Forde-Yard Dash: 10 College Football Teams Whose Flaws Are Impossible to Hide

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where a four-legged metaphor for Arkansas football wandered through Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Saturday.

First Quarter: Exposure Saturday

The power-conference competition is starting to intensify, with most of the blowout mismatches against lesser opponents now in the past. With better matchups come both bigger victories and more exposure of teams’ weaknesses. Saturday provided several glimpses of teams that have increasingly obvious issues to fix.

The Dash list:

Texas A&M (1)

The erstwhile No. 9 Aggies weren’t just defeated at home by Kentucky—they were handled. The score was 28–7 entering the fourth quarter, as the offensive feast-or-famine cycles continue with quarterback Marcel Reed. He’s now thrown nine interceptions in his last five games against FBS competition.

But perhaps more alarmingly, the A&M defense has been vulnerable this season. The Aggies are 14th in the SEC in yards allowed per play at 5.38, ahead of only Mississippi (which has Trinidad Chambliss to offset that) and Arkansas (which is hopeless). They’re last in the SEC in sacks with just four.

College Football Playoff elimination time could loom Saturday at No. 10 LSU. If not, there are four other road games, two of them against ranked opponents, plus home games against Texas and Tennessee. Last year’s playoff berth looked like the launching of a powerful run under Mike Elko, but the threat of a significant backslide this season looms.

USC’s defense (2)

So, the Gary Patterson hype may have been premature. When an objectively horrible Rutgers team posts season highs in points (35), yards (480) and yards per play (6.67), that’s damning of the defense now being coordinated by the legendary former TCU head coach.

USC can keep swapping out DCs, but when the same defensive patterns persist—playing poorly in general, but specifically on long road trips—it reflects on the head coach and what he prioritizes. Lincoln Riley’s team is giving up 22.8 points per game, and it hasn’t played a quality opponent yet. That will change Saturday when Oregon comes to Los Angeles.

CJ Bailey (3)

You have to feel for the North Carolina State quarterback, author of the worst play of the season so far. (Perhaps several seasons, honestly.) It’s a tough look for any college quarterback, but for a three-year starter who is paid well, it’s even worse.

The Wolfpack invested heavily to retain Bailey, and he’s struggled significantly other than an FCS walkover against Richmond. He had two turnovers in each of the losses to Virginia (a blowout) and the Music City Meltdown against Vanderbilt. There are nine games left to turn around a brutal start.

SMU’s appetite for self-destruction (4)

Against FBS competition, the Mustangs are tied for last in the nation in turnover margin at -6. They’re also tied for 97th in penalties against FBS opponents.

Kevin Jennings has always been a high-risk, high-reward quarterback, and apparently that’s not changing no matter how many games he plays. His two interceptions in the opener against Florida State were survivable because the Mustangs were simply better, but two more turnovers at Louisville on Saturday helped tip that game to the Cardinals (especially a fumble at the goal line that became a touchback).

SMU has a schedule that should allow it to remain in the ACC race, but there is now no room for error—and the Mustangs have been quite error-prone.

Colorado (5)

Optimism percolated in Boulder after the Buffaloes eked out a one-point road win over Georgia Tech and followed that with a thumping of FCS opponent Weber State. But exposure Saturday laid bare the team’s shortcomings in a 34-point loss to Northwestern.

Former five-star quarterback Julian Lewis had nice numbers against Weber State but has been lackluster in the other two games, with pass efficiency ratings of 102.65 against Georgia Tech and 111.77 against Northwestern. Colorado has scored on just three of 22 offensive possessions against FBS opponents, with four turnovers.

In Year 4 under Deion Sanders, the Buffs have yet to show they have a plan that works without a two-way Heisman Trophy winner and an NFL quarterback.

Arkansas (6)

The Hogs (1–2 and still winless against power-conference competition since 2024) appear to be hitting rock bottom. Many fans stayed home from the Georgia game Saturday, and some who did attend wore paper bags over their heads.

The fan unrest has at least gotten the attention of school leadership, which last week announced “a review of the state of competitiveness of Arkansas athletics.” This might not be good news for athletic director Hunter Yurachek, who has not sufficiently tapped into funding that could help keep the Razorbacks competitive in the SEC.

Arkansas is favored by a touchdown Saturday over 3–0 Tulsa. But other than conference affiliation, why?

South Carolina (7)

Here is what’s happened in the Gamecocks’ last two SEC games—they have taken leads of 30–3 and 16–0, and lost both. Last year, Shane Beamer’s team appeared poised to shock the world and end Texas A&M’s playoff chances by racing to that massive lead on the road, only to collapse and give up 28 consecutive points in the second half. Saturday at home against Mississippi State, the Cocks gave up 27 straight points to lose their double-digit lead.

South Carolina has lost seven straight games to FBS opponents, and done so with some high-level talent at select positions. But inconsistent performance by those players and spotty health have hurt.

It’s one thing to lose to the powers of the SEC. To lose at home to Mississippi State is the kind of thing that gets the fans chanting about firing Beamer, which they did Saturday.

LSU’s defense (8)

Chambliss can make a lot of defenses look bad, which should be kept in mind when appraising the Tigers on that side of the ball. Even so, LSU should be able to reasonably cover previously unremarkable Ole Miss receiver Traylon Ray better than it did Saturday night—the senior had career highs in receptions (seven) and yards (115). Last year while playing for Lane Kiffin, Ray registered zero catches and just two special teams tackles.

It certainly doesn’t help the LSU pass defense that safety Dashawn Spears is out for the season after an ACL injury against the Rebels. Spears had seven tackles in the Tigers’ first two games before getting injured in the first half Saturday.

North Carolina (9)

For nearly 2 ½ games, the Tar Heels played far above the noise generated by all the off-field problems in their program. Then the entire operation gradually broke down in a come-from-ahead loss at Clemson.

The Tigers aren’t good, and they started off terribly while North Carolina jumped to a 17–3 lead. The Heels should have been ahead by more but failed to finish drives, then fell apart in a 28–20 loss. The defense couldn’t get stops and once coordinator Bobby Petrino’s game-opening script ran out, the offense became futile. Adjustments were either unsuccessful or nonexistent.

Contrast the Heels with the team down the road, Duke, which lost a superstar quarterback late in the transfer portal and reinvented itself as a downhill running team behind back Nate Sheppard. Manny Diaz is doing more with the Blue Devils than Bill Belichick is with the Heels, with no apparent scandals.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and North Carolina coach Bill Belichick briefly shake hands after their game Saturday. The Tar Heels lost their lead and the game. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Big Ten scheduling (10)

The Big Ten nearly took the weekend off, concocting a nonconference slate consisting of 11 buy games and three matchups with commensurate competition (Colorado-Northwestern, Virginia Tech–Maryland and Michigan State–Notre Dame). The league won all the games it was supposed to while going 1–2 in the other ones.

This reinforced the fact that five Big Ten teams aren’t playing power-conference opponents or Notre Dame in nonleague play: Indiana, USC, Penn State, Nebraska and Washington.

That limits the number of chances for marquee nonconference wins by the Big Ten. Thus far that number is basically one: Michigan over Oklahoma. Those same Wolverines did as much to hold themselves back with their controversial, miracle win over Western Michigan as they did to advance their cause—or the Big Ten’s cause—by beating the Sooners.

As noted below, there isn’t much reason to rank multiple Big Ten teams in the current playoff bracket.

Dash Playoff Bracket

Every week, The Dash will select and seed the 12-team College Football Playoff as if today is Selection Sunday. The current bracket (as always, if your team hasn’t played at least one power-conference opponent to date, it isn’t being ranked here):

Seeding

Mississippi (3–0)
Texas (3–0)
Ohio State (2–1)
LSU (2–1)
Miami (3–0)
Notre Dame (3–0)
Georgia (3–0)
Alabama (3–0)
Mississippi State (3–0)
Louisville (2–1)
BYU (3–0)
Tulsa (3–0)

Also considered: Duke, Utah, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, UCLA, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Iowa, West Virginia, Northwestern, Florida, Missouri.

First Round

No. 12 Tulsa at No. 5 Miami
No. 11 BYU at No. 6 Notre Dame
No. 10 Louisville at No. 7 Georgia
No. 9 Mississippi State at No. 8 Alabama

Quarterfinals

Cotton Bowl: No. 4 LSU vs. winner of No. 12 Tulsa at No. 5 Miami
Rose Bowl: No. 3 Ohio State vs. winner of No. 11 BYU at No. 6 Notre Dame
Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Texas vs. winner of No. 10 Louisville at No. 7 Georgia
Peach Bowl: No. 1 Mississippi vs. winner of No. 9 Mississippi State at No. 8 Alabama

PODCAST: Listen to Sports Illustrated’s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, hosted by Pat Forde, on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s college YouTube channel or on SI TV.

Add us as a preferred source on Google