NCAAF Dirty Dozen: Dorrell Buffaloed After 0-5 Start at Colorado
Last Two FBS Winless Teams Reside in Rocky Mountain State
Another week and another of the programs at the bottom of the major college football world made a coaching change. Colorado’s Karl Dorrell was let go after the Buffaloes gave up 43 points to an Arizona team that might be the second-worst team in the Pac-12.
With Georgia State picking up its first win of 2022, that leaves Colorado and Colorado State as the only two teams at the FBS level without a win this season.
With Georgia Tech, Boston College, and Florida International picking up victories, they played their way right out of the Dirty Dozen, the weekly feature by BetUS of the worst teams in major college football.
Unlike last week, when there were some 20-point spreads according to the sportsbook, it is a different story in Week 6 with Nebraska and Georgia State favored this week.
12. Utah State Aggies
It has been quite the reversal of fortune for the defending Mountain West champions.
Seeing Utah State struggling to put away UConn in the season opener provided a glimpse of what was yet to come. The Aggies have lost four games in a row after a 38-26 loss to Brigham Young.
The Aggies might have pulled the upset if not for three turnovers and that includes two interceptions by Cooper Legas as he filled in for injured starter Logan Bonner. Brian Cobbs continues his strong season as two of his 10 catches went for touchdowns.
It doesn’t get much easier with 4-1 Air Force coming in for a Saturday night showdown. The college football odds list the Aggies as 10½-point underdogs.
11. Northwestern Wildcats
Northwestern held nationally ranked and undefeated Penn State to a field goal in the second half. However, other than a 47-yard touchdown catch by Jacob Gill, the Wildcats couldn’t get into the end zone.
With the lone win of 2022 coming against Nebraska, it is only fair that Northwestern is ahead of Nebraska in this week’s Dirty Dozen.
Next up is a matchup with a Wisconsin team that just made a coaching change so the Badgers will have plenty of motivation in that one.
10. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Nebraska avoided its 10th straight loss against FBS competition as Casey Thompson ran for one touchdown and threw for another in the fourth quarter to lead the Cornhuskers to a 35-21 win over visiting Indiana. A special teams touchdown also played a role in the win.
Look at the #Huskers celebrate Malcolm Hartzog’s touchdown. Freshman from Mississippi earned his first career start tonight, then scores on special teams.
Nebraska’s first blocked punt TD since 2009.@iammalcolmhart1 #Huskers @1011_News pic.twitter.com/HWakD1lW6M
— Kevin Sjuts (@kevinsjuts) October 2, 2022
Anthony Grant ran for 136 yards and Garrett Nelson had a pair of sacks as Nebraska improved to 1-1 in Big Ten play. The Cornhuskers took full advantage of their bye week for the team to get acclimated to a new way of doing things after head coach Scott Frost was fired after a home loss to Georgia Southern.
Next up is Rutgers and that is a game that could go either way. Nebraska is listed by the college football picks as a three-point favorite.
9. UConn Huskies
What a difference a year makes.
When UConn faced Fresno State in the 2021 season opener, the Huskies allowed 538 yards in a 45-0 loss. When the teams met in Connecticut on Saturday, the Huskies held Fresno State to 187 yards to pull off the 19-14 upset when listed by the college football betting lines as a 23½-point underdog.
It was their first win against a team from the Football Bowl Subdivision conference since a 2017 victory against Tulsa. It was the first time UConn held an FBS team under 200 yards since a 2015 affair against Tulane.
Going on the road against a Florida International University team, the Huskies go after their first back-to-back wins since 2017.
8. Georgia State Panthers
Georgia State finally picked up its first win of 2022 after some near misses by beating Army 31-14.
The Panthers had been close to securing a victory with a seven-point loss to North Carolina and 42-41 defeat to Charlotte.
Tucker Gregg and Jamyest Williams both went over 100 rushing yards in the win.
Now they welcome rival Georgia Southern to town for a Saturday afternoon tilt.
7. Army Black Knights
This is another team yet to beat an FBS team in 2022. The Black Knights fell to previously winless Georgia State at home.
The Army defense wilted down the stretch as Georgia State scored on touchdowns of 57 and 56 yards in the three minutes en route to the 31-14 win.
Army’s lone win came against FCS Villanova and there was an overtime loss to UTSA as well.
Now the Black Knights go on the road to face Wake Forest. When the teams played in 2021, the result was a wild 70-56 win for the Demon Deacons so that will be a game that should be on the radar of those who bet online.
6. Akron Zips
We reluctantly include Akron as part of the Dirty Dozen because the Zips deserve credit for scheduling back-to-back games against teams from the Big Ten (Michigan State) and SEC (Tennessee).
However, facing teams from the Power-5 Conferences is not enough. Akron was outscored 115-6 in those two contests. That was followed by losses to Liberty and Bowling Green. The Bowling Green contest could have gone either way, but Akron never led in the game after an interception return for a touchdown forced the Zips to try to play catch-up for the rest of the game.
Akron is 10th out of 12 teams in the Mid-American Conference in both total offense and total defense so it is a work in progress in many areas.
5. New Mexico State Aggies
The loser of a matchup between two teams in the Dirty Dozen is going to have to expect to be featured prominently in the next week’s rankings.
The Aggies managed a mere 221 yards in a 21-7 loss to a one-win Florida International team.
New Mexico State punted on six of the first seven possessions, and it wasn’t as if it was squaring off with a defense that resembles the 2021 Georgia Bulldogs.
Neither quarterback was effective and Jamoni Jones had 50 yards to lead the offense.
4. Hawaii Rainbows
Another of the returning Dirty Dozen teams that had a week without a game to try to plug some of the leaks that are evident on both sides of the ball.
While the offense is playing nowhere near the level that it did when first-year head coach Timmy Chang was lighting things up as the quarterback for the Rainbows, defense has really been an issue.
The good news is that San Diego State joins Hawaii among the Mountain West teams yet to hit the 100-point mark this season.
Hawaii is allowing an FBS-worst 6.9 yards per carry. San Diego State is averaging 5.1 yards per carry so it will be another test for a defensive unit from Hawaii that is working four freshmen into the rotation.
3. UMass Minutemen
With a 10-0 lead at halftime, it appeared as if the Minutemen’s trip to face Eastern Michigan would result in a much-needed victory.
However, after extending the lead with the field goal on the first drive of the second half, UMass’ next four drives went for a total of 14 yards. Eastern Michigan scored three times for the 20-13 victory.
The passing game continues to get failing grades. The 67.4 yards per game leads only San Diego State among FBS teams. The Minutemen have thrown one touchdown pass with seven interceptions.
Perhaps the lone bright spot is that UMass has allowed just eight sacks in five games. After playing host to 4-1 Liberty this week, the next four games are against teams with losing records.
2. Colorado State Rams
Is there something in the water in the state of Colorado? Or, perhaps, something isn’t in the water? There are 131 FBS teams and the only two yet to win a game during the 2022 hail from Colorado.
The Rams didn’t play over the weekend and perhaps better times are coming. The next three games are against Nevada, Utah State, and Hawaii, teams that are a combined 4-11.
Colorado State has been outscored 165-43. Its running game is stuck in neutral with an FBS-low 46 rushing yards per game. The Rams have yet to rush for a touchdown and the 1.4 yards per carry is not going to get things done.
1. Colorado Buffaloes
Facing the one Pac-12 team that the struggling Buffaloes might have had a chance to hang with didn’t change the fortunes of the Colorado program.
Allowing 673 yards to an Arizona team that was averaging 427 yards per contest brought an end to Karl Dorrell’s time as the head coach of the Buffaloes. Defensive coordinator Chris Wilson was also let go as first-year offensive coordinator Mike Sanford has been named the interim head coach.
There is plenty of work that needs to be done. No team from one of the Power-5 conferences averages fewer yards than 277 through the first five games. The Buffaloes are one of three FBS teams to allow more than 500 yards per game.
Colorado won its first four games in 2020. Six of the last seven games come against teams with winning records so just getting one win could be a struggle.
