College football preview: Army praised for its near-upset of Oklahoma, but not by its coach

It seemed right to feel good about Army football last weekend. The Black Knights went to Oklahoma as 31-point underdogs and played an epic overtime game against the fifth-ranked Sooners, running 45 more plays and holding the ball for nearly a half-hour longer before losing, 28-21.

Congratulations from all over the country, even from Navy, showered the football office at West Point. But Army coach Jeff Monken felt anything but encouraged.

"Frankly, I think it's a loser's mentality," Monken said at his weekly news conference. "Whenever you lose, it's not a positive. There's nothing positive about that.

"I'm still stewing. A loss lingers until you get a chance to play again. That's the most difficult thing about being competitive. I'm not happy at all. It stinks. It hurts and it (ticks) you off because you just believe you were supposed to win."

The Black Knights not only dominated with their triple-option offense, gaining 339 rushing yards against the baffled Sooners, but they also fashioned a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter, stopping Trey Sermon on the 1-yard line on third and fourth downs to keep the game tied.

Dan Mullen was head coach of Mississippi State for nine seasons, won 69 games, and even had the Bulldogs on the No. 1 rung of the Associated Press poll for five weeks in 2014, making him a beloved figure in Starkville.

But Mullen, an Ursinus graduate, took off at the end of last season and became head coach at Florida, the school where he was offensive coordinator for four years before heading to Mississippi State. The move has left a sour taste with many of the Bulldogs' faithful, who don't like the fact that he moved to another SEC team.

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One Mississippi State fan told Sports Illustrated: "Ten to 15 years from now, we'll applaud him. Saturday night, I'll boo him. I'm in a group text with some others. They're like, 'I'm not going to boo him, I appreciate him.' Well, I'm appreciative of what he did, too, but he left us."

Coincidentally, Mullen, who was born in Drexel Hill, was succeeded by another coach with Pennsylvania roots, former Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, who called Pittsburgh home.

Scott Frost was expected to be the savior when he left Central Florida to take the job at Nebraska, his alma mater. But the magic isn't there, at least not yet.

The Cornhuskers are off to an 0-3 start for the first time since 1945. They are getting outscored by almost 2-to-1 (37.7-19.0) and are minus-5 in turnovers. They will try to break a string of six consecutive home losses (dating to last year) on Saturday against Purdue.

"We knew this wasn't going to be easy from where it was when we found this program," Frost said at his weekly news conference. "There's a lot of things that we've got to improve. We're in the process of doing that, and we keep working hard on doing the things that we know work.

"It's going to get good. Nobody's more disappointed than me that it hasn't happened yet, but we're going to stay the course, and I know, inevitably, with the way we're going to do things, we'll get there."

Frost's former team, Central Florida, enters Saturday's game against Pittsburgh riding a 16-game winning streak, longest among FBS teams. You recall that after the Knights finished undefeated last season, they also ended the season uninvited – to the College Football Playoff.

But there's hope. Or is there?

CFP executive director Bill Hancock told the Associated Press on Thursday that "there is a path" for UCF to be one of the four teams to make the semifinals. He also said the Knights "got every consideration" last year.

That sounds good, but in reality, UCF was behind a number of two-loss teams in the CFP rankings in every ranking, and finished No. 12 behind three-loss teams.

This year, the Knights will face tough opponents in the AAC, including Temple. Alas, because they are the only ranked team in the conference, the "path" that Hancock mentioned is mostly covered in quicksand.

Some Penn State fans still wake up from nightmares about Appalachian State, the team that almost scuttled their hopes for a wildly successful season before it could even begin. But it turns out the Mountaineers are pretty good.

Maybe the opposition hasn't been great – Charlotte and Gardner Webb – since opening day, but App State is ranked sixth nationally in points (51.7 per game) and total defense (265.7 per game), and 12^th in total offense (525.7). Sophomore quarterback Zac Thomas is seventh in the nation in pass efficiency, completing nearly 75 percent of his throws.

Cary Angeline, a graduate of Downingtown East High School, started at tight end for North Carolina State on Saturday, the first game for which he was eligible after transferring from Southern California following the third game of the 2017 season. The 6-foot-7, 254-pound Angeline, of Chester Springs, did not have any receptions in the game. Angeline, who redshirted his first year at USC, is the third generation of his family to play college football.

West Virginia at Texas Tech, noon, ESPN2: Fans of football flying through the air will love this matchup of the Mountaineers' Will Grier (372.3 passing yards per game, third in FBS) and the Red Raiders' Alan Bowman (389.3, first). The WVU secondary allows 81 fewer yards on average than Tech.

Syracuse at Clemson, noon, 6ABC: The Orange have been rolling up some big numbers on offense – 523 yards and 49.5 points per game – but they haven't faced anyone this season like the Tigers. Clemson holds teams to 15.3 points per game, and freshman Trevor Lawrence now is solidly its No. 1 quarterback.

Florida at Mississippi State, 6 p.m., ESPN: It's a homecoming for Ursinus grad Dan Mullen, who coached the Bulldogs for nine seasons before moving to the Gators. The new guy in Starkville, former Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, must regroup after last week's 28-7 loss at Kentucky.

Stanford at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m., NBC10: The Cardinal went from certain defeat to thrilling victory last week against Oregon and face a rejuvenated Fighting Irish team that defeated Wake Forest with backup Ian Book at quarterback. But coach Brian Kelly won't say whether Book or Brandon Wimbush will start.

BYU at Washington, 8:30 p.m., Fox29: The Cougars' win over Wisconsin two weeks ago showed they do not fear playing on the road. Despite an experienced quarterback in Jake Browning, the Huskies have been hot and cold with their attack and need to establish Myles Gaskin early in the running game.

Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama, QB, 6-1, 218, So., Ewa Beach, Hawaii

Tagovailoa, who burst into the national spotlight with his performance in the second half and overtime of Alabama's win over Georgia for the national championship, hasn't let up this season for the top-ranked Crimson Tide. First in FBS in passing efficiency, he's also first in yards per completion (17.81), second in yards per attempt (12.9), and sixth in completion percentage (72.5). He has thrown for 12 touchdowns with zero interceptions and has 11 completions of 30 yards or longer.