Week 1 is in full swing

Overreacting to Week 0 performances

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Week 1 will bring more answers

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“UNLV might be pretty good this year” Or Idaho St. might be really, really bad this year. The Bengals were picked 11^th (of 12) in the Big Sky preseason poll and let UNLV hit big play after big play—including 35 points in the second quarter. While the Rebels may be improved this year, it’s tough to gather too much playing against a team with 51 (!) new players on the roster. Frankly, it’s a little concerning that they allowed Idaho St. to get three scores, one of which came when the game was still competitive. Let us remember 2015, when the Rebels walloped ISU in a 80-8 rout. UNLV’s record that year? 3-9. Still, Doug Brumfield looked great and the recruiting efforts from Marcus Arroyo are starting to bear some fruit. The true test for the Rebels will come in a week when they travel to Berkeley for a tilt with Cal.

“Timmy Chang might be in over his head”  Hawaii’s performance vs. Vanderbilt was rough, there’s no way around that one. Is it time to declare that Chang can’t succeed as a head coach? Absolutely not. As was pointed out on Twitter, June Jones’ first game at UH was a 62-7 loss to a 6-6 USC team in 1999.

June Jones’ first game with Hawaii, losing to a 6-6 USC in 1999 pic.twitter.com/J1JjTJ8lGM

— Tanner Haworth 🔊 (@TannerHaworth) August 28, 2022

It will take Chang—who had no previous head coaching experience—some time to figure it out. The Rainbow Warriors will get a much easier test this week vs. Western Kentucky, who at times struggled with FCS Austin Peay in Week 0.

“Utah St. is headed for a down year after struggling to put away UCONN”  Despite winning 31-20 last Saturday, Utah St.’s performance was a little head scratching—or was it? UCONN has been absolutely horrific the last few years but the hiring of Jim Mora has clearly brought new life to the program. This is obviously not the same UCONN team that was clowned by Holy Cross last year and while Utah St.’s run defense (or lack thereof) was concerning, it may not look all that bad after a few more weeks of play. Now, the Aggies get a chance at a moral victory vs. Alabama this week (as 42 point underdogs, covering the game will count as a moral victory at this point). It’s not quite time to pull the panic button in Logan yet.

“Nevada didn’t miss a beat after losing Norvell and the majority of last year’s roster”  Nevada beat New Mexico St. 23-12 in Week 0 when a lot of pundits had the Wolfpack on upset alert. They won, yes, but they did it in the least impressive way possible as the Aggies missed field goals, threw multiple interceptions on the Nevada side of the field and gave away a fumble. Say what you will about NMSU’s performance but Nevada’s was equally concerning (ok, maybe not equally). Given the stat line, Nevada should have rolled the Aggies but somehow the game felt somewhat in doubt during the second half. The 11 point win is deceiving and the Wolfpack are on upset alert this week, this time at home vs. Texas St. A strong performance vs. the Bobcats will actually bring renewed optimism to Nevada’s “rebuild,” but considering the spread has gone from Texas St. +8 to Texas St. +1, most aren’t “buying” Nevada’s Week 0 performance.

“Wyoming didn’t look that bad, maybe Illinois will be one of the better teams in the Big Ten”  Is this the beginning of the end for the Craig Bohl era at Wyoming? The Cowboys looked horrific vs. Illinois. Andrew Peasley, Wyoming’s QB, threw for a total of  30 yards (and a pick). The defense wasn’t much better. It was expected to be a down year for the Cowboys after losing most of their key pieces to the transfer portal but I don’t think anyone expected this. Who knows, maybe Illinois will be the surprise team in the Big Ten this year and Wyoming will be “friskier” as the new faces start to gel but that’s the best case scenario. The far more likely scenario is that Illinois is a bottom half Big Ten team and Wyoming is one of the worst FBS teams in the country this year. Bohl’s seat is warming by the minute.

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