How They Fared: Debut takeaways from Marcus Freeman, Billy Napier and other new Power 5 coaches in Week 1
The first full week of the college football season did not disappoint, with several new coaches in new spots featured in some of the best (or worst in a few cases) games of the weekend.
A few days ago, we highlighted some stiff Week 1 tests for guys like Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Florida’s Billy Napier, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and LSU’s Brian Kelly.
So how’d they’d fare? What about some other Power 5 coaches at new schools to start the season?
Here’s a Week 1 recap…
Dan Lanning (Oregon)
It was a rough first impression from Lanning has a head coach, but if the former Georgia defensive coordinator were offered truth serum, he probably would’ve admitted he expected as much anyways.
As Kirby Smart basically said afterward, “We have better players. He helped recruit them.”
In a reality check of sorts, Oregon got steamrolled by 46 at the hands of the reigning national champion Georgia Bulldogs, with quarterback Bo Nix throwing a pair of interceptions and moving to 0-4 all-time against UGA.
Saturday was brutal, but the Ducks should be fine this season. They’re bruised but not cooked for the rest of 2022.
Their offensive and defensive lines disappointed against UGA, but Lanning inherited a Top 10 roster from Mario Cristobal. Guys like talented linebackers Noah Sewell, Justin Flowe & Co., will play better against Pac-12 foes.
The question remains what to do at quarterback? Bo Nix did Bo Nix things, but when he’s not playing Georgia in the last year, he has been better, too.
Does Lanning trust that to be the case moving forward?
It was notable — and strange in fact — that Oregon’s new head coach opted not to play Ty Thompson, who was battling Nix until Saturday for the QB1 job, in the blowout. Will he play both against Eastern Washington this weekend or is Nix the definitive guy against BYU in two weeks? Stay tuned.
Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame)
Freeman is now 0-2 as the Fighting Irish’s head coach, but the former ND DC acquitted himself just fine going up against his alma mater on Saturday night in Columbus.
Notre Dame gave No. 2 Ohio State a legitimate fight for more than three quarters, which surprised most who assumed an auto-blowout for the Buckeyes.
Yes, the Irish lost another close, competitive non-conference game and faltered again in in the second half — just like they did under Freeman in the Fiesta Bowl — but it wasn’t a totally collapse this time. They made the Buckeyes earn the win.
Freeman wasn’t in the mood for moral victories postgame, saying, “We didn’t win, we didn’t finish the game, we didn’t execute. I think we found out we’ve got a good football team. We’ve got a good, tough football team. We’ve got to learn how to finish.”
Exactly.
That’s the next step.
Notre Dame’s offense is going to be a work in progress, so its defense under former Miami head coach Al Golden, which frustrated CJ Shroud and OSU’s offense for much of the night, will need to lead the way for the Irish to remain in College Football Playoff contention moving forward.
Outside of a home clash with Clemson, the Irish will likely be favored in every game the rest of the season, so Freeman’s second-half adjustments — and how Notre Dame finishes each week — will be a storyline to follow all fall.
Billy Napier (Florida)
Napier was clearly the biggest winner among all new coaches this weekend, as Florida’s head coach needed just a single game to do what Dan Mullen could not — get the most out of an absurd athlete like Anthony Richardson at quarterback.
The Gators were still a bit sloppy (seven penalties) but they played with better effort and and had a sound plan versus No. 7 Utah, and it still almost wasn’t enough without a marvelous, early Heisman-watch list performance by UF’s redshirt sophomore quarterback.
Make no mistake, if Emory Jones were Florida’s QB on Saturday day, the Gators are not 1-0 to start the 2022 season.
Napier said he’s run Richardson (11 carries for 106 yards and three touchdowns) and he did.
He became the first Florida coach to beat a ranked team in his debut, and he looked quite comfortable doing so. Outside of two key red zone stops, the Gators’ defense remains a work in progress, but with Richardson behind center, they’re capable of scaring every team on their schedule — perhaps outside of Georgia.
Considering the team’s current small margins, Napier’s 17-3 record now in one-score games is something to keep in mind the rest of the season.
The other question: Has Napier now raised expectations too high in Year 1?
Brian Kelly (LSU)
Never underestimate the voodoo in the Big Easy, and Brian Kelly experienced the worst of the Black Magic on Sunday night in his inauguration as LSU’s head coach.
The Tigers lost a heartbreaker to Florida State, moving the football 99 yards in less than a minute for the potential tying touchdown only to see their extra point blocked with no time remaining on the clock in regulation.
It was a gutting loss, but LSU was also outplayed — and out-coached — for most of most of the game.
Face-planting is practically a tradition on Bourbon Street, and that’s exactly what Brian Kelly’s team did for most of the night in New Orleans.
The Tigers muffed two punts, had zero running game outside of QB scrambles and struggled to get the ball to their prolific group of perimeter playmakers.
Promising defensive lineman Maason Smith injured his knee celebrating a play, All-SEC wideout Kayshon Boutte was basically MIA and top pass rusher Ali Gaye was ejected for one of the worst targeting hits you’ll see. Meanwhile, Kelly’s decision to go with former Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels at quarterback looked suspect, as the Tigers’ new QB1 kept leaving the pocket early over going through his progressions.
“Mistake after mistake for us, particularly in the first half. And, you know, obviously more mistakes in the second half,” Kelly said.
“We’ve got some learning to do. We’ve got to coach better, and we’ve got to play better.”
The Tigers were legitimately lucky to even have a chance to extend the game to overtime, as Kelly’s clock management (or lack there of) allowed FSU to burn more than minute off the clock before their inexcusable fumble at the 1-yard line.
LSU was among the most feast or famine teams entering 2022, and it’s clear after Week 1, Brian Kelly has a lot of work to do to fix things in Baton Rouge.
Best of The Rest
Mario Cristobal (Miami hung 70 on Bethune Cookman in the largest win in program history), Lincoln Riley (USC beat Rice by 52) and Brent Venables (Oklahoma 45-13 over UTEP) all cruised to victories at their new schools. Same for Joey McGuire and Texas Tech and Sonny Dykes at TCU. All these coaches face stiffer tests in the coming weeks, starting with Texas Tech hosting Houston.
Kudos to Mike Elko and Duke in Week 1, as the former Texas A&M defensive coordinator pitched a shutout in his first-career game as a head coach. The Blue Devils thrashed Temple 30-0 — their best defensive effort against a FBS team since 1989.
“That was pretty special,” Elko said afterward.
Duke had low expectations this season, but with an ACC that looks down and a couple tossup non-conference games upcoming (at Northwestern and Kansas), perhaps Elko’s team will make a bit more noise than expected.
On the flip-side, it could be a long, cold fall in Blacksburg. The signs were ominous after delay due to Virginia Tech coaches getting stuck in an elevator, and then the Hokies ultimately fell to in-state FCS foe Old Dominion in head coach Brent Pry’s debut.
Not an ideal start!