Seven-Step Drop: West Coast Losses Put a Damper on Week 1 Enthusiasm

All 234 days of the offseason has made every college football fan hungry. Each long day without the sport tends to make us that much keener for a new season to begin. 

As a result of this, we tend to overreact about Week 1 more than others because we are suddenly presented with an all-you-can-eat buffet of games over one long weekend. When you’ve been famished for so long, overeating is a natural side effect.

This takes hold in many forms. Who could forget the Kenny Trill era at Texas A&M last year, or when Auburn had to hold on against a lowly Washington State team in the opener in 2013? It can be dangerous to overreact during Week 1 but it doesn’t mean we can’t learn a few lessons. 

One thing we figured out early on was that the Pac-12 reputation did not get the bounce the league wanted. Following a fantastic postseason run that nearly brought a national title to the West Coast, Week 1 did not keep the momentum going. A pair of road favorites in Stanford and Colorado fell, while Washington State looked anemic in a loss to FCS Portland State. It also didn’t help that Arizona State, in a rare matchup of Pac-12 and SEC teams, looked like it was on its heels the entire game against Texas A&M.

There is good football being played on the West Coast, and the league’s elite teams still look primed to compete to get into the College Football Playoff. But, rightly or wrongly, the conference faces an issue when it comes to respect from the rest of the country, and bad starts like the one the Pac-12 had don’t help perception to begin the season. Teams can only do so much about exposure and time zones, but the bottom line is results matter, and in this day and age, West Coast losses seem to have a greater impact than the West Coast wins.

Steve Dykes/Getty Images

There were positives, don’t get me wrong. The Los Angeles schools took care of business against overmatched opponents and looked good doing it. Oregon’s offense appears to be humming right along with Vernon Adams (even if the defense was a little leaky). Utah made the most of the dawn of the Jim Harbaugh era by grabbing a win. As a league, they still captured a pair of wins over Power Five opponents, more than all but the SEC can lay claim to.

And as bad as the Pac-12’s weekend was, it was not the only conference in a leaky boat. The Big Ten finished just 7-6 overall, and 3-6 against FBS teams, ahead of Ohio State’s Labor Day showdown with Virginia Tech. Of those seven wins, just one came against a Power Five opponent, and the six others were made of victories over FCS and MAC opponents. Indiana was nearly upset by FCS foe Southern Illinois and held on for the win despite giving up 659 yards of offense and 47 points.

Still, Pac-12 fans should be used to the ridicule by now when one of their teams falls to a lowly opponent. West Coast football can, and should, be doing more to stand out on the field. Week 2 offers a quick fix to help change perception, but it’s up to the 12 teams to make it happen.

Stats of the Week

- TCU is 20-1 when ranked in the top five under head coach Gary Patterson. Following a win against Minnesota, the Horned Frogs are also 95-3 under Patterson when allowing 17 points or less.

- Iowa’s 99-yard scoring drive against Illinois State was the team’s first drive of that length in 13 years.

- Texas and Penn State each ran just 52 plays in their losses Saturday. Georgia, which canceled its game with 9:54 left in the fourth quarter, also ran just 52 plays but managed to rack up 92 yards more than the Longhorns and Nittany Lions did combined.

- Counting Illinois’ Bill Cubit, new head coaches went just 8-8 in their respective openers.

- Oklahoma’s Dru Samia became just the third true freshman to start at offensive tackle for the Sooners.

- Baylor set a school record against SMU with 10.48 yards per play.

- BYU’s last-second heroics to steal a win in Lincoln ended Nebraska’s 29-game win streak in season openers, dating back to 1985. Florida has the longest active streak at 25 games.

"

The #CFB games so far this week have averaged 56.2 total points. If this holds, it will be the highest scoring week 1 ever. #Offense

— SportSourceAnalytics (@SportSourceA) September 6, 2015"

(All statistics via press releases or school websites unless otherwise noted.)

Quote of the Week

From LSU head coach Les Miles, following the cancellation of the Tigers’ game against McNeese State.

Tweet of the Week

SB Nation’s Matt Brown, just seconds before BYU’s wild Hail Mary to beat Nebraska.

"

BYU bout to dial up a Hail Joseph here

— Matt Brown (@MattSBN) September 5, 2015"

Play of the Week

Sound from Saturday

Via Cougar IMG radio network, BYU play-by-play man Greg Wrubell goes absolutely crazy when Mitch Matthews catches a Hail Mary from Tanner Mangum.

Pre-snap Reads

Oregon at Michigan State

Both defenses could use a little work after a shaky Week 1 performance in which each gave up some big plays in the passing game. The Spartans will no doubt be looking for revenge, but they might not have enough to contain the Ducks again. It will be a close, back-and-forth affair, but Vernon Adams will prove to be the difference-maker in a win. 

Oklahoma at Tennessee

Are the Vols back? We’ll find out early in this game against Oklahoma, which finds itself a slight road favorite heading into Knoxville (minus-3, per Odds Shark). The Air Raid offense of new coordinator Lincoln Riley appeared sharp in OU’s opener with new QB Baker Mayfield at the helm. Both have to be licking their chops at facing a defense that gave up plenty of big plays to Bowling Green. Look for a few big plays early from each team before the invading Big 12 squad pulls away.

LSU at Mississippi State

The Tigers essentially punted in Week 1 after cancelling their opener, so we’re not exactly sure what kind of progress starting signal-caller Brandon Harris has made. Still, any improvement in the passing game should help lessen the load on Heisman candidate Leonard Fournette. MSU looked a little out of rhythm in its first game, but it does have the edge in experience with Dak Prescott back. Special teams will prove to be the difference in this one, as LSU sneaks out of Starkville with a win.

You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.