 2026 quarterbacks, but he’d be the favorite to go No. 1 overall in a normal year. He’s playing like a longtime NFL starter with Pro Bowl upside in his first season leading Alabama’s offense. 

Simpson logged his fifth game of the year with at least 250 yards passing in Alabama’s victory against Tennessee. He also led touchdown drives of 99 and 75 yards in the second half to help his team maintain a comfortable lead. He showed tremendous poise and composure no matter the situation. 

He’s second in the SEC with 1,931 yards passing, and he touts 18 touchdowns through the air. Simpson has also thrown just one interception all season long. 

It’s obvious that he’s a coach’s son given his advanced ability to process the game and carve defenses apart. Combine that with his natural talent — Simpson’s ball placement at every level of the field is outstanding — and he’s going to make a QB-needy NFL franchise very happy. 

Willie Fritz is the most underrated coach in the nation

Houston’s Willie Fritz deserves to be a household name. In an era where everyone wants quick results and overnight turnaround, Fritz is a testament to patience in the process.  

He made a lasting impact at Tulane, where he matched a program record with 12 wins in 2022 while winning 23 games over his last two seasons. He inherited a three-win Houston team last season and matched that total in conference play, though the final record left plenty to be desired. 

Now, a year removed from that 4-8 showing, Houston is gunning for its first double-digit win season since 2021. The Cougars improved to 6-1 with their Week 8 triumph against Arizona. They’ve got tough games at Arizona State and at home against TCU coming up, but Fritz’s one-year turnaround is already remarkable. 

It’s nothing new, though. The 65-year-old Fritz is just that good.