Interim coacher go 4-0; Alabama survives scare
Associated Press
Maybe making a coaching change less than halfway through the season isn’t such a terrible idea.
After an unprecedented spate of early season firings, teams with interim head coaches went 4-0 this weekend in major college football.
“We went from trying not to lose and now we’re learning how to win,” Georgia Tech interim coach Brent Key said. “That’s a valuable lesson that these guys can take to the next game.”
The Yellow Jackets (3-3) beat Duke to make it two straight victories since Geoff Collins was fired. At 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Georgia Tech not only can dream about bowl eligibility, but there is still a path to serious contention for a Coastal Division title.
On Friday night in New Jersey, Nebraska won its second straight game for interim coach Mickey Joseph, beating Rutgers to head into the second half of the season tied for first in the Big Ten West.
The Cornhuskers actually won a close game (14-13), something that never seemed to go their way under Scott Frost.
“A lot of adversity to push
through tonight,” Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson said.
Now also lurking in the Big Ten West is Wisconsin. The Badgers dumping Paul Chryst after five games last week was the one truly shocking move among the early firings.
Wisconsin elevated defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, essentially giving the de facto coach-inwaiting a seven-game audition. Good start. The Badgers rolled over Northwestern, with maybe their best offensive game in a few seasons.
Graham Merz was 20 for 29 for 299 yards and five touchdowns and Braelon Allen ran for 135
on its ground game to win its second shootout in two seasons with the Browns (2-3). Los Angeles finished with 238 yards rushing, 174 more than its average.
The teams combined for 908 total yards and 53 first downs.
The most notable defensive play came when Chargers safety Alohi Gilman intercepted Jacoby Brissett’s pass in the end zone with 2:44 left, setting up a confusing finish highlighted by Staley’s brash decision.
Cleveland’s Nick Chubb ran for 134 yards and had a 2-yard TD run.
Williams had 10 catches for 134 yards.
Los Angeles kicker Taylor Bertolet kicked a 27-yard field goal — in his NFL debut — early in the fourth to put the Chargers ahead 30-28. Bertolet was activated from the practice squad earlier in the week and played when Dustin Hopkins was ruled out with a quadriceps injury.
Ekeler had a 22-yard TD run and caught a 12-yard pass from Justin Herbert, who finished 22 of 34 for 228 yards, ending his streak of consecutive road games with at least 300 yards at seven.
The Chargers were clinging to their two-point lead when Brissett, who looked as if he could have run for a first down, forced a ball over the middle toward receiver Amari Cooper and was picked off by Gilman.
While Brissett has been OK while filling in while Deshaun Watson serves his 11-game suspension, Cleveland continues to have major issues on defense.
The Chargers pushed the Browns around up front and star defensive end Myles Garrett had little impact in his first game back after he was involved in a car crash.
Bugging out
Players on both teams spent pregame warmups swatting away midges, those small, winged insects that swarm along Lake Erie during the spring and fall.
The bugs made a famous appearance at the 2007 baseball playoffs in Cleveland. New York Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain was, ahem, bugged by clusters of midges, which engulfed him and affected his performance on the mound.