College Football 2019: Studs, duds and thuds from Week 1

Thuds

Tennessee

We already mentioned how the bottom of the SEC looked, but Tennessee needs to be talked about again. They paid Georgia State hundreds of thousands of dollars to come to Neyland Stadium, and then they lost to that team. Jeremy Pruitt has a chance to bounce back against BYU, but a potential loss in Week 2 would certainly put the head coach on the hot seat.

Chip Kelly

Another man on the hot seat, Chip Kelly did not look good as the head coach for UCLA. He can’t have another 3-9 season, but opening with a loss to Cincinnati might foreshadow how the rest of this year goes.

Willie Taggart

Man, it was a really bad week for second-year head coaches. Another team that we expected to be on the rise is Florida State, but it opened with a loss to Boise State. The Seminoles appeared to have the game in hand, but they just couldn’t close it out. With a loss like that, I don’t see Taggart getting much of a leash. Florida State might still be looking for Jimbo Fisher’s true replacement.

Planning by Ole Miss

Years ago, Ole Miss came up with a plan to recruit the state of Tennessee. They scheduled games against Memphis in hopes of stealing some of those recruits from the Tigers. However, the plan has wildly backfired. They haven’t played well against Memphis in the past, and it happened again in Week 1. The Rebels travelled to Memphis and left with a loss. That’s not a good sign for this season, and it surely won’t help them get any recruits.

It’s hard to put a ton of stock in anything that happens in the first week of college football. Teams will need some time to develop. However, these teams are certainly starting the year behind the 8-ball. We’ll see what they can do with the other 11 games on their schedule.