National Columnist Mike Farrell is here with the 3-Point Stance with a few teams who could stumble to horrible records, great coaches off to bad starts and five teams already eliminated from the playoff.
Teams Who Could Hugely Disappoint
— Would you have ever expected these words even being said after week one? Colorado could have more wins this season than South Carolina. Than Clemson. Than TCU. Than LSU. Okay, it may be a bit far-fetched, but these teams are off to very bad starts and could have really poor records compared to expectations.
1. Clemson
— Would 8-4 be a disaster? It sure would in the easy ACC. But after the loss to Duke, it could certainly happen as this team looks mistake-prone and lacks QB play again. This was supposed to be an 11-1 year, and it’s off to a 0-1 start.
2. LSU
— FSU was a tough out-of-conference game, but the way LSU looked in the second half was disturbing, and there appear to be many coaching issues that have popped up. This team was expected to push to win the SEC and they could be 7-5 or 8-4.
3. South Carolina
— The offensive line was atrocious against a weak UNC defense, and that doesn’t bode well against some elite offenses on the schedule. After beating Tennessee and Clemson down the stretch last season, some felt 9-3 or 10-2 was possible. Not now.
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4. TCU
— Are they this bad? Did they lose this much? Colorado not only hung with them on the road but beat them, and the TCU defense looked miserable. A return to the title game wasn’t expected, but are we looking at a team with a losing record this season? We could be.
5. Texas Tech
— Joey McGuire taught his team to win close games last season, but they folded against Wyoming late, and Oregon comes to town this week. A 0-2 start could slip slide to a rough season.
Great Coach, Bad Start
— In line with this, some great coaches are off to bad starts overall, and this is leaving off guys like Dabo Swinney, Brian Kelly, and the rest above.
1. Ryan Day
— Many are looking for a reason to criticize Day after back-to-back losses to Michigan, and a pedestrian offensive performance against a weak Indiana team is fodder. What if the offense isn’t elite this season? It is now a question that really wasn’t being asked heading into the season.
2. Dave Aranda
— Baylor looked awful in the opening loss to Texas State, and now Utah comes to town, so 0-2 is likely. The bloom could be off the rose here soon if this season spirals.
3. Kirk Ferentz
— He retained his son Brian as the OC but put scoring parameters in place. Then they went out and dropped a whopping 24 points on a bad Utah State team, even after throwing a TD pass on their opening drive for the first time in 32 years. It appears nothing has changed offensively, and that’s a joke.
4. Jeff Brohm
— A win is a win, right? Not really, as there are some glaring issues for Louisville, especially on defense. A bad Georgia Tech team dropped 34 on them, and Louisville had trouble all night.
5. PJ Fleck
— Minnesota was lucky that Nebraska chokes games over and over again. Otherwise, they’d be 0-1, as they looked flat and inept on offense all game.
Under the Radar Big Wins
— And finally, Matt Perkins looks at some big wins that flew way too far under the radar in week one.
Oregon State
The Beavers came out strong in a sneaky-tough game at San Jose State. The Spartans already had a game under their belt and have one of the best quarterbacks in the Group of 5 in Chevan Cordeiro, but Jonathan Smith had his team ready. DJ Uiagalelei looked fantastic, completing 80% of his passes, accounting for five total touchdowns, and not turning the ball over at all.
DJ Uiagalelei was NEVER the problem at Clemson. He’s going to be a Top 10 QB at Oregon State this season
— Blue Bloods Bias (@bluebloodsbias) September 3, 2023
Penn State
Drew Allar came in with a ton of hype in his first year as a starter, and he didn’t disappoint. The highly touted sophomore threw for 325 yards and three scores and made it look easy against West Virginia. On a day when the ground game wasn’t working as well as anticipated, Allar was able to elevate the team easily. They looked like the best team in the Big Ten in Week 1.
Washington
The Huskies picked up where they left off last season, with Michael Penix Jr. throwing the ball all over the yard. They also made life hard on the Broncos’ Taylen Green, forcing two interceptions and confusing their offense all game long.
Michael Penix my god pic.twitter.com/7QjeRbECm6
— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) September 2, 2023
Texas A&M
Jimbo Fisher‘s team truly played up to their talent level against New Mexico, with former five-star Conner Weigman throwing five touchdowns and gaining more than ten yards per attempt passing. The Aggies’ defense stifled the Lobos all day, holding them under three yards per carry and just 131 yards passing.
Conner Weigman with a beautiful ball. pic.twitter.com/VFATJjnlO5
— David Cone (@davidadamcone) September 2, 2023
Cal
North Texas is sneaky good, and the fact that the Golden Bears went into Denton and dominated the game with a new quarterback was huge. Star sophomore tailback Jaydn Ott was one of the best players in the entire country over the weekend, accumulating over 200 total yards and two scores.
All gas no brakes for Jaydn Ott ? pic.twitter.com/BKsheBpb4G
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) September 2, 2023
