Don’t worry, Penn State (and a few other) fans: As we launch the CFB Week 8 preview, the bad coach can’t hurt you anymore.

Three head coaches were dismissed from their respective jobs following the Week 7 games. They were not the first college football coaches to be fired this season, and Lord knows they will not be the last. An interesting new week begins for us all in College Football Land.

CFB Week 8 Preview: Who’s Out and Why?

The three coaches who met their proverbial maker this past week are:

• James Franklin, Penn State. This is the most high-profile name on the list by far, from the most prestigious program here. Franklin’s Nittany Lions lost three games in a row following their defeat at the hands of Northwestern. Those losses laid bare all of the criticisms Penn State fans and boosters had about Franklin over the years, and it evidently got to a boiling point where the Athletics Department could no longer control the conflagration.
• Trent Bray, Oregon State. Now this one you could see coming. Oregon State was having an awful year, such to the point that they have sat near the bottom of our CFB 136 rankings. Whether they did it at the end of the season or in Week 7, the outcome for the Beavers will be the same.
• Trent Dilfer, UAB. This was another firing where the timing was the only thing at issue, not whether or not it would happen. It did, and it never seemed like a great fit.

CFB Week 8 Preview: Featured Games

Bracket Yard had to make some difficult choices, but these were the four games we featured:

• Georgia Tech at Duke, an ACC matchup in which the Yellow Jackets can move to 7-0.
• Ole Miss at Georgia, an SEC game which could have significant implications in terms of who plays for the conference title.
• UNLV at Boise State, a Mountain West game that could likewise impact the course of that conference’s season.
• USC at Notre Dame, a must-win game for Notre Dame against their hated rivals.

There are 60 FBS games on the schedule in Week 8 – and five of them will have been played by Wednesday night – so there is plenty of college football for all, almost every day of the week.

This Preview Is Brought to You By The Number…

19. That is the number of passing touchdowns Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson has so far, which leads FBS.