Anyone can appreciate a good quarterback. There are quite a few in college football right now—look no further than the sensational Alabama-Tennessee showdown from last week, in which Hendon Hooker and Bryce Young traded blows in a game that finished with 840 total passing yards, for evidence of that. The likes of C.J. Stroud and Drake Maye (the co-national leaders with 24 passing touchdowns) and Michael Penix Jr. (the national leader with 2,560 passing yards) deserve plenty of credit, too. And Maye and Penix aren't the only surprises this season: Max Duggan has 16 touchdowns to just one interception for TCU, Todd Centeio is enjoying a breakout season for James Madison, and Garrett Shrader has pieced together a stunning season for Syracuse. Some have gone further under the radar than others, but all of these quarterbacks have had their day in the sun.
Less obvious, though no less important, are the running backs that have defined the 2022 season. For any surprisingly strong team whose quarterback is absent from the passing leaderboards, the odds are good that they have instead leaned on the efforts of a key rusher. Take Illinois, for example: Tommy DeVito has been solid enough, but it's the only thousand-yard rusher in FBS, Chase Brown, leading the way. Or consider Kansas State, for whom Adrian Martinez has avoided turnovers but done little else (6.5 yards per pass, four touchdowns). The Wildcats' offensive success isn't through the air, but on the ground, where Martinez (546 rushing yards) has aided the spectacular Deuce Vaughn (661 rushing yards). And it's hard to go wrong with talent in both categories: Alabama has complemented Young with the talented Jahmyr Gibbs (903 total yards), and Syracuse has complemented Shrader with the perennially underrated Sean Tucker (842 total yards).
Not every team featured this week has a wildly underrated running back, but quite a few do. In addition to Syracuse's Tucker and Kansas State's Vaughn, there's a dynamic duo at Oregon, a well-known star at Texas, a shocking standout at Ole Miss, and a wickedly quick sophomore at East Carolina. Amid a season of stellar passing performances, players like these can be understated keys to success, and they may define some of the biggest games of Week 8 as teams chase playoff bids and conference titles down the stretch.