5 College Football Programs That Should Be Worried After Week 8
TJ Inman
Host · Writer
The season is more than half over, and clear trends and narratives have emerged. Which five teams should be worried after eight weeks of the 2025 college football season?
1. Auburn Tigers
The Auburn Tigers are now 0-4 in the SEC with a 3-4 overall record, and they have lost four straight contests. The most concerning part for the future is that head coach Hugh Freeze has been unable to figure out anything resembling competency on offense. His attack relies on a version of the read-pass option (RPO) style offense that has not been particularly effective since 2013, and the Tigers have consistently whiffed on the quarterback position. This season, they have failed to score more than 17 points in any conference game. The remaining five games are at Arkansas (and if you can’t score against the Hogs’ defense, you can’t score against anybody), Kentucky, at Vanderbilt, Mercer, and Alabama.
Week 9: Auburn (-1.5) at Arkansas
2. Florida State Seminoles
Time might have run out for Mike Norvell. The Florida State Seminoles went across the country and lost to the Stanford Cardinal despite being multiple-touchdown favorites. The defeat was the ninth straight ACC loss for Florida State, a truly shocking stat. Except for the Week 1 victory over Alabama (a game that looks increasingly confusing with each passing week), the Seminoles have been in free-fall mode since going unbeaten in the regular season in 2023. Expect movement on Norvell as soon as Monday morning, but where does Florida State turn, and how coveted will the job be since it is in the ACC and not the Big Ten or SEC?
3. LSU Tigers
The natives are now officially restless in Baton Rouge, and Brian Kelly is definitely on the hot seat. The LSU Tigers went to Nashville and were thoroughly outplayed by the Vanderbilt Commodores, dropping to 5-2 and just 2-2 in the SEC. The defeat mostly extinguishes LSU’s College Football Playoff hopes, and the Tigers still have games remaining against Texas A&M, Alabama, and Oklahoma. Truthfully, LSU was fortunate to be within seven points of the Commodores on Saturday, as Vanderbilt could have very easily won that game by three scores. The offense has not looked right all season, and the defense was overrun by Vanderbilt.
Week 9: Texas A&M (-2.5) at LSU
4. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Everything was on the table for the Nebraska Cornhuskers this season. The schedule set up very nicely. Dylan Raiola returned with experience and a revamped receiving corps, plus a full offseason with new offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen. It was the third season for head coach Matt Rhule, a season that had historically produced outstanding results for his teams. After seven weeks, Nebraska has a pair of losses, and they were just shellacked on Friday night by the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Huskers’ offensive line was overwhelmed all night as they amassed only 213 yards on offense and gave up nine sacks. Penn State is reportedly interested in head coach Rhule, but I’m not sure how gutted Nebraska fans would be to lose him right now.
Week 9: Northwestern at Nebraska (-7.5)
5. South Carolina Gamecocks
South Carolina returned star quarterback LaNorris Sellers from a team that very nearly made the College Football Playoff last season, and hopes were high in Columbia for Shane Beamer’s team. After a very humbling loss to Oklahoma at home, the Gamecocks are now just 1-4 and 3-4 overall, and any hopes of replicating last season’s success have disappeared from view. Saturday was incredibly disheartening for South Carolina fans as OU manhandled their offense, limiting the Gamecocks to only 224 yards and just 1.6 yards per rush. Oklahoma’s offense was not very good, but it hardly mattered. Should Beamer be hoping to snag the Virginia Tech job and reset his coaching clock before the South Carolina fans run him out of town? The next three games are Alabama, at Ole Miss, and at Texas A&M…good luck with that.
Week 9: Alabama (-13.5) at South Carolina
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