There were just six games on the board in Week Zero of the college football season and while there were no ranked teams in action, it felt great to see the pigskin flying again. We were mostly treated to blowouts as five of the six games were decided by 31 points or more.
We’ll be doing a weekly “Things We Learned” and while the future editions will be more expansive. Here are three things we learned from Week 0 to get us started.
Scott Frost About to Get Fired
Whether you were online betting the game or just watching as a fan, it’s pretty clear that Nebraska head coach Scott Frost is squarely on the hot seat. As a matter of fact, he could be one of the first coaches fired this season.
Frost entered the year with the critics breathing down his neck, and losing as a touchdown favorite in the online sportsbook to Illinois was a complete disaster. What’s worse is that Nebraska wasn’t really in the game, trailing 30-16 in the fourth quarter. On top of that, the team looked undisciplined and unprepared, giving up an early safety and missing two extra points along the way. Considering they lost by eight, those four points could have helped make a game of it.
Nebraska has to figure things out quickly or Frost is going to be a goner.
Hawaii is Lifeless
Hawaii was absolutely embarrassed on Saturday in its 44-10 loss and that’s likely more of an insult to the Rainbow Warriors than it is a compliment to UCLA. The Bruins scored 44 points while only completing 12 passes. That’s because Hawaii’s embarrassing tackling allowed UCLA to pile up 244 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Former Michigan runner Zach Charbonnet averaged a whopping 17.7 yards per carry. Hopefully for Hawaii, this was just a one-game one-off, but this team looked horrendous. Careful betting on them in terms of the college football lines.
Connecticut Might Be Nation’s Worst Team
If you thought Hawaii was bad, maybe you missed the Connecticut-Fresno State game. The Huskies didn’t play a game last season and it’s hard to say that they really played in this one. They were walloped 45-0 by Fresno State and it’s hard to point out a single thing that they did right.
UConn quarterbacks combined for 72 yards passing. That’s a pathetic 2.4 yards per completion, in case you were wondering. Maybe the positive was that they didn’t throw an interception but lead man Zach Zergiotis did lose a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. As far as the defense went, it allowed Fresno State to do whatever it wanted. The Bulldogs had two one-play touchdown drives – one spanned 61 yards and the second was 86.
UConn finished the day with just 107 yards of offense while going 2 of 16 on third downs. It’s going to be a really long year for this team.
