DEL OLALEYE
College football report: New coaches in high profile jobs are struggling
Sep 19, 2018, 7:01 am
Willie Taggart and Scott Frost may have been two of the most high profile hires coming into the 2018 season. Unfortunately for Florida State and Nebraska, offseason hype isn’t transitioning to on-field success. The two blueblood programs are a combined 1-4 through the first three weeks of the season.
Taggart’s team is dealing with injuries and a talent deficit on their offensive line and was nearly shut out by a bad Syracuse defense on Saturday while Frost’s Nebraska team lost its second straight one score game at home. Losing to Colorado in your first game isn’t a complete disaster. That Troy loss is probably sitting differently with the Nebraska faithful. Winless going into the start of Big Ten play was not the beginning Huskers fans had in mind. Playing a walk-on quarterback likely wasn’t on the agenda either. The health of freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez will likely determine the fate of Frost’s first season with Big Red.
It has been nothing short of brutal in Westwood for the biggest offseason hire not named Jimbo Fisher. Losing to Cincinnati in the first week was bad. Dropping one to Oklahoma was expected. Even the margin of defeat wasn’t considered outrageous. Getting beat by Fresno State at home might have the most reactionary starting to question whether Kelly has lost it. Fresno State under former Cal coach Jeff Tedford isn’t a bad program but getting dominated at home by an in-state Group of Five school isn’t the best way to maintain any semblance of off-season momentum. Throw in the father of the freshman starting quarterback taking you apart on twitter and the Chip Kelly era couldn’t have started worse.
I don’t normally think about Kansas football. Hell, I don’t ever think about the state of Kansas. This will probably be the only time Kansas gets any space in one of my writeups to be honest. Just a friendly reminder that Kansas has a real shot to go 3-1 as they travel to Waco to play Baylor. The only reason the Jayhawks aren’t 3-0 right now is because they somehow lost to Nicholls State at home in Week 1. That is a very Kansas football thing to do by the way. Kansas hasn’t won a Big 12 game since they effectively ended Charlie Strong’s tenure at Texas in 2016. The Jayhawks go on the road to face a Baylor team who just lost at home to a Duke team who was starting their backup quarterback. Waco is as good a place as any to end their losing streak to Power 5 teams.
There is never a bad time to root against Notre Dame but when they’re in the top 10 and look vulnerable it is even better. The Fighting Irish go on the road to face a Wake Forest team that is a little salty. Throw in a noon start and an inept Notre Dame offense and you have a chance for a rush the field moment in Winston Salem. Do college kids still rush the field?
It took Auburn pooping down their own leg to ruin my perfect record. War Eagle blew a double-digit lead at home to team who’s quarterback finished the game 15-of-34. LSU got their second top-10 win of the year to become one of the early season darlings. Gus Malzahn got himself that contract extension after beating Alabama and Georgia in 2017 and is now 1-3 against ranked teams since.
The Houston Texans came into this draft with many anticipating they would trade up to address their need on the offensive line. Instead, the Texans elected to trade back to pick No. 34 after agreeing to a deal with the Giants.
The Texans also receive pick number 99, and a 2026 third-round selection.
🚨 We’ve traded pick 25 to the Giants for pick 34, 99 and a 2026 third-rounder 🚨 pic.twitter.com/SZWhBVKHlS
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) April 25, 2025
When Ohio State's offensive lineman Donovan Jackson and Texas receiver Matthew Golden went off the board right in front of them, the Texans decided to go with a contingency plan, it seems.
We'll have to wait until Friday night to see what the Texans do with their picks.