How They Fared in Week 1: Debut takeaways from Deion Sanders, Matt Rhule and the rest of the new coaches at Power 5 programs

With Duke’s upset over No. 9 Clemson, Week 1 is officially in the books. Over the last five days of football, 11 new head coaches at Power 5 programs made their debut with their new teams. 

Deion Sanders (rightfully) stole all the headlines with Colorado’s stunner over TCU, but Troy Taylor’s Stanford Cardinal also had a big win, as did Louisville’s Jeff Brohm, who saw his Cardinals rally from a two-touchdown deficit to beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta.  Overall, the group of Year 1 coaches went 8-3. 

Here’s a look at how each of them fared in their first games:

Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State

Kenny Dillingham got a victory in his head-coaching debut, a rain-slogged 24-21 win over FCS Southern Utah. The 33-year-old head coach’s decision to roll with freshman quarterback Jaden Rashada looks smart early, as the blue-chip signee tossed a pair of touchdowns before sheets of rain, wind and lightning lit up Sun Devils’ Stadium. 

It’s hard to muster many other takeaways from Dillingham’s first game as a head coach though, as ASU had to sit through a two-hour weather delay and then played the second half in pouring rain. But Rashada showed promise and several transfers Dillingham brought in (wideout Xavier Guillory, tailback Cameron Skattebo, defensive back Demetries Ford) made contributions immediately.

Hugh Freeze, Auburn

Prediction: Come conference play, Hugh Freeze’s offense is going to be a problem for SEC teams all season. Even without star tailback Jarquez Hunter, who was suspended in the Tigers’ opener for undisclosed reasons, Auburn rushed for 289 yards (6.6 per clip) and six touchdowns in Freeze’s debut on the Plains — a 59-14 splattering over UMass. 

The Tigers had eight plays over 20 yards in the opener.

Freeze got creative using QB2 Robby Ashford as a red zone weapon, inserting Auburn’s 2022 starter in multiple packages leading to three touchdowns. Payton Thorne didn’t do much (10 of 17 for 141 yards) but he wasn’t really asked to. 

We should have an even better idea of what Auburn’s offensive potential is in 2023 this weekend when they face a tricky Cal team in Berkeley.

Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati

After making the move up Interstate 71 this offseason, Scott Satterfield secured a resounding win in his first came with the Bearcats, as Cincy rolled past FCS Eastern Kentucky 66-13. Operating Satterfield’s offense, nomadic quarterback Emory Jones was just legitimately impressive, throwing for 345 yards (at 15.0 per attempt!) with a school-record seven total touchdowns. Jones was one of a slew of transfers who made instant impacts for the Bearcats. 

Cincy was up 42-7 at halftime. The Bearcats dominated an interior opponent like they should, with three takeaways, four sacks and seven TFLs. We’ll know more about Satterfield’s team in Week 2 in a road game at Pitt. 

Deion Sanders, Colorado

Do you believe? If you don’t, don’t tell Deion Sanders. After spending all offseason hyping up Colorado’s program and telling anyone and everyone that the Buffs were “gonna win,” they backed up Sanders’ bluster with a stunning 45-42 win over No. 17 TCU. 

Yes, quarterback Shedeur Sanders was awesome and Travis Hunter was a two-way spectacle, but as impressive as the individual performances were by Colorado’s best players, were how well-coached, conditioned and disciplined Sanders’ Frankenstein team was. 

The Buffs did not resemble a team cobbled together at the 11th hour. They had just a couple of procedural penalties. They had a great game plan. Sanders deserves credit for hiring a pair of fantastic coordinators in Sean Lewis as OC and Charles Kelly at DC. 

Coach Prime walked the walk in Game 1, and suddenly, Colorado has a real path to 3-0 before a monster trip to Oregon later this month.

Brent Key, Georgia Tech

In his first full season as the Yellow Jackets’ head coach, Brent Key saw his team score 28 points in the second quarter to lead Louisville by 15 at halftime, only to squander the upset bid by getting outscored 26-6 in the second half of a 39-34 loss.  It’s a tough setback for a team hoping to build on last season’s 4-4 finish under Key, which earned him the job. The Yellow Jackets certainly looked more dynamic offensively with Buster Faulkner at OC and Haynes King at quarterback (366 total yards, three touchdowns), but they still can’t stop the run (ACC-worst in 2022, 227 yards allowed at 6.7 per carry vs. the Cardinals) and didn’t force a single TFL or sack. 

In a season where wins (and bowl eligibility) were always going to be tough to come by, giving one away is particularly brutal and makes that path to six even narrower. 

Jeff Brohm,Louisville

On the opposite sidelines in Atlanta was Jeff Brohm, whose homecoming at Louisville got off to a sluggish start before the Cardinals found their footing offensively and got some stops to give their Prodigal Son his first ACC win — a 39-34 victory over Georgia Tech. Cal transfer Jack Plummer — Brohm’s hand-picked quarterback who he’d coached previously at Purdue — struggled with accuracy issues for nearly three quarters (including an egregious misfire on a wide-open touchdown), but found enough rhythm to throw three scores. Louisville’s ground game (227 yards) was solid, but the Cardinals were just 1 of 11 on third down and had a turnovers. 

Still, whether it was halftime adjustments by Brohm and a new staff or simply the Cardinals playing more to their potential in the second half, it was encouraging to see the team rally from a two-touchdown deficit and win a game they were supposed to.

Zach Arnett, Mississippi State

The Bulldogs got off to a slow start in their first game with Arnett as the team’s official head coach, leading FCS Southeast Louisiana just 3-0 after the first quarter. But Mississippi State’s veteran team found its footing and cruised to a 48-7 win.  Arnett’s decision to deviate from Mike Leach’s ‘Air Raid’ offense in favor of a more pro-style offense resulted in the Bulldogs producing their first 100-yard rusher (Jo’Quavious Marks) since 2019. Senior quarterback Will Rogers attempted just 29 passes — the fewest he’s thrown in his last 33 starts.

Arnett looks like he signed a diamond in the rough in 3-star freshman wideout Creed Whittemore, who generated buzz throughout fall camp and then in his collegiate debut had four catches for 59 yards and a touchdown and two rushes for 57 yards and a score.

Matt Rhule, Nebraska

To be fair, Nebraska looked a little different. With Matt Rhule at the helm, the Cornhuskers played tough defense, were the more physical football team and didn’t make colossal special teams mistakes. 

But the end result was much of the same — a gut-wrenching 13-10 loss at Minnesota on a last-second field goal — because the differences weren’t stark enough. As was the case in recent years under Scott Frost, Nebraska had porous QB play — this time from transfer Jeff Sims, who rushed for over 100 yards but threw three interceptions including a back-breaking INT on Nebraska’s final drive. The Cornhuskers committed seven penalties for 55 yards, and their receivers struggled to get open all night. 

That’s how you lose a one-score game for the 14th time (2-14) in the last three seasons.

Rhule seems like the perfect guy to solve Nebraska’s ills, but there could be more bitter pills to swallow — starting this weekend at Colorado — before it gets better.

Ryan Walters, Purdue

Talk about an inauspicious start: Purdue paid Fresno State $1.3 million to come and spoil Ryan Waters’ head coaching debut. 

The Boilermakers already looked prime for a rebuild after seeing Jeff Brohm leave for Louisville and making the stark transition to the former Illinois DC, but after losing to the Bulldogs 39-35 at home win Week 1, it may be a long fall for the reigning Big Ten West champs. 

While defense is Walters’ calling-card, Purdue coughed up an 11-point lead in the third quarter and then another late score in the fourth to lose the game. The Boilermakers couldn’t get off the field on third down (11 of 17 allowed) and saw a secondary that was raided by the transfer portal get torched by former UCF backup quarterback Mikey Kenne (366 yards and four touchdowns). 

The challenge for Walters is there are no cupcakes on the schedule for Purdue to find itself early in Year 1. The Boilermakers have to toss-up non-conference games upcoming against Virginia Tech and Syracuse before jumping into Big Ten play with a schedule that includes Ohio State and Michigan.

Troy Taylor, Stanford

The former Sacramento State head coach won his FBS debut Friday night in a road game at Hawaii, as the Cardinal jumped out to a 27-10 lead en route to a 37-24 victory. 

Bringing his explosive offense to Palo Alto, Taylor produced immediate results in Week 1. The Cardinal weren’t prolific against the Rainbow Warriors (5.75 yards per play), but they methodically moved the football behind dual-threat QB Ashton Daniels (300 total yards, two touchdowns), avoided turnovers and forced-fed star tight end Benjamin Yurosek (nine catches for 138 yards and a touchdown). The team’s 37 points were more than Stanford scored in all but one game in 2022.

Luke Fickell,Wisconsin

The Badgers kicked off the Luke Fickell era in Madison with a 38-17 win over a decent Buffalo team. It wasn’t the flashiest showing (SMU transfer quarterback Tanner Mordecai had just 189 yards passing and two picks but was plagued by some drops including a would-be 60-yard touchdown), but behind Chez Mellusi (157 yards, two scores) and Braelon Allen (141 with two touchdowns), Wisconsin still rolled up more than 300 yards rushing.

For now, Wisconsin’s ‘Dairy Raid’ offense is in name-only, as the Badgers look likely to lean on their best two players even amid an identity transition to the Air Raid offense. Fickell’s teams always play good defense and they’ll be tested in Week 2 against Washington State, which hung 50 on Colorado State last weekend.