College football's biggest losers from Week 1

For some schools Week 1 could have gone a lot better

College football returned in all of its glory this past weekend, but to say it went better for some schools in comparison to others would be a massive understatement.  

There were expectations through the roof for a handful of programs such as Oregon, LSU, and Group of Five schools that had major programs on upset alert. However, as you could guess by their mention in this piece, their hopes did not come to fruition by any means.

There were a lot of teams or people that were disappointed this past weekend, but I only view five as being the "biggest losers". For example, while Utah losing was a disappointment, the Utes' season is far from over and the loss was clearly viewed as somewhat respectable as they were ranked No. 13 in the latest AP Poll. Thus, making them still in position to crash the playoff should they win out. 

Either way, a ton of things happened over the weekend that you might have missed because someone invited you to a wedding or birthday party during college football, so no need to fret. Here are college football's five biggest losers from Week 1. 

Group of Five teams' upset hopes

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So close yet so far for some of these Group of Five schools looking to pull off the upset in week 1. Starting with ECU, who had No. 13 ranked NC State on the ropes, but failed to capitalize on two field goals to tie and later win the game. After trailing by 14, the Pirates came storming back and were in position to tie the game with a PAT. Their kicker pulled it left, but was gifted another chance with five seconds left to win the game with a 41-yarder. They missed. The pirates had the better game, making life difficult for potential first round pick Devin Leary who had a QBR of 36.8 and completed just 51% of his passes, but they couldn't capitalize. ECU lost by a score of 21-20

Something about the Carolinas, after leading North Carolina by two scores at one point, App State would go on to fall behind by 20. However, the Mountaineers would surge back in the fourth quarter and get a couple two-point conversion chances, one to win one to tie. The one that would have given them the lead ended in an over throw of a wide open and backpedalling receiver who ended up falling down. After scoring with nine seconds remaining, App State tried to power in the game-tying two point conversion, but fell short. They scored 40 points in the fourth, just to lose 63-61.

The other two Group of Five teams who many had tabbed as potential teams that could pull off the upset were both Mountain West teams playing a Pac-12 school. Both San Diego State and Boise State had a chance to embarrass some Pac-12 teams like last season, but Arizona came out strong against the Aztecs beating them 38-20 and Boise State's quarterback had three early turnovers in a 34-17 loss to Oregon State. 

Not to mention, UTSA took No. 24 Houston to triple overtime but lost by two. 

All in all, not a great week for the Group of Five. 

Iowa's offense

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This game could have fell under the first category of near upsets (FCS edition), but considering how historically putrid the Hawkeyes' offense was, they deserve their own section. South Dakota State (FCS) and Iowa went down to the wire (kind of) in what might have been the least offensive game since before the forward pass was invented. The Hawkeyes finished with 166 total yards of offense, and had two turnovers. Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras had the lowest QBR imaginable at 1.1, while adding -25 yards rushing, and an interception. 

Their defense and special teams carried as punter Tory Taylor had 10 punts for 479 yards, with seven downed inside the 20. Their defense recorded two safeties, and kicker Aaron Blom made one of his two field goal attempts to get the score to seven. This game was one of the worst showings in a while. 

Nebraska

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After coming off a disappointing Week 0 loss to Northwestern, the Corn Huskers were still favored by nearly 30 points against North Dakota. However, things continued to not go as planned for Scott Frost and company. A team that was once viewed as a dark horse Big Ten contender who could knock off Oklahoma in a couple weeks, is looking as fragile as ever. 

With the game tied at seven at half-time, it took a major push in the second half to out duel North Dakota who at one point tied the game (again) at 17 late in the third. This is not how Frost and Nebraska were supposed to look this season. 

Brian Kelly and LSU

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Brian Kelly has been subject of scrutiny for a bevy of reasons whether it be how he left Notre Dame, or his fake southern accent. After Week 1, he and LSU are being scrutinized for how poor they looked all game. The Tigers trailed by as many as two touchdowns, and really didn't get any offensive production until late in the fourth quarter.

After a muffed punt put Florida State just a few yards away from scoring what could have been the dagger, the Seminoles botched a toss play and gave the ball right back. Jayden Daniels led the offense down the field and scored a touchdown as time as expired, but the Tigers had their PAT blocked. After the game there has been questions surrounding why Kelly didn't go for the win, and there has also been drama surrounding star receiver Kayshon Boutte who removed all LSU related things from his Instagram after the game.

It's already getting spicy in Baton Rouge. 

Oregon

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Utah was not the only top ranked Pac-12 team to lose this weekend, but they were only one to lose by a respectable margin. No. 11 Oregon who has since gone unranked in the latest AP Poll was absolutely throttled by Georgia. The Ducks who are now led by Dan Lanning, the former Georgia defensive coordinator, were exposed by Stetson Bennett who led the Bulldogs to a 42-3 lead by the third quarter. He dismantled the defense going 25-of-31 for 386 yards and two touchdowns. 

On the opposite side, Auburn transfer Bo Nix made inexcusable mistakes, and simply looked rattled the whole game. He completed just 56% of his passes, threw two interceptions which could have easily been four, and is now 0-4 against Georgia during his career. It wasn't all on Nix as the Oregon defense couldn't stop a cold, but many fans are questioning if Nix is actually the right guy to have behind center. The Ducks have a game against Eastern Washington this week, which should help build momentum but they do host No. 21 BYU in Week 3 in a game that ESPN's FPI now favors BYU. Oregon needs to turn it around, and quickly.