Man, what in the world is going on with these first-year coaches? Five weeks into the college football season, and it’s looking like a full-blown disaster for some of the biggest hires, with quarterback questions, execution mistakes, and full-on referendums on defense already hitting hard. All that offseason optimism? Poof, gone for teams that were even ranked in the preseason. Nobody expected miracles overnight, but the early returns are screaming that there’s way more work to do than anyone thought.
Whittingham’s Michigan Nightmare: “Toughest of His Career”
Remember how everyone said hiring Kyle Whittingham at Michigan was one of the best moves last coaching cycle, especially after Sherrone Moore got canned? Well, Whittingham himself is already calling the first half of this year the toughest stretch in his *four-decade-long* coaching legacy. Yeah, you read that right. Four decades.
The Wolverines’ Saturday loss at Minnesota? A three-turnover catastrophe, just more self-inflicted wounds that are absolutely haunting this team. Quarterback Bryce Underwood is straight-up handcuffing Jason Beck’s offense, and that’s an offense that usually knows how to get the best out of its QBs. Underwood’s confidence looks shot, with his QBR, completion rate, and rushing averages all way down compared to his freshman year. Just look at these numbers:
- Western Michigan: 12/22, 170 yds, 54.6% comp, 1 TD, 1 INT, 25.8 QBR, 9-47 rush
- Oklahoma: 9/17, 111 yds, 52.9% comp, 0 TD, 0 INT, 76.3 QBR, 18-87 rush
- UTEP: 19/25, 223 yds, 76.0% comp, 2 TD, 0 INT, 61.6 QBR, 6-22 rush
- Iowa: 17/28, 276 yds, 60.7% comp, 2 TD, 1 INT, 71.3 QBR, 14-36 rush
- at Minnesota: 10/21, 101 yds, 47.6% comp, 0 TD, 2 INT, 34.4 QBR, 10-20 rush
Winless in Big Ten play? Ouch. It makes you wonder if it’s time for Whittingham to seriously look at freshman Tommy Carr, the kid brother of Notre Dame’s CJ Carr and grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr. This is the wild stuff that happens in the NIL era: your QB1 is pulling in elite money, but the production just isn’t there.
Campbell’s Penn State Defense Is Getting EXPOSED
Over at Penn State, Matt Campbell’s Nittany Lions are also sitting at 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten. And let me tell you, when you give up a mind-boggling 413 rushing yards against Northwestern, every single thing in your program, top to bottom, needs a hard look. Campbell probably didn’t picture himself dealing with wide-scale referendums by Week 6, but here we are.
The Nittany Lions’ crowd won’t be nearly as hyped for their scheduled “narrative-setting showdown” with USC, and who can blame them? Penn State is ranking in the back half of the conference in multiple offensive categories. Plus, Campbell’s bringing in a bunch of Iowa State transfers at key positions, and they’re starting to get exposed big time.
And yeah, we gotta mention Ryan Silverfield at Arkansas too, sitting at 2-3 overall and 0-2 in conference. It’s just a rough start for a lot of guys right now.
Penn State’s showdown with USC is coming up, and with everything needing assessment in their program, you know that game is going to tell us a whole lot about whether Campbell can turn this ship around or if those Nittany Lion fans are in for an even tougher fall.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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