Florida State’s terrible start is unique.
The Seminoles became the ninth team in the AP Poll era to start the season with an 0-3 record after being ranked in the top 10 in the preseason poll following a 20-12 loss to Memphis on Saturday. The Seminoles had three first-half turnovers in the loss as Memphis’ defense was fearless against Florida State’s passing game.
What sets FSU apart from the other eight teams ranked in the preseason top 10 are its opponents. Florida State is the first team in the group to have lost all three of its games against unranked teams. The other eight teams lost to at least one ranked opponent in their opening stretch of the season.
Florida State opened the season hoping to win the ACC and make the College Football Playoff. Now, the Seminoles are simply hoping to make it to a bowl game. Florida State needs a 6-3 record in its final nine games to make a bowl game.
If history is any guide, it won’t be an easy task. Only three of the eight top-10 teams that started 0-3 finished with a winning record.
Things are tough in Tallahassee and the symbolism couldn’t have been more apparent when the fire alarm began to sound at the end of coach Mike Norvell’s postgame news conference.
Florida State isn’t the only team that’s gotten off to a horrible start. Here are some of the other teams that have disappointed during the first three weeks of the season.
Florida (1-2): Florida’s daunting schedule made a winning season a tall order heading into the 2024 season. And Florida is lucky Florida State didn’t win because otherwise the Gators would be the most disappointing team in college football.
Florida didn’t stand a chance at home on Saturday in a 33-20 loss to Texas A&M. Coach Billy Napier put Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway at quarterback, and neither played well. Mertz threw an intercepted touchdown pass in the second half that extended the Aggies’ lead to 26 points and ended any hopes of a miraculous Florida comeback.
The Gators have been ineffective and undisciplined against Miami and Texas A&M this season. That’s a terrible combination. Next week’s game at Mississippi State is a big test. Either the Gators get back to .500 and have some hope, or the season begins to fall apart with a 1-3 record.
Kansas (1-2): The Jayhawks lost 23-20 to UNLV on Friday night after losing at Illinois in Week 2. Kansas’ offense looks much different with former assistant coach Andy Kotelnicki now calling plays for Penn State. QB Jalon Daniels was the Big 12’s preseason player of the year in 2023, but he has six interceptions in the first three games of 2024 and has completed just 55% of his passes. KU scored 35 points per game last season despite Daniels being out for much of it with a back injury. The Jayhawks have 37 total points in their two games against FBS opponents this season.
And if you needed a video to recap what KU’s loss to UNLV looked like, we’ve got you covered.
Michigan (2-1): The Wolverines are the only team on this list with a winning record. And there’s a reason Michigan is disappointing: its quarterback play.
The good news is that starter Davis Warren caught every pass he attempted in Saturday’s 28-18 win over Arkansas State. The bad news is that three of Warren’s 14 passes were caught by Red Wolves players.
Warren threw for just 122 yards, and it’s clear that quarterback is Michigan’s biggest shortcoming so far this season. After winning the quarterback competition against Alex Orji, Warren has thrown six interceptions and just 444 yards in three games. Orji probably won’t be the option to jumpstart the passing game, either. He’s attempted just six passes all season and is used primarily in running situations.
It’s surprising that Michigan hasn’t made a major push for a transfer quarterback following JJ McCarthy’s departure for the NFL. And if neither Warren nor Orji make a big jump soon, the most important position on offense will be the one that keeps Michigan from competing for a Big Ten title.
Here are the rest of this week’s winners and losers.
Winners
No. 9 Oregon: The Ducks looked much better against Oregon State than they did against Idaho and Boise State. Oregon crushed in-state rival Oregon State 49-14 on Saturday in a game that showed why Dillon Gabriel is a Heisman contender. Gabriel completed 20 of 24 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for a 54-yard touchdown. The win is Oregon’s first at Oregon State since 2018 in a rivalry that thankfully continued despite the dissolution of the Pac-12.
Washington State: The Cougars scored one for the remaining Pac-12 members in a 24-19 win over Washington. Washington State stopped Washington on an option play to the short side of the field on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 1:07 left.
Washington ran that option play on quarterback Will Rogers, a player not known for his running skills and who came into the game with minus-300 career rushing yards (yards per catch count against quarterbacks in college football).
The Huskies committed two offsides penalties after using their final two timeouts. The second penalty allowed Washington State to run out the clock.
Pitt: The Panthers sure know how to be dramatic. After beating Cincinnati on a field goal in the Week 2 finale, Pitt got a 1-yard touchdown run from Derrick Davis Jr. with 34 seconds left to win the Backyard Brawl 38-34 over West Virginia. Eli Holstein threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 59 yards as the game featured three second-half lead changes.
Pitt led 24-17 midway through the third quarter before West Virginia scored 17 straight points to take a 10-point lead with 4:55 left. The Panthers cut the lead to seven points with 3:06 left and quickly got the ball back for the game-winning drive after forcing a three-and-out.
State of Arizona:The Sun Devils earned a nice 31-28 win Thursday night at Texas State to move to 3-0. The win in San Marcos comes after ASU beat Mississippi State in Tempe (Texas State beat UTSA 49-10 in Week 2). RB Cam Skattebo scored twice after having 33 carries for 262 yards against the Bulldogs. Arizona State’s Big 12 schedule is tough; the Sun Devils have four games against ranked opponents and play just two teams that didn’t make the bowls in 2023. But there are real signs of life in Kenny Dillingham’s second season in charge.
Losers
Purdue: The Boilermakers were the game that set Notre Dame in motion. The Fighting Irish put up nearly 400 yards of offense in the first half alone in a 66-7 win. Purdue was picked to finish last in the Big Ten preseason poll and there was nothing to take away from Saturday’s game to prove that prediction wrong. The Boilermakers totaled just 162 total yards and turned the ball over twice, while Notre Dame averaged eight yards per carry.
South Carolina: It hurts to blow a 17-point lead at home. Especially when you average six yards per carry and have touchdown runs of 75 and 66 yards. And that’s exactly what happened in the Gamecocks’ 36-33 loss to No. 16 LSU. South Carolina had a chance to send the game into overtime as time expired, but Alex Herrera’s 49-yard field goal went wide left.
Coach Shane Beamer was quick to blame his team’s 13 fouls for 123 yards as a contributing factor to the loss. South Carolina’s lack of a passing attack may continue to haunt it, too. LaNorris Sellers was hampered by an ankle injury, but he and Robby Ashford completed just 11 of 20 passes for 155 yards, and Sellers threw an interception.
