Eric Morris spent halftime of his Oklahoma State debut describing his own team on the radio as "piss poor." Ryan Silverfield called his offense's Arkansas debut "probably one of the worst I've ever been associated with." Alex Golesh won and still said his offense was "a bit off," and that a repeat would get "their brain beat in" in the SEC. All three were hired off American Conference sidelines by Power Four athletic directors running the same play: get an offensive head coach, then let him bring his roster and his staff with him. Call it the Indiana Blueprint.
Curt Cignetti rebuilt the Hoosiers around a wave of his James Madison players and won a national title in Year 2. Every administrator and search committee in the country noticed. The results in Week 1 were, at best, mixed, and, at worst, a continuation of a disturbing trend traced back to their old jobs in the American Conference.
Golesh's offense was electric in the American and ordinary everywhere else. In four games against power-conference opponents over the last two seasons, South Florida averaged 15.3 points and 349.3 yards. It never reached 400 yards in any of them, including the 18-16 upset at Florida last season.
On Saturday, with six former Bulls in Auburn's starting lineup, the Tigers finished with 17 points and 389 yards, and their quarterback was sacked five times and threw a career-high three interceptions. Morris had an embarrassment of riches at North Texas: the nation's most explosive offense (45.1 points per game), the nation's leading passer, the third-leading receiver, and a freshman running back who scored 29 touchdowns. Nine offensive players followed him to Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys were so confident in the hire that their quarterback, Drew Mestemaker, was lured by NIL deals reportedly worth $3.5 million. On Saturday, the Cowboys scored 10 points, gained 368 yards, turned the ball over four times, and gave it up on downs three more times. Mestemaker threw two picks and also lost a fumble on a sack.
More concerning, they did it against Tulsa, an American Conference team, and lost 24-10. "I'm utterly embarrassed," Morris said after the game. "Embarrassed for our fans, for our players, for everybody involved in this, this university and in the sport that we play with so much history.
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