Daily briefing: On Scott Frost’s firing, Texas’ progress and blowout wins by … Syracuse

Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:

Scott Frost and finances

Give credit to Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts for his forthrightness in explaining why he decided to fire coach Scott Frost three games into the season. “We owed it to the players to give them a different voice. Perhaps a slightly different vision,” Alberts said. The university will pay Frost a $15 million buyout. Had Nebraska waited until October 1 – two more games (No. 6 Oklahoma on Saturday and Indiana on October 1) – it would have owed Frost half as much. Urgency and action are all well and good, but the $7.5 million Alberts is spending because of impatience would make a dent in a few non-revenue sports. It would pay a year or two of the next coach’s salary. Nebraska has that kind of money because a decade ago it bolted the Big 12 for the financial security of the Big Ten. In other words, the Huskers are using the extra money to buy out coaches who can’t compete in the league they moved into to get the extra money. That is College Football Finance 101 these days.

Texas moves into top 25 after loss

We saw one measure of the progress Texas has made under Steve Sarkisian on Saturday, when the Longhorns outplayed Alabama, only to lose 20-19 on a 33-yard field goal by Will Reichard with 10 seconds left. Here’s another: The AP thinks No. 21 Texas is the first team to lose a game and enter the top 25 since Missouri in 1997 fell to No. 1 Nebraska 45-38 in overtime in the “Flea Kicker.” And a third: In 2022, Alabama signed one player in Texas. In the four previous years, Nick Saban signed 13 Texans, including wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. If Sarkisian continues to develop the prospects he kept in-state, the ’Horns will be back from their 13-year vacation.

Offense-minded Syracuse

Only two schools have beaten two FBS opponents by 24 points or more: No. 4 Michigan – and Syracuse, the consensus pick to finish last in the ACC Atlantic. The Orange, which hasn’t had a winning season in four years, has a revivified offense led by fourth-year quarterback Garrett Shrader, who has blossomed in the offense of new coordinator Robert Anae. Shrader ranks fourth in the FBS in passing efficiency at 206.12, nearly double his rating last season (113.71), and has rushed for 119 yards and three touchdowns as well. Having a running back like sophomore Sean Tucker (105.0 yards per game) will keep any defense from focusing on Shrader. Syracuse needs momentum going into the back half of its schedule, when the softest touch may be Notre Dame. There’s a sentence (and an entire note) I didn’t see coming on September 12.