College Football Week Zero had enough sizzle to not disappoint
By Ronald Evans
Week Zero of college football gets a bad rap. But the only really bad thing is its name. Starting a season of anything at zero is just foolishness. Though the return of college football comes with a mini-schedule, it is the first week of college football and should be designated accordingly.
This season’s version of week zero was not blessed with much competitive football. Some really bad football teams played with unsurprising results. Florida State needs every win it can get, but beating Duquense by 40 points proved nothing. Illinois over a weak Wyoming team by 32 points might mean the Illini have improved, or that the Cowboys can’t match their 2021, 7-win season. FAMU had a serious player shortage against North Carolina. Eligibility issues kept almost two dozen Rattlers off the field during the 56-24 loss.
There were however some bright spots in the Saturday schedule. Nebraska had a must-win game in Ireland and came up short again. The beleaguered Scott Frost showed that being a Cornhuskers legend brings no coaching wins. Frost has one winning season in his coaching career.
He has won just 47.9% of his games in his seven-season career and to fire him today would cost Nebraska $15M. He will be fired, and when the buyout drops to $7.5M on Oct. 1, he may not make it through the season. Making it worse for Frost on Saturday was a bone-headed onside kick call and post-game bashing of his staff after the 31-28 loss to Northwestern.
Some Alabama football fans took notice that Austin Peay is not a horrible FCS team. The Governors lost 38-27 to Western Kentucky. Also of interest to Crimson Tide fans was Utah State vs. UConn. Jim Mora rebuilt the UConn roster with close to 40 new players. The Huskies won one game last season. Utah State had 11 wins including two wins over Pac 12 teams. Early in the game, UConn led 14-0. The Aggies rebounded to win 31-20.
College Football Highlight of Week Zero
Northwestern and Illinois fans will disagree but the college football highlight of the day came late, in the Aloha state, as Vanderbilt destroyed Hawaii 63-10. The last time Vanderbilt scored 63 points in a game, Richard Nixon was President.
How much better will the Dores be in 2022? Hawaii appeared to be a football team unfamiliar with sound defensive concepts. Other than against Elon, Vandy will not have it so easy again this season. But last season, in Clark Lea’s first year as a head coach, the Dores lost to East Tennessee State, 23-3. On Saturday, Vandy looked like a team improved enough to win an SEC game. For the few people in Nashville who care about college football, such promise is a big deal.
Not the actual week one comes next, with a full slate of games, including Notre Dame vs. Ohio State and Arkansas vs. Cincinnati.