These were the 10 most impressive and impactful performances around college football in Week 8.
Another Saturday, another dramatic shakeup to the national rankings as three more top 10 teams and seven ranked teams in all lost in Week 8.
There are just three undefeated teams remaining across the FBS level in No. 1-ranked Miami, No. 6 Utah and No. 7 UCLA — all 7-0.
The big upsets of the week came thanks to some superlative individual performances, but the TeamFB7 Game Balls Committee combed through every game across the country to find the 10 most deserving recipients this week.
More than 30 names hit the initial list this week before siphoning down to the 10 final Game Ball recipients and an honorable mentions list that was arguably just as deserving.
GO TO: No. 1 | No. 2A | No. 2B | No. 4 | No. 5 | No. 6 | No. 7 | No. 8 | No. 9 | No. 10 | HMs
Here’s a look back at the best performances around college football in Week 8.
1. FAU WR Easton Messer
One of the wildest games of Week 8 was a shootout to the finish in FAU’s 51-49 win over Rice.
Naturally, the box score was full of some eye-popping stat lines (and two in fact make the Game Balls list), but the most outstanding performance of them all was FAU wide receiver Easton Messer.
He had 12 catches for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns while also adding 2 rushing TDs and an 82-yard punt return TD.
That’s right — 5 total TDs and 262 all-purpose yards in a narrow 2-point win. It doesn’t get any more impactful than that!
Per ESPN, Messer is the only FBS player in the last 20 seasons with 2 rushing TDs, 2 receiving TDs and a punt return TD in the same game. Incredible.
The punt return score came with 3:37 left in the fourth quarter and proved decisive as it pushed FAU’s lead to 51-42 before Rice tacked on a final touchdown.
Messer is no stranger to loaded stat lines, though, and now has 58 catches for 709 yards and 10 totals TDs this season — including 2 punt return scores now — coming off his first 1,000-yard campaign last year for FAU.
2A. LSU QB Sam Leavitt
To be blunt, Sam Leavitt hasn’t performed up to the expectations that came with his high-profile transfer to LSU to be the face of Lane Kiffin‘s new Tigers offense. Not overall, at least.
But the last two weeks have sure looked a lot different for the veteran QB.
After throwing interceptions in each of LSU’s first six games, Leavitt has been sharp the last two games while throwing for 676 yards, 7 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in wins. That included his best game of the season in Week 8 at Auburn, as he completed 32 of 45 passes for 387 yards, 3 TDs and rushed for 54 yards and a score in a 38-17 win that snapped LSU’s eight-game SEC road losing streak.
THAT is the quarterback LSU fans were expecting when the Tigers landed the former Arizona State signal-caller.
The completions and passing yards were career-highs for Leavitt, who joined Joe Burrow as the only LSU QBs with back-to-back 30-completion games. He led the Tigers to scores on five of their six first-half drives to build a 31-10 halftime lead.
Overall, Leavitt has now passed for 2,173 yards, 17 TDs and 8 INTs while rushing for 324 yards and 8 scores for a 6-2 LSU team now ranked 15th.
Because this performance came on the road against an Auburn team that had just stunned then-No. 1 Georgia on the road the previous week, we’re giving Leavitt the slightest nod above the next entry on the list …
2B. Miami QB Darian Mensah and WR Malachi Toney
It’s often too hard to separate these two Heisman Trophy candidates because as exceptional as Malachi Toney is as a playmaker, Darian Mensah commands his own spotlight each week with his elite efficiency and top-end production.
Such was the case in Miami’s 52-23 win over Pittsburgh in Week 8.
Toney set a Miami single-game record with 16 receptions — breaking his own mark of 13 — while totaling 194 yards and 3 TDs. More impressive, he had 12 catches for 159 yards and 2 TDs in the first half alone as the top-ranked Hurricanes built a 31-7 lead.
If ever there was a performance that merited the full spotlight from a Miami win … but Mensah was simply too good (again) to stay in the background.
The QB completed 31 of 37 passes for 387 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs, marking the fifth time in seven games that he’s completed at least 83% of his passes.
By the way, this was one of Mensah’s incompletions Saturday!
How about this for perspective — Mensah leads the FBS in completion percentage at 81.4% while no other quarterback in the country is even at 75%. Overall, Mensah has passed for 2,151 yards (fourth nationally in passing yards per game), 22 TDs (second nationally) and just 1 INT (plus 2 rushing TDs) for the undefeated No. 1 team in college football.
In almost any other season, he’d be the clear Heisman Trophy favorite, and yet he and Toney are splitting the vote a bit — with the second and third-best Heisman odds, respectively, behind Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith (per DraftKings Sportsbook).
Toney is up to 66 receptions (8 more than any other WR in college football) for 952 yards (third nationally) and 11 TDs (also third).
4. Cincinnati RB Cole Tabb and DB MJ Cannon
One of the big upsets of Week 8 was unranked Cincinnati taking it to then-No. 8 Texas Tech, handing the Red Raiders their first loss, 37-24.
A Game Ball is in the mail to Cincinnati, but it’s going to have two names on it because — again — we’d be remiss to leave off either.
Running back Cole Tabb led the offense with a career-high 173 rushing yards and a TD on just 16 carries (10.8 YPC) along with a short receiving TD. His 58-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter essentially sealed the win for the Bearcats, putting them up 37-18.
Making his performance especially notable, Tabb is the first player to rush for 100 yards vs. Texas Tech since the final week of the 2024 season.
Meanwhile, safety MJ Cannon keyed the defensive effort and made a major impact with 8 tackles, a forced fumble, an interception and a pass breakup.
The forced fumble came near midfield on Texas Tech’s first possession after QB Will Hammond had picked up the first down on fourth-and-1 before Cannon jarred the ball free. The Bearcats recovered, leading to a short 18-yard field goal drive.
His interception really swung the game, though. Late in the third quarter, Cannon picked off Hammond at the Cincinnati 25-yard line and the Bearcats parlayed that momentum into a 5-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to push their lead to 24-6 and really break the game open.
5. UCF QB Keyone Jenkins
After three up-and-down seasons at FIU, Keyone Jenkins transferred to UCF despite coming in as an expected backup, with the program also landing prolific James Madison QB transfer Alonza Barnett III.
When Barnett suffered a significant hamstring injury in Week 2, Jenkins got his shot and initially struggled. But he’s built momentum in recent weeks, even in losses to ranked Houston and Oklahoma State teams.
And then came his shining moment Saturday night as Jenkins led the way in the biggest upset of the week with unranked UCF stunning undefeated No. 2 BYU 39-31 in double-overtime.
Jenkins completed 25 of 41 passes for a season-high 293 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs while rushing for 35 yards and a score.
He came up with plenty of big throws along the way while 2 of his touchdowns came in overtime to finish the job.
After BYU opened the extra period with a touchdown, Jenkins wasted no time tying it up on the Knights’ first play of overtime — a 25-yard TD pass to Josh Derry. In the second overtime, UCF initially settled for a field goal before a roughing the kicker penalty gave it a first down. Jenkins capitalized with a short TD toss to Grayson Brousseau and tight 2-point conversion throw to Tyren Hornes. BYU was unable to match on the other end.
Before all that, Jenkins and the Knights nearly finished the game in regulation before this bonkers series of events:
It is UCF’s first-ever win over a top 5 opponent and its first win over a ranked opponent period since 2023.
This week, Knights coach Scott Frost announced Jenkins will keep the starting job even when Barnett is cleared to return.
6. Rice QB Gael Ochoa
How about this for a cool story?
Quarterback Gael Ochoa finished two seasons at UNLV without a single pass attempt and -3 rushing yards. He transferred to Rice, where he spent the first half of the season as a little-used backup before starter Jacurri Brown was forced to miss the team’s Week 8 game with an ankle injury.
In goes Ochoa, who proceeds to rush for 259 yards and 4 TDs on just 12 attempts (a whopping 21.6 YPC) while also throwing for 80 yards and a TD (just 2 completions on 5 attempts) in that wild 51-49 loss to FAU.
It’s mighty hard to crack the Game Balls list in a loss, but Ochoa found a way.
On the third play from scrimmage, his first rushing attempt of the game, he broke off a 55-yard touchdown for Rice. He didn’t attempt another run until seven plays into the Owls’ second possession and took that one 52 yards for a score.
In the second quarter, he ripped off a 74-yard touchdown run to keep Rice in the game, down 23-21.
And at the end of the third quarter, after Rice subbed in another QB, Patrick Crayton, for the previous series, Ochoa returned to the field and rumbled for a 69-yard TD to cut the FAU lead to 44-42.
Late in the fourth quarter, FAU again brought Crayton in before switching back to Ochoa mid-series as the QB promptly delivered a 71-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass to Braylen Walker on the next play to cut the FAU lead to 51-49.
After Rice’s defense forced a punt, the Owls nearly stole the game while driving to the FAU 37 before missing a potential game-winning 55-yard field goal with less than a minute to go.
Per ESPN, Ochoa is the first FBS player with four rushing TDs of at least 50 yards in a game since at least 2004.
So, no, Rice didn’t win — losing for the seventh straight game to drop to 1-7 — but Ochoa delivered an unforgettable performance.
He finished 6 yards shy of Rice’s single-game rushing record and set the new top mark for rushing yards in game in the FBS this season.
7. North Texas RB Jahiem White and WR Justin Stevenson
North Texas is rolling with four straight wins after scoring a 49-39 win over Navy in Week 8.
There was plenty of offense to go around on both sides, but the Mean Green’s top two playmakers shared the starring role and now a spot on the Game Balls list.
Running back Jahiem White, the prodigious West Virginia transfer, rushed for 174 yards and 2 TD while adding 4 catches for 58 yards, while wide receiver Justin Stevenson had 8 catches for 209 yards and 2 scores.
White’s 59-yard TD scamper in the fourth quarter accounted for the final points of the game and helped seal the win, while Stevenson’s TDs also came on big strikes of 45 and 53 yards.
This is nothing new for White, who is having a career year in his first season at North Texas with 861 rushing yards (sixth-most nationally and already more than his previous best of 845 in 2024), 27 catches for 250 yards (both also career-highs) and 13 total TDs (ditto). It’s quite a return for White after he sustained a season-ending knee injury early last fall at WVU.
Stevenson, who had just 17 catches for 204 yards and 3 TDs in two years at Wyoming and then didn’t record any stats while appearing in five games for Utah last season, is enjoying a late-career breakout. He’s up to 41 catches for 662 yards and 7 TDs this year.
8. Colorado State QB Hauss Hejny
Colorado State had lost four straight games without QB Hauss Hejny, who sustained a hamstring injury in the first quarter of a Week 3 loss to BYU and then missed the next three games entirely.
To say his return last week was impactful for the Rams would be quite an understatement.
Hejny completed 24 of 31 passes for 333 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT and rushed for 85 yards and 2 scores to lead Colorado State to a 56-49 win over San Diego State and snap the losing skid.
Hejny did have 2 turnovers, including a lost fumble, but he more than made up for it and put the game out of reach with a 30-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter that gave the Rams a 56-42 lead.
The QB, playing for his third school in three years after stops at TCU and Oklahoma State, set career-highs for completions and passing yards while the 85 rushing yards tied his career-best set earlier this season.
9. Toledo QB John Alan Richter
Toledo’s John Alan Richter makes his second appearance on the Game Balls list this season while leading the Rockets to one of the biggest wins of Week 8 at the Group of Six level.
Toledo topped Western Michigan 45-38 in a pivotal MAC showdown, forcing a four-way tie in the conference standings at 3-1 (including both of these teams) all chasing Ohio (6-2, 4-0).
Given the weight of the win and Richter’s stat line, he earned his spot here after completing 29 of 41 passes for 393 yards, 3 TDs and an INT plus a rushing TD.
Toledo (6-2, 3-1) blew a 31-14 lead with Western Michigan tying the game 38-38 in the fourth quarter. Richter then immediately led a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to take back the lead for good, passing for 61 yards on that drive before CJ Miller rushed in for the TD.
Richter, a fourth-year junior getting his first chance as the full-fledged starter, has thrown for 2,244 yards, 17 TDs and 2 INTs.
We’ll let Richter take the game ball in this one but also spotlight Miller’s big game, rushing 33 times for 183 yards and a TD.
10. Ohio LB Michael Molnar and S Darren James-Hamilton
Did we go overboard with the shared Game Balls this time? Yes, yes we did. Consider it an anomaly, but again, these two deserve it.
Ohio held on for a narrow 24-20 win over Eastern Michigan to remain unbeaten in conference play — their first 4-0 start in MAC play since 1997! — and now in sole possession of first place in the league.
And it can thank linebacker Michael Molnar and safety/return specialist Darren James-Hamilton for that.
Molnar had a career-high 18 tackles with 4 tackles for loss, including a sack, and James-Hamilton had an interception on defense and a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown for the go-ahead score with 3:40 left in the fourth quarter — coming immediately after Eastern Michigan had taken a 20-17 lead.
Honorable Mentions
Oklahoma State QB Drew Mestemaker: We’d feel bad about leaving Mestemaker off the Game Balls list if he hadn’t made it so many times already the last two seasons, but he certainly deserved it again after passing for 386 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs in a 57-24 win over Colorado. It was his sixth straight 300-yard passing performance and just 3 yards off his season-high. Overall, he’s thrown for 2,326 yards (second-most in the FBS), 20 TDs and 6 INTs.
Buffalo RB Messiah Burch: Burch notched his fifth straight 100-yard rushing game with a career-high 184 yards and 3 TDs on 33 carries in a 31-24 win over Bowling Green. His 73-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter broke the game open and gave Buffalo a 10-point lead. The senior has 845 rushing yards to rank ninth at the FBS level.
Boston College CB Charlie Comella and QB Mason McKenzie: Comella had 2 interceptions, including a 47-yard pick-6 in the fourth quarter of Boston College’s 49-27 win at Georgia Tech. McKenzie rushed for 170 yards and 2 scores while passing for 101 yards, 1 TD and 0 INTs. The Eagles are 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the ACC after finishing last season 2-10 (1-7).
Delaware QB Nick Minicucci: Minicucci completed 20 of 29 passes for 225 yards, 5 TDs and 1 INT and added a rushing TD for 6 total scores in Delaware’s 61-38 win over Missouri State.
Arizona State RB Cardae Mack: The true freshman is starting to break out, now with two 150-yard rushing performances in the last three weeks. He set new highs with 26 carries for 159 yards and 4 TDs in ASU’s 28-17 win over Kansas State.
Oklahoma WR Isaiah Sategna III: Sategna is always a big play waiting to happen stuck in a limited Oklahoma offensive attack, but he broke out for his best game of the season with 8 catches for 164 yards and a TD along with 24 rushing yards in a 23-15 road win at Mississippi State.
LSU WR Jackson Harris: Harris has really come on strong for the Tigers with 7 TDs in the last five games, and he had his best game of the season in that win over Auburn with 9 catches for 178 yards and 2 TDs, including a 70-yard score.
New Mexico State RB James Jones: Jones rushed for a career-high 178 yards and a TD on 27 carries in New Mexico State’s 30-24 win over Sam Houston State.
Kent State QB Dru DeShields and WR Wayne Harris: DeShields passed for 294 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs and rushed for 28 yards and a score in Kent State’s 35-20 win over Akron. Harris was his top target with 9 catches for 156 yards and 3 TDs.
Middle Tennessee State K Dominic Bourgeois, Army K Dawson Jones, Oklahoma State K Sam Keltner and Appalachian State K James London: That’s right, a little respect for the kickers this week. Bourgeois was 4-4 on field goals in a 26-23 win over FIU, connecting from 51, 39, 50 and 28 yards. … Jones kicked the game-winning 50-yard FG as time expired on a wild finish in Army’s 38-35 win over Tulsa, after the Black Knights tied the game with 1:50 left, forced a quick punt and then drove for the win. Jones was 3-for-3 on FGs, including a 51-yarder while becoming the first Army K to make two 50-yard FGs in the same game. … Keltner was 5-for-5 on field goals vs. Colorado, hitting from 47, 30, 41, 21 and 30 yards to stay perfect on the season at 18-18. … London was 4-for-4 on field goals in Appalachian State’s 34-31 overtime upset win over previously unbeaten James Madison, connecting on kicks of 48, 27, 36 and 40 yards (the final one being the game-winner in overtime).
