SECOND QUARTER
WHO LOST SEPTEMBER
Scott Frost (11). Nobody doubts or disputes that the first-year coach at Nebraska inherited a bad team. But he’s made it worse. A team that most expected to win 6-to-8 games has started 0-4 for the first time since 1945. Yes, there has been some bad luck — if the opener against Akron hadn’t been stormed out, maybe the Huskers win that and get off to a more confident start. Then there was the transfer of No. 2 quarterback Tristan Gebbia and the injury to starter Adrian Martinez that left the team in the hands of walk-on Andrew Bunch for a game. But Frost has also played to the fan base more than to the guys in the locker room by publicly ripping the team. When the new coach is saying that, don’t be surprised if the player check-out rate is higher than at the Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel the morning after a home game."
View photos
Scott Frost’s Cornhuskers are off to a 0-4 start to the season. (AP)
Virginia Tech (12). The single worst loss of September: the Hokies’ 14-point gack at Old Dominion, which currently is No. 138 in the Sagarin Ratings and winless against teams not named Virginia Tech. Maybe the Hokies could climb back into playoff contention by beating Notre Dame on Saturday and Clemson in December to take the ACC championship at 12-1 — but even then, no team has ever had a loss that bad and made the playoff. In fact, none of the 16 previous playoff teams has lost a game to any team from outside the Power Five, much less No. 138 in the nation.
The Big Ten West (13). The West is 0-4 against the East in early cross-divisional play — but the non-conference performance is what really hurt. There were home losses to Akron (by Northwestern), Troy (Nebraska) and Eastern Michigan (Purdue). Plus home losses to Duke (Northwestern), Colorado (Nebraska) and Missouri (Purdue). Plus a semi-home loss to South Florida (Illinois). But the most damaging in terms of playoff potential was Wisconsin’s home loss to BYU. The Badgers started the season ranked in the top five and played their way out of that prime position by losing to a team that Washington just beat by four touchdowns."
American Football Coaches Association (14). For two years, the AFCA pushed the NCAA to alter its redshirt rules so that players could compete in four games without losing a season of eligibility. AFCA executive director Todd Berry said support for the rule was “unanimous. … There were no dissenters on any level.” Then the rule passed for this season, and here came the unintended consequences. Namely, players bailing on teams four games into the season to go elsewhere — most notably receiver Jalen McCleskey at Oklahoma State and quarterback Kelly Bryant at Clemson. Here’s what Nick Saban had to say about the rule Monday: “I think the intent of the rule was so you can play a young player, a freshman player, and enhance his development. This has turned into something that I think is less than what we all desired it to be.”
Bobby Petrino (15). He’s coached 170 FBS games, and in 169 of them his team has scored at least seven points. The exception: a 27-3 skunking at Virginia on Sept. 22. Then it got worse Saturday against Florida State. Holding a three-point lead with two minutes left and a first-and-10 on the Seminoles’ 19-yard line, Petrino was three running plays away from, at worst, a field-goal attempt and FSU facing a drive with no timeouts remaining. Instead, Petrino called a first-down pass play from his raw and erratic quarterback, and Jawon Pass threw it directly to a Florida State player. Five plays later, the Seminoles scored the winning touchdown, the Cardinals fell to 2-3 and, for the first time, 0-2 in the ACC. The onetime offensive mastermind’s approval rating is plummeting in Louisville.
Link here for the rest of the story:
https://sports.yahoo.com/whos-roughest-start-college-football-season-175545097.html
WHO LOST SEPTEMBER
Scott Frost (11). Nobody doubts or disputes that the first-year coach at Nebraska inherited a bad team. But he’s made it worse. A team that most expected to win 6-to-8 games has started 0-4 for the first time since 1945. Yes, there has been some bad luck — if the opener against Akron hadn’t been stormed out, maybe the Huskers win that and get off to a more confident start. Then there was the transfer of No. 2 quarterback Tristan Gebbia and the injury to starter Adrian Martinez that left the team in the hands of walk-on Andrew Bunch for a game. But Frost has also played to the fan base more than to the guys in the locker room by publicly ripping the team. When the new coach is saying that, don’t be surprised if the player check-out rate is higher than at the Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel the morning after a home game."
View photos
Scott Frost’s Cornhuskers are off to a 0-4 start to the season. (AP)
Virginia Tech (12). The single worst loss of September: the Hokies’ 14-point gack at Old Dominion, which currently is No. 138 in the Sagarin Ratings and winless against teams not named Virginia Tech. Maybe the Hokies could climb back into playoff contention by beating Notre Dame on Saturday and Clemson in December to take the ACC championship at 12-1 — but even then, no team has ever had a loss that bad and made the playoff. In fact, none of the 16 previous playoff teams has lost a game to any team from outside the Power Five, much less No. 138 in the nation.
The Big Ten West (13). The West is 0-4 against the East in early cross-divisional play — but the non-conference performance is what really hurt. There were home losses to Akron (by Northwestern), Troy (Nebraska) and Eastern Michigan (Purdue). Plus home losses to Duke (Northwestern), Colorado (Nebraska) and Missouri (Purdue). Plus a semi-home loss to South Florida (Illinois). But the most damaging in terms of playoff potential was Wisconsin’s home loss to BYU. The Badgers started the season ranked in the top five and played their way out of that prime position by losing to a team that Washington just beat by four touchdowns."
American Football Coaches Association (14). For two years, the AFCA pushed the NCAA to alter its redshirt rules so that players could compete in four games without losing a season of eligibility. AFCA executive director Todd Berry said support for the rule was “unanimous. … There were no dissenters on any level.” Then the rule passed for this season, and here came the unintended consequences. Namely, players bailing on teams four games into the season to go elsewhere — most notably receiver Jalen McCleskey at Oklahoma State and quarterback Kelly Bryant at Clemson. Here’s what Nick Saban had to say about the rule Monday: “I think the intent of the rule was so you can play a young player, a freshman player, and enhance his development. This has turned into something that I think is less than what we all desired it to be.”
Bobby Petrino (15). He’s coached 170 FBS games, and in 169 of them his team has scored at least seven points. The exception: a 27-3 skunking at Virginia on Sept. 22. Then it got worse Saturday against Florida State. Holding a three-point lead with two minutes left and a first-and-10 on the Seminoles’ 19-yard line, Petrino was three running plays away from, at worst, a field-goal attempt and FSU facing a drive with no timeouts remaining. Instead, Petrino called a first-down pass play from his raw and erratic quarterback, and Jawon Pass threw it directly to a Florida State player. Five plays later, the Seminoles scored the winning touchdown, the Cardinals fell to 2-3 and, for the first time, 0-2 in the ACC. The onetime offensive mastermind’s approval rating is plummeting in Louisville.
Link here for the rest of the story:
https://sports.yahoo.com/whos-roughest-start-college-football-season-175545097.html
