Forde-Yard Dash: Good, Bad and Ugly Debuts, Including Bill Belichick

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where the real hero of the weekend was Army safety Larry Pickett Jr.First Quarter: This Is Not an Overreaction—It’s Legit Bad at Alabama.

Second Quarter: Debuts, Good and Bad

After an offseason of curiosity about how roster and coaching changes are going to work out, we have our first full weekend of returns. They may not be definitive, but that won’t stop everyone from making declarations. The Dash is no different.

Assessing the good …

Defensive coordinator

Matt Patricia (11), Ohio State

One of the major offseason storylines involved Penn State snatching the rival Buckeyes’ DC, Jim Knowles, for a whopping $3 million salary. But the Ohio State defense that led the nation in points allowed and yards allowed per game looks fully nasty again with Patricia calling the shots.

The Bill Belichick disciple checkmated Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, throwing out confusing coverage looks that blanketed Arch Manning’s first reads and left him holding the ball too long. Ohio State was also stellar in the red zone, allowing no points in two Texas possessions inside the 20-yard line.

The Dash attended an Ohio State mid-August practice in which Patricia’s unit dominated scrimmage situations, especially in the secondary. Turns out that Buckeyes freshman QB Julian Sayin & Co. are probably going to be just fine when they don’t have to face their own defense. That’s also a good thing for Manning.

Offensive coordinator

Gus Malzahn (12), Florida State

Much like Chip Kelly last year at Ohio State, Malzahn appeared to be back in his happy place dialing up plays Saturday as a coordinator instead of handling everything as a head coach. The former boss at Central Florida, Auburn and Arkansas State looked like a perfect match with new Seminoles quarterback Tommy Castellanos as the offense rolled to 31 points and 6.06 yards per play in an upset romp over Alabama.

Florida State hiring Herb Hand as offensive line coach was also a key upgrade. Hand worked previously with Malzahn at Tulsa, Auburn and UCF. The Seminoles pounded out 230 rushing yards against the Crimson Tide, their most against an FBS opponent since Oct. 7, 2023.

Malzahn knows better than anyone currently coaching what it takes to beat Alabama, having done it four times at Auburn as either the head coach or an assistant. This is his fifth elephant hide to hang on the wall.

(Honorable mention for best OC debut goes to Jason Beck of Utah. He and quarterback Devon Dampier were a package deal coming in from New Mexico, and they immediately energized the Utes’ offense in a blowout win over UCLA. Utah scored touchdowns on its first three possessions, and the Utes’ 492 total yards and 43 points were their most against an FBS opponent since Nov. 4, 2023.)

Head coach

Matt Drinkall (13), Central Michigan

Drinkall’s FBS head-coaching debut couldn’t have gone any better, with the Chippewas scoring a road victory over San Jose State as a two-touchdown underdog. The Chips jumped to a 13–0 lead, fell behind 14–13 and then drove 70 yards for the game-winning field goal in the fourth quarter.

Drinkall is a former Army assistant, and he brought the ground-and-pound mentality with him from West Point. Central Michigan ran the ball 51 times for 236 yards while throwing it just 13 times. Only Air Force and Rice attempted fewer passes in their opening games (nine each).

Quarterback

Joey Aguilar (14), Tennessee

Nico Who? Aguilar, the player to be named later in an unprecedented QB swap with UCLA, threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns in a Volunteers sprint past Syracuse. That included a 73-yard touchdown bomb to redshirt freshman receiver Braylon Staley. (Guessing Tennessee fans took notice of UCLA’s 33-point loss to Utah as well.)

Aguilar and Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff—who led the Green Wave to a 20-point win over Northwestern—did some damage to coaches’ insistence on a January transfer portal window. Their thinking is that they want their full squad on campus for spring practice—but Aguilar got to Tennessee in May and Retzlaff arrived at Tulane in July and were Week 1 stars. Given the disruptive impact of winter transfers on bowl games and even playoff games, can’t we just have one portal window in April?

Freshman

Malachi Toney (15), Miami

Baby Jesus beat Touchdown Jesus in his first college game. Nicknamed “Baby Jesus” by coach Mario Cristobal, the ultra-quick 17-year-old torched Notre Dame for 82 yards and a touchdown on six catches. He had successive receptions for 13, 11 and 28 yards on the Hurricanes’ first scoring drive, and half his catches converted third downs into first downs.

And the bad …

Offensive coordinator

Philip Montgomery (16), Virginia Tech

If Brent Pry is coaching for his job this year—and, frankly, he should be—he will need a better offense than Montgomery drew up Sunday in a loss to South Carolina. The Hokies failed to score a touchdown for the first time since Nov. 4, 2023, kicking three field goals and recording a safety. Third-year starting quarterback Kyron Drones completed only 43% of his passes and threw two interceptions, a further regression from what was a disappointing 2024 season. Potential silver lining: The Gamecocks might be the best team Virginia Tech faces in the first half of the season, so growth opportunities await.

Defensive coordinator

Robb Smith (17), Rutgers

Scarlet Knights fans undoubtedly enjoyed the program’s revamping into a potent passing team in the opening win over Ohio, but not at the abdication of any defense. Rutgers gave up 31 points, 440 yards and 7.1 yards per play to the Bobcats of the Mid-American Conference, including four total touchdowns for quarterback Parker Navarro. That won’t cut it when Big Ten play begins.

Head coach

Bill Belichick (18), North Carolina

This figured to be a rebuilding situation but holy cow was that bad. The first episode of Chapel Bill was a Chapel Burial, a 48–14 humiliation at the hands of TCU. That marked the most points a Belichick-coached team has ever surrendered. And while it can only get better from here, it remains to be seen how much better it can actually get. Hoodie has very little talent to work with.

Quarterback

Since it wasn’t a starting debut at a new school for Manning, The Dash will spare him one more roasting over an open fire—but he was bad, for sure. Among those who fit the bad debut criteria, let’s go with Mark Gronowski (19), Iowa.

After an incredibly productive four seasons at FCS power South Dakota State, Gronowski was hailed as the quarterback who would at last inject some oomph into the Kirk Ferentz offense.

How’s this for oomph: 44 yards passing, 39 yards rushing against FCS Albany. Even by Iowa’s recent poverty-program passing standards, 44 is weak. Only once in the last eight seasons have the Hawkeyes thrown for fewer (37 against Wisconsin in 2023).

In their defense, the Hawkeyes didn’t need to throw it to beat the Great Danes, racking up 310 yards on the ground (say hello to freshman back Xavier Williams, who had 122 yards on 11 carries). But the Hawkeyes will certainly need more than 8-for-15 with a long completion of 13 yards this week against Iowa State.

Non-quarterback

Jaydn Ott (20), Oklahoma

Considered a national top 20 transfer coming in from California, Ott had a hard time getting on the field for the Sooners’ opener against Illinois State. He had one carry for a loss of three yards and an incompletion thrown his way by John Mateer early in the fourth quarter—his only stats for the contest. The pregame depth chart listed Ott as third string.