College football takeaways - Lasting impressions from Week 8 - ESPN

There has been plenty of carnage this season, but Miami has remained spotless through seven games. The Hurricanes, who were only a couple of plays away from a national title last season, look like they're in a great spot to contend again. Is there anything the country's top team needs to fix before its matchup in two weeks against No. 5 Notre Dame?

UCLA is also still undefeated, but is its success so far a smoke screen, or are the Bruins for real?

Things aren't quite as bright for many of the other big programs. BYU and Texas Tech lost to unranked teams, leaving Utah alone atop the Big 12. Is there reason to worry about the Cougars and Red Raiders? And after a 24-7 loss to Wisconsin, is Lincoln Riley on the hot seat at USC?

Our college football experts are here to break things down.

If we want to nitpick the Hurricanes, there are certainly areas of concern. The secondary is thin since injuries have sidelined a number of key contributors. That showed up in the Florida State game, when Zechariah Poyser was ejected for targeting early, and the Seminoles took advantage. Still, freshman JJ Dunnigan and transfer Ethan O'Connor have been better than anyone should've expected, and Bryce Fitzgerald has turned into a jack-of-all-trades in the secondary to help fill some holes.

On the offensive side, there are reasonable concerns about the run blocking, as Miami hasn't looked like the ground force it was in last year's playoff. Mark Fletcher has battled injuries, CharMar Brown is out for the year, and freshman Javian Mallory has had to carry a bigger share of the load. But it's a credit to the recruiting work Mario Cristobal has done that so many first-year Canes have stepped up.

Notre Dame will be Miami's biggest challenge of the