College football is back. Did anyone say that in Nebraska?
The 2021 season started off with a short list of five Week 0 games that still managed to deliver results that may linger into the offseason.
On the one hand, the Cornhuskers’ 30-22 loss to Illinois throws a big cloud over fourth-year coach Scott Frost. On the other hand, Illinois is off to a rocky start under new coach Bret Bielema.
Here are the winners and losers of the first Saturday of the season:
WINNERS
Illinois
By overtaking the Cornhuskers in consecutive years for the first time since 1923-24, Illinois put holes in the theory that Bielema’s first team would bring up the rear in the Big Ten. (Obviously, the new clubhouse leader for that honor belongs to Nebraska.) The signs of a competently trained team were evident: quarterback Brandon Peters at the start of the first quarter.
How does Saturday’s win change this year’s squad projections? There are still no obvious wins outside of Charlotte on October 2, but the kind of performance put together against Nebraska bodes well for Illinois’ chances against teams in a similar stratosphere – like the next week’s opponent, Texas-San Antonio, and Big Ten enemies Maryland, Purdue, Rutgers and Northwestern.
Bret Bielema
The victory will have a huge impact on Illinois confidence and bring Bielema’s recruiting efforts to life. But is anyone really surprised he hit the ground running when he returned to the Big Ten? The former Wisconsin coach has always seemed like a good candidate for Illinois for a number of reasons, from training philosophies inherited from his time with the Badgers to his ability to manifest the kind of physical state of mind. who has always played well in the conference.
UCLA
A fashionable choice to play in the Pac-12 South Division Championship and take a big step forward under Chip Kelly, UCLA started strong with a 44-10 victory over Hawaii. The Bruins burst in with a 24-point first quarter and would dominate the Rainbow Warriors on the ground, going 244 yards and four touchdowns on 5.7 yards per carry. A simple offensive game plan makes it difficult to extrapolate what a 34-point win over an opponent from Mountain West really means about the Bruins’ chances in the Pac-12, but we’ll know a lot more in a week: UCLA LSU at Pasadena next Saturday in one of the best games of a busy slate of Week 1.
ANALYSIS: Nebraska problems worsen as season opener retires
HURRICANE IDA: LSU moves its football team to Houston
GAME DAY: Lee Corso returns to ESPN after pandemic off season
LOSERS
Nebraska
This is only getting worse for a program that is two decades from the latter part of the national conversation and is now known far more for self-inflicted disasters than for playing a role in deciding the Big Ten Championship. All the foreseeable missteps were evident against Illinois, including a punt return resulting in safety, an abandoned touchdown pass, an extra run missed, a brutal passer penalty on an interception and a fumble returned by the Illinois for a touchdown – and it was right in the first half. Embarrassing? Absoutely. But it was predictable.
Scott frost
The Cornhuskers could reverse Saturday’s result and get six wins, which may be enough to regain some of the momentum and promise that once defined Frost’s tenure. How much you believe in it may depend on your answer to this question: Does a team that loses to Illinois – showing all the carelessness and inconsistency you’d expect – does it have really what it takes to navigate a schedule that includes Oklahoma, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Iowa? And if the Cornhuskers aren’t eligible for the bowl, how does new athletic director Trev Alberts sell another year of the status quo after another losing season?
Connecticut
After being out last season amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Huskies picked up where they left off in 2019 with a 45-0 loss to Fresno State, the program’s 31st loss in 34 games against the Subdivision Football Bowl competition since coach Randy Edsall returned in 2017. In his first game as an FBS Independent, UConn allowed 538 yards of attack and 25 first downs while gaining just 107 yards of 1, 7 yards per game.
Follow academic journalist Paul Myerberg on Twitter @PaulMyerberg
