Hot Seat watch - Week 1 winners and losers: Ed Orgeron quiets the critics

Hot Seat watch 2018: Week 1 winners and losers – Ed Orgeron quiets the doubters

ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 02: Head coach Ed Orgeron of the LSU Tigers celebrates with his team after the LSU Tigers beat the Miami Hurricanes 33-17 in The AdvoCare Classic at AT&T Stadium on September 2, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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HOUSTON, TX – SEPTEMBER 01: Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Kliff Kingsbury walks the sideline during the AdvoCare Kickoff college football game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Ole Miss Rebels on September 1, 2018 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Daniel Dunn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Loser – Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech

The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Ole Miss had a nice little showcase of offense to kick off the season. Unfortunately for Texas Tech, Ole Miss ran off with the game in the second half and got the victory.

For Kliff Kingsbury, it’s a loss to start off a pivotal season for keeping his job. His team won enough late in the 2017 season to keep his job, but he needs better results in 2018 to stay on board for the future.

To his credit, a loss to Ole Miss isn’t like losing to a Sun Belt school or an FCS program. The Red Raiders faced stiff competition to open the year and they had some glimpses of promise in the loss as well.

Now, Kingsbury needs to hope that his team is battle tested and knows what they need to improve on as they get ready for conference play at the end of the month. They have two winnable games coming up on the schedule against Lamar and Houston.

Houston could be tough if Major Applewhite has the program on a rebound this year, but Kingsbury needs a winning record from his non-conference schedule. Hovering around the .500 mark this season isn’t going to cut it.

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