College Football Notebook: Week Zero

Well, that was certainly something. The “non-opener” opening weekend of college football brought as much drama as it could. Now, let the real games begin.

We’re ready to look ahead to the real beginning of the 2022 college football season and wrap up a few last minute off-season storylines. Here is your college football notebook for week zero.

AUBURN, AUBURN, AUBURN
Full disclosure: this column and the Throw The Flag Sports podcast is written and produced by two Alabama fans. Still, we do our best to shoot straight. The final week of the off-season was a rough one for Auburn.

Athletic Director Allen Greene’s resignation signaled the last major safety net that head coach Bryan Harsin had on The Plains. He survived a coup attempt over the summer, but he won’t have any backup in a second attempt if he doesn’t produce on the field.

That will be tougher without starting center and sixth-year senior Nick Brahams, who retired from football this week due to injuries. The Tiger offensive line is already suspect and this doesn’t help the situation.

Depending on a stout offensive line will be T.J. Finley, who was named Auburn’s starting quarterback this week. This was a surprise as Auburn welcomed Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada, who beat Bama last year, into the fold.

Don’t worry, the good people at SEC Shorts covered the topic in their latest skit which, if you squint, can almost be considered comedy.

VANDY IS BACK (from Hawai’i)
As of today, Vanderbilt is undefeated and Alabama is winless in 2022. Of course, none of this will last, but it’s fun to bask in the anomaly. The Commodores traveled 4,331 miles to pound Hawai’i, 63-10.

While Vandy never scored more than 30 last year and this is only the third win in the Clark Lea era, this probably won’t be the year they turn it all around. But it’ll still be fun to root for them.

NEBRASKA
The marquee game of Week Zero was a showdown between Nebraska and Northwestern in Dublin, Ireland. If you watched it, you already know the game didn’t disappoint – primarily because Scott Frost called an onside kick with a two-score lead and more than 20 minutes on the clock. Nebraska ended up losing the game 31-28.

At this point, it’s important to mention that Nebraska fired Bo Pelini in 2014 after going 67-27. If Scott Frost, whose coaching record with the Cornhuskers is 15-30, wins his next 50 games, he will still have a worse record than Pelini.

The economics of college football are fascinating.

LOOKING AHEAD
It’s all starting tomorrow. Thursday’s slate of games bring us West Virginia at Pittsburgh and Penn State at Purdue. Alabama A&M even travels south to visit UAB.

Friday, Indiana hosts Illinois and Colorado hosts TCU. Because, why not.

Saturday, Alabama hosts Utah State at 6:30 p.m. on the SEC Network and Auburn welcomes Mercer to town on ESPN+ at 6 p.m.

We encourage you to bookmark the greatest college football television listing out there, which unfortunately is hosted on an LSU site.

What did we get wrong? What games are you looking forward to? Let us know on Twitter or Instagram. Listen to Throw the Flag below or wherever you get your podcasts.