Kirk Herbstreit names 7 top-performing teams from Week 9 in college football

Week 9 of the college football season was a packed one. There were plenty of upsets as well as exciting games that now sets up an incredibly important Week 10. As of now, though, Kirk Herbstreit has looked back and named the seven best team performances from last weekend.

Kansas State leads the way in his rankings after its blowout win over Oklahoma State. The pure shock value of their win was impressive enough, but it’s how they handled the Cowboys that earned them the top spot on Herbstreit’s list.

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1. Kansas State Wildcats

The Wildcats didn’t just hang 48 points on the Pokes. They shut them out as well in Manhattan during this Top-25 Big 12 matchup. Will Howard filled in remarkably for Adrian Martinez with 296 passing yards and four touchdowns. Deuce Vaughn pulled his weight as well with 158 rushing yards and two total touchdowns. Kansas State’s defense showed out, though, as they held an offense that was averaging 44.7 points per game to a goose egg with only 217 total yards and three turnovers. It was a major win for the program as it moved them up to second in the conference with four games left on their schedule.

2. Louisville Cardinals

Louisville also earned a win that is impressive by the score alone but that gets even more so as you dive deeper into the numbers. The Cardinals defeated No. 10 Wake Forest 48-21 in Cardinal Stadium. While it was the most points they’d scored all season, the defense was the story as they forced eight turnovers from the Demon Deacons. Four interceptions and four fumble recoveries from the Louisville defense against a Top-10 team more than cemented their spot on Herbstreit’s list.

3. Tennessee Volunteers

What else needs to be said about Tennessee? The Volunteers have the best resume by schedule in the country with five wins over AP Top-25 teams through their 8-0 start. They added that fifth-ranked win last Saturday in a 44-6 victory over Kentucky that Herbstreit was present for. The 44 points from the Vols are no surprise coming from the nation’s No. 1 offense. However, their defense holding the Wildcats to their worst offensive output of the season by far is a big deal for a team that still needed to see more from that side of the football.

4. North Carolina Tar Heels

North Carolina was down as much as 10 two separate times in their game against Pittsburgh. The Tar Heels put an end to that, though, with a major comeback victory over the Panthers. They scored 28 unanswered, including a 21-0 fourth quarter, to win 42-24. It was a big one in helping the Tar Heel’s chances for winning the Coastal in the ACC as well as continuing their push up in the AP Poll to No. 17 this week.

5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Marcus Freeman and his team earned their biggest win of the season with a 44-21 victory at Syracuse. The No. 16 Orange had just lost to Clemson the weekend before and were looking to avoid a second straight defeat. The Fighting Irish had other ideas, though, with a pick-six to start the game. They took a two-touchdown lead into halftime and the margin only came back to single digits once in the second half. This was an encouraging performance from the Irish as they’ll now host Clemson themselves in one of the best games in this upcoming college football weekend.

6. UCF Knights

Cincinnati entered Week 9 having won 19 consecutive AAC games. That ended in Orlando on Saturday, though, as UCF won over the Bearcats 25-21. Gus Malzhan’s squad took a 10-0 lead early but were down late in the third and then again in the fourth. Still, they rallied with a late rushing touchdown and earned the victory after turning Cincy over on downs on their final drive. The Knights lost two fumbles, but their 505 total yards and success on third down were able to put this game in the win column, place them second in the AAC, and put them in the AP Top-25 for the first time this season.

7. Missouri Tigers

South Carolina was riding high as they came into Columbia with a four-game win streak that earned them a ranked spot entering Week 9. However, Missouri put a stop to that with a 23-10 win. They led by double-digits for a majority of the contest, forced two turnovers from the Gamecocks, and nearly doubled them up in total yards. It got Mizzou back to .500 on the season as they will now host a limping Kentucky team for a chance to have their first winning record since mid-September.