CFB's scariest things through 8 weeks of the season

Some people choose witches, vampires, or characters from popular horror movies to scare a crowd on Halloween.

However, we have other ideas for college football fans who want to terrify anyone coming to their door for trick-or-treating on Saturday.

Through eight weeks of the 2026 season, here are the scariest things in the sport.

Michigan's offense

Hiring the head coach and offensive coordinator of the nation's top rushing attack and No. 6 scoring offense was supposed to bring life to Michigan. Instead, Kyle Whittingham and Jason Beck have essentially killed all forms of entertaining football in Year 1 with the Wolverines. Whatever plays Beck called for Utah in 2025 apparently didn't make the trip north, because Michigan's offense has been a disaster.

In the last three games, the Wolverines have had 27 drives that didn't start from a defensive turnover, and they've somehow returned the following results:

• 17 punts, 5 interceptions, 1 fumble, 2 missed field goals, 1 made field goal

That's only three points over that time. The only thing keeping Michigan from being a one-win team at this point in the season is an outrageously talented defense and a very friendly clock operator and officiating crew.

Guarding Toney

Trying to guard Malachi Toney has become one of the scariest scenarios in college football. If you don't believe me, consider what Bill Belichick - one of the greatest defensive minds ever in the sport - said about him when asked if putting two defenders on the Miami star would make a difference.

"You would think it would, but not really," Belchick told Daniel Hager of On3 ahead of North Carolina's matchup with Miami on Halloween. "He's made several big plays off double coverage because he knows how to beat double coverage. At his age, that's pretty impressive. I don't see any weak points in his game."

It's getting to the point where you can put all 11 defenders around Toney, and he'll still run past them all.

With quarterback injuries across the nation, it's officially the year of the receiver in college football. Toney, Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith, and Oregon State's Jesse Legree are clearly a step above the rest.

Toney hasn't looked back since starting the season with an absurd line of 12 catches, 234 receiving yards, and three touchdowns against Stanford. He leads the nation with 66 receptions and is perhaps the most dangerous run-after-catch player in recent memory.

Mateer's ball security

Oklahoma fans don't need to watch horror movies in 2026; they just need to tune in to see John Mateer drop back every week. The Oklahoma quarterback mixes moments of brilliance with mind-numbing decision-making that makes him must-watch TV. Mateer has 11 touchdown passes this season, but he's also turned the ball over nine times with seven interceptions and two fumbles lost.

While turnovers are one thing, the manner in which Mateer commits them - and the immediate consequences - have somehow upped the ante in terms of pain. A pick-6 in the final 1:30 against Kentucky helped the Wildcats seal the eight-point win, and Mateer's stunning fumble at Georgia's 2-yard line turned a possible 14-7 game into a 21-0 blowout.

Mateer also made a back-breaking interception against Michigan after doing nothing the entire second half, giving the Wolverines the ball on the 6-yard line and setting them up for the eventual game-winning touchdown.

Clemson's passing game

Of the 138 FBS programs, 137 have more touchdown passes than Clemson this season. Remarkably, a program that once sent quarterbacks Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence to the NFL has managed only two touchdown passes through seven games. Perhaps even more depressing is that two of the other programs that have recorded fewer than five passing touchdowns - Army and Air Force - hardly throw at all and rely mostly on a triple-option rushing attack. Combined, Army and Air Force have attempted just 141 passes in 2026, significantly less than the Tigers' 219.

Dabo Swinney misjudged his quarterback room so poorly that three-star freshman Tait Reynolds has somehow been deemed the better option over senior Christopher Vizzina. As a result, Clemson is the only team in the country to score fewer than 50% of its points on offensive touchdowns.

Oregon's QB play without Moore

Oregon's season wasn't exactly going according to plan with Dante Moore at quarterback, but it fell off a cliff after his injury at USC. Moore's willingness to push the ball downfield was necessary for opening up running lanes for the Ducks. With him under center, Oregon's offense averaged 8.2 yards per passing attempt against FBS competition.

Dylan Raiola came in after Moore's injury and managed to get the win against USC. However, in the three games since, neither Raiola nor third-string quarterback Brock Thomas has posed a deep threat. The duo is averaging just 4.8 yards per attempt during that span, and the team's 1-2 record reflects it.

Moore's now been ruled out for the year, so Oregon fans might want to make other plans on Saturday until the end of November.

Being ranked in top 10

Life is usually quite comfortable inside the AP Poll's top 10, but this year it might as well be a death sentence. October has brought carnage unlike anything we've seen before for the best teams in the country.

• 11 losses by top-10 teams is the most over a three-week span in history
• First time in 19 years a top-two team has lost to an unranked opponent three weeks in a row
• First time since 1977 there are only three undefeated teams left this early in the season
• Five of the top-eight teams lost on the same Saturday for the first time since the AP Poll began in 1936

More turmoil could be coming this week, with three top-10 teams playing on the road and two in neutral-site contests. Three more losses would bring the total to 20 for top-10 squads this season, marking just the fourth time that's happened before Nov. 1.

Facing Kentucky in OT

Perhaps the best proof that 2026 is a bonkers season is that it's Oct. 30, and Kentucky is in first place in the SEC ... in football! The basketball powerhouse hasn't won a conference football title since 1976 - 13 years before new coach Will Stein was even born. Yet Stein has made an immediate impact in Lexington, most notably through brilliant decision-making in overtime. He opted for two-point conversions at the end of the first overtime in back-to-back weeks against South Carolina and LSU, securing the win in both with perfect calls.

That makes Kentucky the first team since overtime began in college football to win back-to-back games by one point in extra time. If you're facing Stein's Wildcats in overtime, take the ball second and live to play another session.

Colorado State's defense

A quick look at Colorado State's defense and you understand why the unit's coordinator walked off the sideline during a game after being demoted. The Rams have been a disaster on that side of the ball, allowing 308 points through seven games. The closest team to that total is San Diego State, which has allowed 289 but has played one more game.

The situation gets even bleaker when you look at total yardage: Colorado State is allowing 535 offensive yards per contest. Just how bad is that number? Not only are the Rams the only team surrendering more than 500 yards per game, but 535 is more than 50 yards higher than the next-worst team in the nation.