Winners and losers of college football's Week 8: Oregon escapes, Penn State falls out of playoff race

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Take another unbeaten club off the board: Oklahoma State missed a crucial fourth-down conversion against Iowa State by inches, possibly dropping the Cowboys a spot in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and creating a logjam of teams behind Oklahoma in the Big 12.

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You can cross off a potential College Football Playoff candidate from the list. Penn State was eliminated from the national semifinals after losing 20-18 in nine overtimes to Illinois, yet the Nittany Lions might still make things interesting in the Big Ten East.

One playoff team has remained in contention. Coach Mario Cristobal's Ducks made things extremely uncomfortable late against UCLA before escaping with a win that moves them to 6-1 and keeps them atop the Pac-12.

You can also move one ACC quarterback to the top of your Heisman Trophy ballot. In leading Pittsburgh past Clemson, senior Kenny Pickett continued his assault on every programme record. Pickett said after the game that he was going to "have a cold one and get ready for Miami," which seems like something a Heisman winner might say.

These teams and players are the greatest winners and losers on Saturday:

WINNERS

Oregon

Oregon appeared to be content to give the game away to UCLA at times, and the Bruins were almost willing to oblige before a late interception clinched the Ducks' 34-31 victory. 

Avoiding a second loss keeps Oregon in the playoff hunt, especially when you consider what most people seem to have forgotten: the Ducks defeated Ohio State on the road in September. 

Oregon also has a relatively easy home stretch ahead of them, with the most difficult game being a trip to Utah on Nov. 20.

Iowa State University

If this sounds familiar, please let me know: Iowa State had a rocky start to the season but is quickly developing into one of the top teams in the Big 12 — if not the best in the country.

With a 24-21 win over previously unbeaten Oklahoma State, the Cyclones took a huge stride toward ensuring another trip to the league title game after two early defeats. 

The play of quarterback Brock Purdy, who has not thrown an interception in three straight games and completed 27 of 33 attempts for 307 yards and two touchdowns against the Cowboys' outstanding defence, has been one of the year's turning moments.

Kenny Pickett is a musician from the United States.

It was a terrific day for Pittsburgh, which beat Clemson to stay atop the ACC Coastal Division, and a great day for Pickett, who threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns to bolster his Heisman Trophy chances.

This was his finest chance of the season: Clemson is visibly down but still one of the most recognisable names in the sport, and Pickett turned in a performance that should help him close the distance on the two SEC quarterbacks dominating the Heisman race.

Wake Forest is a place where you can relax and

The math is completely perplexing. It's not just that Wake Forest beat Army by 70 points, or that the Demon Deacons gained 638 yards, or that Sam Hartman threw for 458 yards, or that the offence only needed seven third-down conversions. 

It's the fact that Wake achieved all of this while possessing the ball for just over 17 minutes in the Black Knights' 70-56 victory. That's more than four points every minute, which is ridiculous.

LOSERS

Penn State is a university in Pennsylvania.

The only somewhat redeeming aspect of Penn State's 20-18 loss to Illinois is that it required an NCAA-record nine overtimes, but being immortalised in the Football Bowl Subdivision record books may not be the Nittany Lions' first choice after coach James Franklin's worst loss. 

Despite having quarterback Sean Clifford back at the helm, the offence only managed 227 yards and a 2.1-yard-per-carry average. The Nittany Lions' second consecutive defeat doubles as a playoff qualifier. The game against Ohio State next week might not be pretty.

Clemson

Clemson's loss to the Panthers, 27-17, brings the Tigers to 4-3, their most losses in a season since 2014. 

And it's apparent that more losses are on the way. The problems have been well-documented, and the offence has been one of the worst in the Power Five, with a likely quarterback dilemma: 

DJ Uiagalelei was yanked in the second half of the game after throwing two more interceptions, and his replacement, Taisun Phommachanh, didn't fare much better.

Virginia Tech is a university in the state of Virginia

 The Hokies have survived the season on the back of a season-opening victory over North Carolina that has subsequently been found to be far from outstanding. 

Tech has won two games, beating Middle Tennessee State and Richmond, but has lost the rest, including a humiliating 41-36 loss to Syracuse on Saturday. 

The Hokies gave up 550 yards of offence, including 314 yards on the ground, and trailed 36-27 with under three minutes remaining before losing the game.

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