Gameday

Report card on 2025’s new coaches mixed

National view

Please forgive the baseball analogy, but the FBS head coaches who were hired prior to the 2025 season are a mixed bag of home runs, slow rollers and strikeouts.

Of the 29 teams that entered this season with new head coaches, nine are already bowl eligible, six are at .500 and 14 sport losing records.

In terms of wins, Dan Mullen is the biggest success story at 8-2 UNLV.

The half-dozen teams that have won seven games to date with new head coaches are Wake Forest (Jake Dickert), Jacksonville State (Charles Kelly), Kennesaw State (Jerry Mack), New Mexico (Jason Eck), Fresno State (Matt Entz) and Southern Mississippi (Charles Huff).

Of the big-profile hires, North Carolina is 4-6 under Bill Belichick and West Virginia is 4-7 in Rich Rodriguez's second go-round in Morgantown.

Joe Harasymiak at UMass (0-10), Tim Albin at Charlotte (1-9), Phil Longo at Sam Houston (2-8) and Barry Odom at Purdue (2-9) are engaged in major rebuilds.

The hits and misses in college football head coaching circles are no different than the hires in any other profession.

As every fisherman will relate, landing the big catch requires skill, patience and an awful lot of luck.

Monsters of the Metroplex

At 9-1, North Texas can rightly stake a claim as the premier football team in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, including the NFL's struggling Cowboys.

The Mean Green offense ranks near the top nationally in scoring, total offense and passing offense and the defense has forced 24 turnovers in ten games.

The team's quarterback is a redshirt freshman walk-on who won the starting job in the offseason despite not starting a game at the position since ninth grade. Drew Mestemaker has thrown 23 touchdown passes and only four interceptions.

With a 53-24 win over UAB last Saturday, North Texas set a program record with its fifth game of 50 or more points this season.

Lassoing MAC offenses

Western Michigan (6-4, 5-1 Mid-American) continues to ride a stout defense atop the conference standings.

Through six Mid-American games, the Broncos are allowing 12.7 points per game. Western Michigan has not allowed fewer than 20 points per game in MAC play since 2016 (18.4).

Defensive end Nadame Tucker ranks in the top ten in tackles for loss (16.0) and sacks (10.5).

Reigning superlatives

Old Dominion's 33-0 Sun Belt Conference win over Troy Nov. 13 was noteworthy for the number of program milestones and records that were established and for the special guest who roamed the ODU sideline.

The Monarchs posted their second shutout in program history, which dates to 2009, and set school records for sacks (nine) and fewest yards allowed (138).

ODU has posted five first-half shutouts this season.

Troy, in absorbing its first shutout loss since 2014, crossed midfield only three times.

At 7-3, ODU has clinched its first winning season since 2016.

James Franklin attended the game to support head coaches Ricky Rahne of ODU and Gerad Parker of Troy, who were both assistants for Franklin at Penn State.

If the name fits...

On a first-down carry in double overtime, Kayden "Big Play" McGee ran 25 yards for the winning score, lifting UNLV (8-2, 4-2 Mountain West) to a 29-26 triumph over Utah State.

Listed as a wide receiver on the roster, McGee was part of a rushing attack by committee that was formed to compensate for the absence of leading rusher Jai'Den Thomas who sat out the game with an injury. McGee accounted for 54 yards on three carries.

"They find ways to stick together and continue to make plays in critical moments," Mullen said. "It's different people stepping up. You never know when your number will be called. Kayden's was called today in overtime and he delivered."

UNLV and Utah State combined for five missed field goals, including one each in the first overtime.

Notables

– With 42-3 and 24-3 wins over Northern Illinois and Miami (OH), respectively, Toledo has held back-to-back opponents to three points or less for the first time in 42 years.

≥ Dakota Cochran's 85-yard fumble return touchdown against Buffalo Nov. 12 was the third-longest fumble return in Central Michigan history behind Ralph Gilpin's 110-yard score against Alma College in 1909 and Shawn Williams's 99-yard fumble return safety off a 2-point conversion attempt against Bowling Green in 1995.

– The loss to Oklahoma snapped Alabama's 17-game home winning streak, which had been the longest active streak in FBS.

Nevada snapped a 16-game losing streak in Mountain West Conference games by defeating San Jose State, 55-10.

– Before Texas A&M rallied from a 30-3 halftime deficit to defeat South Carolina, 31-30, SEC teams were 0-286 when trailing by 27 or more points since 2004.

– Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love has rushed for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. The five other Irish players to record multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons are Vegas Ferguson, Allen Pinkett, Autry Denson, Darius Walker and Kyren Williams.

– In last Saturday's victory over Iowa, USC played a home game in the rain for the first time since Nov. 26, 2016. Like rain on a wedding day, the weather was good luck for the Trojans on that day too, as USC defeated Notre Dame, 45-27.

– Senior snipe (versatile offensive position) Eli Heidenreich caught five passes for 146 yards in Navy's upset of No. 25 South Florida to become the academy's all-time receiving yards leader (1,794 yards), eclipsing Rob Thompson who totaled 1,736 yards from 1965-67.

– Oregon quarterback Dante Moore broke the school record for completion percentage with a 27-of-30 effort (90 percent) last Friday against Minnesota.

Quotables

"If you take your foot off the gas in football, football will humble you quick. Clearly, we weren't in the mental space we needed to be in to start that game."

-- Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko after the Aggies relied on the biggest comeback in school history to improve to 10-0

"They played together, and they played violently. I say that with utmost admiration. This game requires some physical brutality, and our guys make it unique."

-- San Diego State head coach Sean Lewis after his team defeated Boise State, 17-7, to take sole possession of the top spot in the Mountain West Conference standings

"That's a culture win, right there. If there ever was one, that was a culture win. We didn't play very good football in the first half. Our team's resilience and response at halftime was impressive."

-- USC head coach Lincoln Riley after the Trojans bounced back from a 21-10 halftime deficit to defeat Iowa, 26-21

"I just want to win the game. That really is the best style to me."

-- BYU head coach Kalani Sitake when asked if his team (now 9-1) considered impressing the College Football Playoff Selection Committee with style points during a 44-13 win over TCU

Jim Caltagirone, a former member of Penn State's sports information department, comments on the national scene for Gameday. He can be reached at jimclion4ever@gmail.com