College Football Week 1 isn’t completely in the books just yet, but here are three worst losses so far starting with Colorado football’s win over TCU.
The first full week of the 2023 college football season has been wild, just like always and it was Colorado football that stole the show on Saturday.
In the first game of Deion Sanders as head coach, Colorado football knocked off 17th-ranked TCU, which also happened to be the national runner-up in 2022.
The Horned Frogs graduated a bunch of starters, but they have talent. So the win by Colorado was impressive. It was also a terrible start to the season for the Horned Frogs.
Was it the worst loss of College Football Week 1? We rank the three worst defeats so far in the 2023 college football season starting with Nebraska football’s choke job at Minnesota.
3. Nebraska football blows it once again
No program has lost more one-score games or blown more fourth-quarter leads over the past five seasons than Nebraska football.
Matt Rhule was supposed to fix that. That’s why he’s the head coach and not Scott Frost. But the final five minutes sure looked like the Huskers of the Frost era.
Outside of a bad interception on a goal-to-go situation and a false start that took a touchdown off the board, Nebraska had the ball and a first down with about five minutes to go. Anthony Grant just crossed the 50 on a run when he fumbled.
Nebraska football had about a 94-percent chance to win. Minnesota tied the game on a 4th-and-10 touchdown, then, after a third Jeff Sims interception, the Gophers got in field goal range to win with a walk-off.
For Nebraska football fans, it can’t be described as anything but brutal.
2. Texas Tech blows a 17-point lead
The Red Raiders opened the season with high expectations and there’s still hope that Texas Tech can compete for the Big 12 title or at least a shot at the title game.
In the opener against Wyoming, Red Raider fans had to feel great about those chances following the first quarter as the Red Raiders built a 17-0 lead.
Winning at Wyoming isn’t easy. Missouri lost a game there a few years ago and it wouldn’t shock me if other college football teams decide to skip going to Wyoming for non-conference games in future years.
Tyler Shough started the game 6-for-6 with 91 yards. He threw three touchdowns total and 331 yards. However, there was a key interception.
Flat out, the Red Raiders shouldn’t have lost the game. They out-gained Wyoming (431-320); and had more first-downs. Texas Tech just didn’t execute when it needed to. Penalties were costly and Wyoming quarterback Andrew Peasley was just clutch, including a seven-yard touchdown on fourth down to keep the game going in overtime before the Cowboys won in 2OT.
Like Nebraska, Texas Tech squandered a golden opportunity for a season-opening win.
1. TCU beaten as a 21-point favorite
The biggest surprise in College Football Week 1 was the upset win by Colorado football over TCU, although Coach Deion Sanders wasn’t surprised. The Buffaloes were 21-point underdogs but scored 45 points. CU got 510 yards passing and four touchdowns from Shedeur Sanders, who announced his Heisman candidacy.
Travis Hunter caught 11 passes for 113 yards. He also intercepted a pass and had a pass breakup in one of the most impressive two-way performances we’ve seen in years in college football.
Still, the Horned Frogs controlled the Colorado defense. TCU rushed for 262 yards, which was 207 more than Colorado. They also lost the turnover battle and one of those turnovers came in the red zone on a spectacular interception by Hunter.
The poor tackling killed TCU and Dylan Edwards took advantage, especially on the last touchdown. He scored four touchdowns in total. Chandler Morris had some great moments, which was positive, but this is a game TCU easily could have won.