By Emilee White
Football season is now in full swing with the NFL and CFB being played Thursday through Monday. Week 1 in either league is arguably the most crucial week because it can set a tone for the rest of the season. In college football, however, there is a week before conference games begin, known as Week 0.
You may be asking yourself “What is Week 0?” Consider it a soft launch, so to speak. Week 0 consists of non-conference games mainly for smaller teams to get air time, and for bigger teams to increase their morale with a win to start the season. 11 games were played this last weekend to start the new season, and there were a few shocking outcomes.
Upsets are a common thing, though it’s more likely than not for the higher ranked team to win, especially during Week 0 when the top 25 teams face off with either lower ranked or unranked teams. But no one could prepare Texas A&M for what was about to happen.
The Aggies went into Week 0 ranked No. 6 in the AP Top 25 College Football poll, unsurprisingly. In the hopes of finally becoming a contender for the SEC title, A&M paid $1.25 million to Appalachian State to be its non-conference game opponent. Still, that plan backfired for the Texas team, surprisingly.
“The key was belief,” said Appalachian State football head coach Shawn Clark to AP News. “You have to believe in yourself and believe in this program. I told them take the logo off of the helmet, take the logo off the field and let’s go play football.”
Appalachian State took to the field as the 18.5-point underdog in the slated game, but did not falter and matched A&M touchdown-for-touchdown. It all came down to the last quarter when the Mountaineers scored a field goal and won the game 17-14. So basically, The Aggies paid to lose, dropping to No. 24 in the AP poll, and they weren’t the only team that suffered that fate.
Another notable program, Notre Dame, went into its Week 0 ranked high in the AP poll, sitting comfortably at No.8. For their non-conference game, the Fighting Irish paid Marshall University $1.5 million to compete against. And just like Appalachian State, the Thundering Herd came out on top against Notre Dame with a 26-21 win. The loss hit the Fighting Irish so hard that they fell out of the top 25 in this week’s AP poll.
“Fans live and die by the week, by the moment,” said Marshall football head coach Charles Huff to Sports Illustrated. “But we didn’t start the season with the goal of just beating Notre Dame. Focusing on how we won, and not who we beat, will allow us to prepare for this week and the next week and the next week.”
Lesson learned? Never underestimate your opponent.
Photo Credit: YES Market Media
