The first month of the season is traditionally a time to ease into the schedule, but for a few teams, the pressure is on to win and win quickly. Over the past few seasons, it hasn’t been good enough at these schools, and they’ve got to win now or their coaching staff will be looking for new employment.
Here are the teams that badly need to start strong.
West Virginia
This could get ugly in Morgantown. The Mountaineers get three non-conference games, and they’re all against local opponents in Penn State, Duquesne and Pittsburgh. Going 1-2 should be the minimum expectation, but even that won’t be enough to save Neal Brown. The Mountaineers’ best hope for saving Brown’s job is to beat Pittsburgh. A win in the Backyard Brawl can take care of a lot of problems.
Oklahoma
6-6 doesn’t cut it in Norman. The Sooners saw their worst record since 1998, when Bob Stoops was still an assistant coach at Kansas State. Brent Venables’ second season just has to be better, because Oklahoma can’t afford to enter the SEC off two years of mediocrity. They’ll have the talent edge, but their slate’s not easy: hosting SMU and a visit to Cincinnati offer potential for land mines.
UTEP
The Miners need to get some progress going, and they have the chance to do it with winnable games against Power 5 schools in Northwestern and Arizona. But there are no sure wins in September for UTEP, even against FCS power Incarnate Word. One winning season out of five isn’t good enough for the people in El Paso. UTEP has to get at least two wins out of its first four.
Indiana
Nobody expects Indiana to topple Ohio State in the opener. But the Hoosiers could help Tom Allen by at least giving a credible effort. Since COVID, the Hoosiers are 6-18, and four of the wins are Idaho and Western Kentucky. This isn’t a school with unrealistic expectations, but the Hoosiers should be able to flirt with bowl eligibility most years. Going 3-2 in September would make that possible.
Syracuse
The Orange have to do more than just start fast this year. They also have to sustain it. Syracuse started 6-0 last season, then bottomed out with five straight losses and ended 7-6. The schedule is once again front-loaded, as the Orange play three of four at home plus visit rebuilding Purdue before facing Clemson. Anything less than 4-0 is a sign Syracuse and Dino Babers are in trouble.