Comment The college football season begins Saturday with one of the quirkier traditions that has taken root in recent years: Week 0, when a number of teams open their seasons the weekend before the generally accepted opening date of Labor Day weekend. There are two ways for Football Bowl Subdivision teams to play in Week 0: apply for a waiver from the NCAA or be a team that must travel to face Hawaii at some point in the season (the NCAA allows these teams recoup travel expenses to Hawaii by scheduling a 13th game). Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky, Duquesne, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah State and UNLV will travel to face the Rainbow Warriors this season and all play on Saturday. So while there aren’t many marquee teams in action on Saturday, Week 0 will whet our appetites for next season. Western Kentucky vs. Austin Peay Northwestern vs. Nebraska Stephen F. Austin vs. Jacksonville State Utah vs. Connecticut Florida State vs. Duquesne Florida Atlantic vs. Charlotte North Carolina vs. Florida A&M New Mexico State vs. Nevada Nebraska and Northwestern travel to Dublin for the first game of the season (and the only game of Week 0) with two power-conference teams. The Cornhuskers won just three games for the second straight season in 2021, nearly costing coach Scott Frost his job — he was forced to cut his salary and fire four offensive assistants — but the underlying statistics tell the story of a team that might just unlucky: Nebraska scored 63 more points than its opponents on the season, but was 0-8 in one-score games. Frost brought in a new offensive coordinator, Mark Whipple, who did wonders for Pittsburgh’s offense. That, plus a slew of transfers, could lead to brighter days in Lincoln (or at least Frost hopes). The Wildcats, meanwhile, posted a 3-9 record for the second time in three seasons, their season undone by a lead offense (they had just 124 plays that gained at least 10 yards, which ranked 124th out of 130 teams). … Illinois, hosting Wyoming, showed progress as Coach Bret Bielema’s first Champaign campaign continued, winning four of its last seven games in 2021, including a ridiculous nine-overtime upset on the road at then-No. 7 Penn State. But the Illini lost a lot of production from that team and are pretty much starting from scratch. The Cowboys face a similar problem, particularly on offense: They must replace their top two quarterbacks, top rusher, top two receivers and two all-conference linebackers. But considering how bad Wyoming’s offense was last season — the Cowboys failed to reach 20 points in six games last season — that might be a blessing in disguise. … Hawaii-Vanderbilt is about as “Week 0 Nightcap” a game can get, especially considering it will be played in the Rainbow Warriors’ 9,300-seat practice arena after Aloha Stadium was declared unfit after last season. Allegations of abuse by former coach Todd Graham sent many of Hawai’i’s best players to the transfer window, meaning little of last year’s 6-7 team remains for new coach Timmy Chang, who put up flashy numbers at quarterback of the Rainbow Warriors earlier this century. . Vanderbilt’s brief moment of prowess — the Commodores went to five bowl games in an eight-season stretch from 2011 to 2018 — appears to be over: Vanderbilt has gone 5-28 over the past three seasons.
