Colorado gets rid of coach Dorrell following 0-5 start

Colorado fired football coach Karl Dorrell after an 0-5 start in which the Buffaloes have been blown out by more than 20 points in each game.

The school announced the decision a day after a 43-20 loss at Arizona. It’s only the fourth 0-5 start in the history of Colorado (1980, 1984 and 2006).

Dorrell, 58, was brought in as a replacement when Mel Tucker bolted for Michigan State out of the blue in February 2020.

The hiring of Dorrell was met with surprise because he had been out of college coaching for a while. He was an assistant with the Miami Dolphins at the time, but had been UCLA’S head coach from 2003-07.

Dorrell, who had built a house in the Boulder area, agreed to a five-year, $18 million contract that ran through 2024. The buyout is approximately $8.7 million, but could be reduced pending his next job.

• Wisconsin fired football head coach Paul Chryst after a 2-3 start to his eighth season leading the school where he played in the city where he grew up.

The surprising move comes a day after Wisconsin lost at home 34-10 to Illinois and former Badgers coach Bret Bielema.

Chryst is 67-26 since taking over as coach of the Badgers in 2015. But the program has been backsliding. Chryst had double-digit win seasons in four of his first five years at Wisconsin and had gone 15-10 since.

• Alabama reclaimed No. 1 from Georgia in The Associated Press college football poll in one of the closest votes in the recent years, and six teams — including UCLA — made their season debut.

The Crimson Tide received 25 first-place votes and 1,523 points in the poll, two points more than the Bulldogs. Georgia received 28 first-place votes.

Ohio State remained third, but the Buckeyes also gained some ground on the top two, getting 10 first-place votes.

The Crimson Tide started the season at No. 1, but the defending national champion Bulldogs took the top spot away from their Southeastern Conference rivals after Week 2 when Alabama needed a late field goal to beat Texas.

The Bulldogs remain unbeaten but needed a fourth-quarter rally to beat four-touchdown underdog Missouri on Saturday night. Earlier in the day, the Tide managed to pull away from Arkansas in the second half without Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young. Young sprained his throwing shoulder in the first half and missed most of the game in Fayetteville, Ark.

No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Clemson and No. 6 USC all won and held their places this week.

UCLA (5-0) made its first appearance of the season in the poll, checking in at No. 18.

The Bruins’ first appearance in the poll since they were No. 20 almost exactly one year ago follows a 40-32 victory over thenno. 15 Washington on Friday night at the Rose Bowl.

Washington slipped to No. 21 in the rankings. The Pac-12 has five schools in the top 25, including No. 11 Utah and No. 12 Oregon.