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<\/p>\nThe season is a month old, but it\u2019s already been full of surprises.<\/p>\n
Some are better than others. Hyped quarterbacks such as Arch Manning, Cade Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeier have underwhelmed. Unknowns such as Trinidad Chambliss have thrived. John Mateer and Rueben Bain have enjoyed breakout seasons.<\/p>\n
But which teams have been the biggest disappointments? And which have excelled, suggesting expectations were too low?<\/p>\n
Here are five(ish) of each.<\/p>\n
Most disappointingClemson<\/p>\n
The Tigers opened the season as the clear ACC favorite (167 of 183 first-place votes in the preseason poll) and a trendy pick to win the national title. Klubnik also started the season as one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy.<\/p>\n
A month into the season, the Tigers are tied for last place in the ACC and, at 1-3, aren\u2019t receiving a single vote in either major poll. The Tigers have losses to LSU, Georgia Tech and Syracuse. In their only win, they trailed Troy 0-16 before the Tigers rallied in the second half for a 27-16 victory. The Tigers\u2019 roster, stocked with All-Americans on both sides of the ball, is 116th in scoring offense. Northwestern, Oklahoma State and UCLA are the only Power 4 teams that have been worse.<\/p>\n
The race for the nation\u2019s most disappointing team in the first month of the season is not close.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Bill Belichick\u2019s team has faced two Power 4 opponents, and it hasn\u2019t been competitive in either. (Jared C. Tilton \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
North Carolina<\/p>\n
Bill Belichick\u2019s arrival was supposed to mean an improvement from Mack Brown, who was fired after going 23-16 in his final three seasons in Chapel Hill. Portal exits decimated the Tar Heels\u2019 roster, and the 70 newcomers to fill those spots have struggled early on.<\/p>\n
Belichick\u2019s team has faced two Power 4 opponents. It hasn\u2019t been competitive in either. It fell behind TCU 41-7 and faced UCF \u2014 also featuring a first-year coach who inherited a 4-8 team \u2014 and the Knights led 20-3 at halftime on the way to a 34-9 victory.<\/p>\n
In an ACC where the talent gap between the top and bottom of the league is razor-thin, there was hope Belichick\u2019s arrival might give the team a decided schematic advantage. That hasn\u2019t happened. At least not yet.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma State<\/p>\n
Expectations were low for the Cowboys, but a first month this humiliating? It cost Mike Gundy the job he\u2019s held for 20 years. OSU made the wrong kind of history, first by losing 69-3 at Oregon days after Gundy complained about Oregon doing the thing he refused to do that eroded his program: Paying top dollar to secure talent. That was the most lopsided loss since losing 67-0 to Oklahoma in \u2026 1907.<\/p>\n
Two weeks later, with an off week to prepare for in-state opponent Tulsa, the Cowboys were physically dominated on the line of scrimmage in a 19-12 loss, losing to the Golden Hurricane in Stillwater for the first time since 1951, a span of 23 consecutive wins.<\/p>\n
Kansas State<\/p>\n
The Wildcats were on the short list of preseason Big 12 contenders and kicked off the season ranked in the top 20. They lost an ugly Farmageddon game to Iowa State in rainy Ireland in Week 0. A week later, they needed an 81-yard touchdown drive in the final minute to beat North Dakota in Manhattan.<\/p>\n
But a week later, Army finished what North Dakota couldn\u2019t, rallying from a 13-0 deficit for a 24-21 road win. That\u2019s Army\u2019s only win this season, including a loss to FCS Tarleton State.<\/p>\n
Avery Johnson, in Year 2 as the starting quarterback for Kansas State, looks hesitant to run and hasn\u2019t grown enough as a passer. He was 62nd in passer rating last year. He\u2019s 76th this year and has run for 50 yards just once \u2014 in a win over UCF last weekend. He did it seven times last season and helped K-State win nine games.<\/p>\n
UCLA<\/p>\n
The Bruins, like Oklahoma State, had modest expectations entering the season and were picked 15th in the Big Ten, ahead of Maryland, which is now 4-0. Through the first month, the Bruins are one of four winless FBS teams and the only Power 4 program without a win. That included an embarrassing 35-10 beatdown courtesy of New Mexico, whose program was ravaged by the portal and the coaching carousel this offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know they\u2019re a Power 4 team, but there\u2019s gonna be a lot of teams we play that are better than UCLA,\u201d Lobos coach Jason Eck said after the game.<\/p>\n
It already cost alum Deshaun Foster his job, but UCLA is staring the first winless season in school history in the face. The Bruins haven\u2019t had a one-win season since 1943.<\/p>\n
Most surprisingMississippi State<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs were winless in the SEC a season ago, and every loss came by double digits. This year, aided by portal additions and a healthy Blake Shapen at quarterback in Year 2 under Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State is showing more than signs of life. It beat Arizona State \u2014 a Big 12 contender that went to the Playoff a season ago \u2014 on a dramatic 58-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds. The Bulldogs got to 4-0 with three more no-doubt wins, and last week they dragged a top-15 Tennessee team eyeing its own return trip to the Playoff into overtime in a back-and-forth game and narrowly lost, 41-34. The Bulldogs are the nation\u2019s most improved team and look ready to qualify for a bowl game and ruin someone\u2019s season along the way.<\/p>\n
UNLV<\/p>\n
Dan Mullen had been doing TV and hadn\u2019t done any college coaching since being fired from Florida in 2021. Then UNLV came calling when it was looking for Barry Odom\u2019s replacement. Mullen scraped together a portal-heavy squad to rebuild a program that nearly reached the Playoff a season ago and UNLV picked right up where it left off. The Rebels are one of 20 remaining undefeated teams and, outside of the American, have the best path to the Playoff among Group of Five teams.<\/p>\n
Missouri<\/p>\n
The Tigers were picked to finish 12th in the SEC, and Vegas oddsmakers set their over\/under for wins at 7.5. But the Tigers look uninterested in taking a step back after losing quarterback Brady Cook and receiver Luther Burden III. Penn State transfer Beau Pribula had the best game of his career in a win over Kansas, and Louisiana-Monroe transfer Ahmad Hardy leads the nation in rushing yards (730) and rushing touchdowns (9). No other back has more than 624 yards. The Tigers are eyeing a third consecutive double-digit win season under Eli Drinkwitz, something no one has ever done at Mizzou.<\/p>\n
Vanderbilt<\/p>\n
Diego Pavia is no one-hit wonder. He\u2019s even better this year, looking dominant in wins over Virginia Tech and South Carolina. The Commodores are fourth nationally in scoring offense and are 5-0 for the first time since 2008. All five wins have come by more than 20 points, tied for the third-longest streak to begin a season in SEC history. The Commodores won seven games a season ago and look ready to improve on that in Year 5 under Clark Lea.<\/p>\n
Virginia<\/p>\n
Tony Elliott looks like he\u2019s eyeing a breakout season in Year 4 in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers are 4-1, fresh off a home win over Florida State and are eighth nationally in scoring offense. North Texas transfer Chandler Morris has ignited Elliott\u2019s offense and is 11th nationally in passing yards. J\u2019Mari Taylor (397 yards, 7 TDs) has given the offense much-needed balance, and the Cavaliers need only two more wins to earn the first bowl bid for Elliott. They might be dreaming much bigger in a wide-open ACC after being picked 14th in the preseason. The win over Florida State was the program\u2019s first home win over a top 10 team since 2005.<\/p>\n
North Texas<\/p>\n
Second-year coach Eric Morris has the Mean Green 5-0 for the first time since 1959 and they can play their way into Playoff contention with a home win over South Florida next Friday. UNT already has a road win over Army and a blowout victory over Washington State on its resume. If it can play its way into the American championship game, it\u2019ll be 60 minutes from the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n
(Photo of Dabo Swinney: Katie Januck \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The season is a month old, but it\u2019s already been full of surprises. Some are better than others.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":266368,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1373,1428,1318,35607,95000,8805,1317,1315,1316,3910,74060,30698,62,8800,67,132,138916,68,50643,32858],"class_list":{"0":"post-266367","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-clemson-tigers","9":"tag-college-football","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-kansas-state-wildcats","12":"tag-mississippi-state-bulldogs","13":"tag-missouri-tigers","14":"tag-ncaa","15":"tag-ncaa-football","16":"tag-ncaafootball","17":"tag-north-carolina-tar-heels","18":"tag-north-texas-mean-green","19":"tag-oklahoma-state-cowboys","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-ucla-bruins","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unlv-rebels","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-vanderbilt-commodores","27":"tag-virginia-cavaliers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115293004437706016","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}