There are 25 unbeaten FBS teams remaining and seven still searching for their first win of the season.
Few teams have been more pleasant surprises than BYU, Duke, Indiana, Illinois and Pittsburgh, which have all started 4-0 after being picked to finish toward the bottom of their respective league standings in the preseason.
But there have been disappointing starts for others. Can those seasons still be salvaged? Or has hope been completely dashed?
Here’s a look at the six most disappointing teams of the college football season, in reverse order, through Week 4:
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Record: 2-2
The Hokies’ hopes of winning an ACC title and eclipsing BetMGM’s over/under for wins (8.5) are still very much alive, but Brent Pry’s team has underwhelmed with an overtime loss at Vanderbilt in Week 1 followed by a 26-23 loss at home to Rutgers this past weekend. Virginia Tech was favored in both of those losses.
Brent Pry’s Virginia Tech Hokies are 2-2 with losses to Vanderbilt and Rutgers. (Greg Fiume / Getty Images)
The encouraging news from the weekend is that Virginia Tech’s run defense performed much better (153 yards allowed on 52 attempts) against the Scarlet Knights than it had in previous weeks. Rutgers is 3-0, and Vanderbilt just gave top-10 ranked Missouri all it could handle. The Hokies open ACC play Friday at eighth-ranked Miami (4-0) as 17-point underdogs. Maybe playing spoiler suits Pry’s team better.
Record: 2-2
Shawn Clark’s squad got spanked by Clemson 66-20 on Sept. 7, but it was Thursday’s surprising 48-14 home loss to South Alabama that landed the Mountaineers on our list. It was the most points allowed by App State to a league foe since 2017 and the third straight game during which the Mountaineers fell behind by multiple touchdowns before their offense got going.
Quarterback Joey Aguilar — the Sun Belt’s preseason offensive player of the year — ranks 84th in quarterback rating in the FBS and ninth in his league. But the worst part has been App State’s defense, which is last in the league in points allowed (35.8) and second in yards allowed per play (7.03).
Things don’t get any easier this week with 4-0 Conference USA leader Liberty heading to Boone. The Flames are three-point favorites, and a loss basically would knock App State out of the running for the one Group of 5 spot up for grabs in the 12-team College Football Playoff. Clark’s team needs to get its act together fast.
Record: 2-2
Poor quarterback play and turnovers are the reasons the Tigers are in danger of failing to meet expectations and their over/under for wins (7.5) in Hugh Freeze’s second season. Auburn lost its SEC opener 24-14 to Arkansas amid five turnovers. That came two weeks after Cal went to Jordan-Hare Stadium as a double-digit underdog and took the ball away five times in a 21-14 victory. Auburn is tied for last among all FBS teams with Temple with a minus-10 turnover margin for the season, and the Tigers’ 14 giveaways are tied with East Carolina for the most.
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Freeze has shuffled quarterbacks Payton Thorne and Hank Brown in and out of the lineup but has yet to solve the dilemma. Now, another team with quarterback issues, Oklahoma, visits Saturday as a three-point favorite.
Record: 2-2
Remember when Dave Doeren’s team started the season ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press poll and people were calling the Wolfpack dark horses to win the ACC with Grayson McCall at quarterback? It’s looking like quite another ordinary season in Raleigh after Clemson and Tennessee took turns beating up the Wolfpack this month.
What has happened to Tony Gibson’s defense? NC State lost star linebacker Peyton Wilson to the NFL, but Sean Brown, Caden Fordham and Aydan White weren’t supposed to allow things to get this bad this quickly. One major problem is the lack of a pass rush (four sacks in four games). A banged-up McCall, meanwhile, watched freshman CJ Bailey start in his place against Clemson. Bailey is one of the few bright spots moving forward. Northern Illinois, which knocked off Notre Dame, visits Raleigh this weekend as an 8.5-point underdog. The season can still be salvaged, but a loss to NIU would be a bad blow.
Record: 1-3
The over/under for wins at Kansas this season was 8.5, and the Jayhawks were considered viable candidates to win the Big 12 with a No. 22 preseason ranking. But outside of a 48-3 win over Lindenwood back on Aug. 29, things have not gone well in tough-to-stomach losses to Illinois, UNLV and West Virginia. The Illini and Rebels have remained unbeaten, but last weekend’s loss at West Virginia really stings: It’s a league loss, and the Jayhawks led by 11 points midway through the fourth quarter.
A healthy Jalon Daniels was supposed to make all the difference for Lance Leipold’s team this season. But Daniels has been a turnover machine. His seven interceptions are the second-most among Power 4 quarterbacks behind only Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles (eight). If there’s reason for hope, it’s Kansas’ defense. The Jayhawks are allowing only 4.83 yards per play (seventh in the Big 12) and 20.3 points per game (eighth in the league).
If Daniels can protect the ball, Kansas could turn its season around. TCU visits Kansas this weekend, and the Horned Frogs are 1.5-point underdogs.
Record: 1-3
Mike Norvell’s squad put an end to its misery by solving the Calgorithm with a 14-9 win over the previously unbeaten Bears over the weekend in Tallahassee. But make no mistake, the preseason 10th-ranked Seminoles — picked by the media to repeat as ACC champions — are pretty much locked into this spot for the remainder of the season barring a spectacular turnaround.
It took seven sacks to stop Cal and quarterback Fernando Mendoza from rallying the Bears to victory Saturday. Adam Fuller’s defense disappointed when it gave up 190 rushing yards to Georgia Tech and 263 a week later in another loss to Boston College. But DJ Uiagalelei and the Seminoles’ offense have been anemic at best. He’s the lowest-rated starting quarterback in the ACC, and FSU ranks 126th in scoring (15 points per game) and 126th yards per game (276.5). Unless the Seminoles’ offense comes to life, Florida State will not win at SMU on Saturday or win many of their remaining games on the schedule.
(Top photos of DJ Uiagalelei, left, and Jalon Daniels: Charles McQuillan, Ed Zurga / Getty Images)
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Publish date : 2024-09-22 22:00:00
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