2025 Week 8 Football Release
BIG TEN FOOTBALL RELEASE - WEEK 8 | STANDINGS | SCHEDULE | MEDIA GUIDE | WE GIVE BLOOD DRIVE
• Week eight of the 2025 college football season features nine games, highlighted by eight conference matchups and USC’s annual rivalry game against Notre Dame. The action begins on Friday night when No. 25 Nebraska travels to Minnesota at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. Illinois will enjoy a bye this week, with the complete schedule appearing to the right.
• Nine of the Big Ten’s 18 teams are mentioned in this week’s AP or US LBM Coaches Polls, announced on Sunday. The AP poll includes No. 1 Ohio State, No. 3 Indiana, No. 8 Oregon, No. 20 USC, and No. 25 Nebraska with Illinois, Michigan, and Washington. At No. 1, Ohio State leads nine Big Ten teams in the coaches’ poll (No. 3 Indiana, No. 9 Oregon, No. 21 USC, and No. 25 Illinois), Michigan, Nebraska, Washington, and Iowa also received recognition.
• Two Big Ten teams remain undefeated through seven weeks of the 2025 season. Indiana and Ohio State rank among the 11 NCAA FBS teams sporting perfect records entering week eight.
• The Big Ten announced its Football Players of the Week, presented by IFS.ai on Monday, with Washington’s Demond Williams Jr. earning Offensive Player of the Week honors. Williams Jr. had 402 yards passing, 136 yards rushing, and four total touchdowns for the Huskies in a 38-19 win over Rutgers. He was the first ever Husky and 16th player in NCAA-FBS history to pass for over 400 yards and rush for 100 yards in the same game.
• Indiana’s Aiden Fisher earned Defensive Player of the Week honors by recording a game high 13 tackles and career-best 1.5 sacks to help Indiana to its first-ever top five road win at Oregon.
• Northwestern’s Jack Olsen won Special Teams Player of the Week after going a perfect 3-3 on field goal attempts as Northwestern defeated Penn State 22-21 on the road Saturday. His efforts helped the Wildcats win their first game at Penn State since 2014.
• USC’s King Miller claimed Freshman of the Week award after rushing for 158 yards on 18 attempts with a touchdown to lead the Trojans to a 31-13 victory against No. 15 Michigan. Miller’s 158 yards are believed to be the most by a USC walk-on since at least the early 1970s.
• Indiana’s win at Oregon marks the first time any school has beaten the Ducks in Eugene since 2022 and the first time a Big Ten team has won in Eugene in over 20 years, when Indiana upset Oregon 30-24 in Eugene in 2004.
• Rutgers and Oregon are set to face off for the first time in program history when they meet on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET on BTN in Piscataway, New Jersey. Oregon has won nine straight road games, the longest active streak in FBS, and 35 straight games against unranked teams.
• Six Big Ten quarterbacks rank among the top 10 in completion percentage. Ohio State’s Julian Sayin leads the nation with a 78.4 completion percentage, followed by Washington’s Demond Williams Jr. (3rd, 74.1%), Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola (4th, 73.4%), Illinois’ Luke Altmyer (7th, 72.4%), Oregon’s Dante Moore (9th, 72.0%) and USC’s Jayden Maiava (10th, 70.19%).
• Ahead of UCLA and Maryland’s matchup, the Bruins boast the 18th best red zone offense in the country (.950), while the Terrapins claim the nation’s 18th best red zone defense (.722). Maryland seeks to win consecutive road games for the first time in two years, while each of UCLA’s last four conference home games have been decided by six points or fewer.
• USC’s Bishop Fitzgerald recorded two interceptions against Michigan on Saturday. He now is tied for the most interceptions in the country with five total. Indiana’s Louis Moore is tied for second in the nation with four.
• Heading into week eight, the Big Ten is the only conference that has three teams (Oregon, Minnesota, Maryland) with at least three defensive touchdowns. USC also has two on the season.
• The 2025 Discover Big Ten Championship Game will be held on Saturday, December 6, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and will be broadcast by FOX. The winner will represent the conference as the Automatic Qualifier (AQ) to the College Football Playoff.
• Abbott and the Big Ten Conference are kicking off Season 2 of the We Give Blood drive. Students, fans, alumni and communities across the country are backing their favorite Big Ten schools by donating blood. Every donation can help save up to three lives - and bring your school one step closer to winning $1 million to advance student or community health. The top school will be announced at the 2025 Discover® Big Ten Football Championship Game on December 6, 2025.
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