College football today: Week 8 schedule, games for Friday night

What you can watch on the Week 8 college football schedule today, as Friday night lights brings us two Power Four games with ranked teams on the field.
College football games today as Week 8 schedule kicks off
College football games today as Week 8 schedule kicks off | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

College football returns to action today with two prominent teams playing under the lights as the Week 8 games get an early start in primetime on Friday night.

Saturday will bring us five matchups with ranked teams on both sides of the field that should have quite an effect on the national polls and the playoff field heading into the second month of the 2025 season, but two ranked programs kick off in the early action.

That includes the No. 2 team in America and current favorite to win one of the Power Four conference championships, and a team that just made the rankings last week looking to make some noise in another major league heading deeper into October.

Here’s what you need to know, and how you can watch, as the Week 8 college football schedule gets an early start today.

College football games today: Week 8 schedule for Friday

All times Eastern, and game lines are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

Louisville at No. 2 Miami

College football games today: Week 8 schedule for Friday
Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Fri., Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. on ESPN

Carson Beck and the second-ranked Hurricanes hope to stay undefeated this season as they welcome insurgent ACC threat Louisville at home on Friday night.

Louisville is coming off a 30-27 overtime loss against Virginia a couple weeks ago, sitting at 0-1 against ranked opponents, while Miami stayed perfect with a signature win over Florida State, with three wins against AP ranked teams for the first time in 20 years.

Beck is good for over 73 percent of his pass attempts for 1,213 yards and 11 touchdowns with 3 interceptions in five games for Miami.

Mark Fletcher handles things on the ground for the Hurricanes, rushing 78 times for 428 yards with a 5.5 yard per carry average and 5 touchdowns.

Miller Moss pilots the Louisville offense, as the senior transfer quarterback from USC is good for 67 percent of his throws with 1,358 yards and 7 TDs with 4 interceptions.

Chris Bell is Moss’ principal target, catching 35 passes for 502 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Line: Miami -10.5, 49.5

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No. 25 Nebraska at Minnesota

College football games today: Week 8 schedule for Friday
Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Fri., Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. on Fox

Nebraska improved to 5-1 on the season with just a three-point loss against Michigan keeping it from being undefeated, and is looking to move to 2-0 on the road in 2025.

Minnesota is tied with the Huskers for fourth place in the Big Ten standings at 4-2 overall and is 4-0 on home ground this season.

Dylan Raiola helms the Cornhuskers’ passing attack and has looked good doing so, completing 73.4 percent of his pass attempts for 1,591 yards with 16 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, but 3 of those picks came in a win against Maryland last week.

Emmett Johnson has rushed 105 times for Nebraska, amassing 650 yards while averaging more than 6 yards per attempt and scoring 7 touchdowns on the ground.

Line: Nebraska -7.5, 47.5

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He has covered football for a decade, previously managing several team sites and publishing national content for 247Sports.com for five years. His work has also been published on CBSSports.com. He founded College Football HQ in 2020, and the site joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022 and the On SI network in 2024.