The most embarrassing moment of the college football season arguably occurred Sept. 9 when Bobby Petrino spoke at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and got a standing ovation for a simple, straightforward apology over the scandal that got him fired from Arkansas in 2012.

It was quite literally the least Petrino could do after an infamous motorcycle ride exposed that he had been having an affair with a female staffer and had lied about it. It gave Arkansas no choice but to cut ties with a coach who had made the program a fixture in the nation's top 10.

Regardless of his regrets, the fact he got a standing ovation says less about Arkansas fans’ capacity to forgive and more about the sorry state of their football program since Petrino was fired.

Arkansas has been falling ever since Petrino crashed that motorcycle and didn’t hit rock bottom until Saturday when the Razorbacks lost 31-24 at home to San Jose State, which had beaten just two FBS teams (Wyoming and UNLV) since the start of the 2017 season.

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You can’t dance around this. It’s unforgivable for Arkansas to lose that game, and it’s particularly bad for coach Chad Morris because his short tenure already includes losses to North Texas and Colorado State.

One of those is survivable, two is a big problem, and three is a crisis.

The problems for Arkansas are almost innumerable. Its offensive line got thrown around all night, its defense gave up 503 yards and quarterback Nick Starkel tossed five interceptions. Whatever Morris is trying to do, it’s just not working — and Arkansas fans aren’t going to be particularly patient to see if he can figure it out.

It’s rarely advisable to make a coaching change after just two years, but this is trending so poorly that Arkansas may have to consider adding $9.8 million to a buyout tab that is already staggering.

A mere two years ago, Arkansas decided it had enough of Bret Bielema and paid him $11.9 million to go away, which was probably the correct move at the time but one that came with a lot of risk.

On paper, it made sense to hire Morris, a well-known name in the Texas high school coaching ranks with lots of recruiting ties in an area that must bear fruit for the Razorbacks if they're going to win at a high level.

Plus, Morris had improved the SMU program over his three seasons, going from hopeless to 7-5, although some skeptics questioned the quality of those wins. But most of all, Morris’ credentials came from his time at Clemson where he was a revolutionary offensive coordinator hire who helped turn around a program that might have slipped away from Dabo Swinney.

Morris had enough of those Swinney qualities with his energy, his media skills and his positive coaching style to make it seem like Arkansas was getting Costco Dabo — close enough to the name brand that a slight drop-off in quality was barely noticeable.

Instead, we now know it’s only the losses they bought in bulk.

FOUR MORE IN MISERY

Michigan: In the final analysis of Jim Harbaugh's tenure, whenever and however it ends, there will be all kinds of talk about the antics that marked his first couple years and the offensive dysfunction that eventually consumed his program. All of that is true and valid, but isn’t the fundamental problem much simpler? Michigan just isn't that talented.

Of all the areas where Harbaugh has fallen short, it’s the most important one that was glaring through the television screen during Michigan’s 35-14 loss to Wisconsin. The coaching isn't great, but the players just aren't that good. Harbaugh came back to college football in 2015 seeking to push boundaries, exploit NCAA rule loopholes and irritate the SEC by coming into their territory and recruit creatively with satellite camps and spring practices at IMG Academy.

But what has all that really gotten Michigan? The best players Harbaugh has recruited were in his first class — Rashan Gary and Devin Bush — and he needed to hire Gary’s high school coach to get that one done in the first place. There have been some other notable wins on signing day and a few five-stars here and there, but some of Michigan's most productive players under Harbaugh have been three-star types who were generally overlooked — which is perfectly fine, but only if you're also bringing in a steady stream of elite talent. And Michigan isn’t doing that compared to teams that contend for national titles. Harbaugh isn’t recruiting at a significantly different level than his immediate predecessors, which explains why the results aren’t significantly different. Given all the hype and attention he got early on, that should be the biggest disappointment of his tenure so far.

South Carolina: It seems like every summer Gamecock fans are fed a steady diet of misinformation. They are told, over and over again, that this is going to be the best Will Muschamp team ever. They are told the offense is finally ready to be unleashed. They are told South Carolina is right on the verge of competing with Georgia. And, of course, they are told wrong. Which is really the root of the problem.

Muschamp is running a respectable program at South Carolina, one that is going to make a bowl game pretty much every year, recruit well enough to be competitive in the SEC and generally not embarrass anyone with on or off-field issues. And he’s doing it with the added burden of sharing the state — and a spot on the schedule — with Clemson during the greatest period of its football history.

That should be enough to make fans realistic, but it’s not. A 34-14 loss at Missouri in which its offense gained just 270 yards has left South Carolina at 1-3, which is a tipping point for many fans who are ready to burn it to the ground. But Muschamp’s overall record is far from disastrous at 23-20, and he’s playing a freshman quarterback in Ryan Hilinski who has a chance to be very good. Muschamp’s teams may never be as good as the preseason hype, but maybe South Carolina should expect a little bit less.

Houston: As long as Tilman Fertitta is the sugar daddy for Houston’s athletic program, he’ll never live down a quote from December 2016 when he declared that his new coaching hire Major Applewhite needed to win at least nine, 10, 11 games to keep his job because anything less was unacceptable at a program like Houston. “We did get rid of a coach that won eight games three years ago,” Fertitta said. “Don’t ever forget that.” True to his word, Houston fired Applewhite after going 7-5 and 8-5 in his two seasons so that Fertitta could make Dana Holgorsen the highest-paid coach in the Group of Five conferences at $4 million a year. What does an uber-booster with an uncontrollable ego and unrealistic expectations think he's getting for that kind of contract? Surely something better than losses to Tulane.

Houston is now 1-3 under Holgorsen after losing 38-31 to the Green Wave, blowing a 28-7 lead and allowing a two-play, 71-yard touchdown drive to end the game after Houston tied it up on a field goal with 21 seconds remaining. It was an ugly loss for the Cougars in what looks like an ugly season with a defense that isn't very good and more losses coming in an American Athletic Conference that Houston thinks it’s too good to be part of in the first place. Maybe, eventually, Fertitta will understand those 8-4 seasons that got his coaches fired aren’t so bad after all.

Tennessee: The numbing effect of so many losses and poor performances has taken the sting out of what’s happened to the 1-3 Vols this season. But there is a realization setting in for the fan base after Saturday's 34-3 loss to Florida that this is a long-haul problem, and there is no shortcut out of it. On one hand, that should settle people down and force them to get behind Jeremy Pruitt because it’s clear the last thing this program needs is more turbulence and upheaval. At the same time, the lack of execution is so bad and the lack of effort so glaring that you do have to wonder if players are buying into what Pruitt is selling. When a high-intensity coach has a low-intensity team, that’s a major red flag. The Vols showed at least a little bit of a spark last year before falling off in November, but that seems to be gone, and quarterback Jarrett Guarantano has regressed (10-for-17, 107 yards, two interceptions against Florida). Is there even one Tennessee player performing better than they did last year? And maybe more relevant to Pruitt’s job security, how many of those 102,000 seats at Neyland Stadium are going to be filled in October and November?

TRENDING TOWARD MISERY

Miami: As former NBA coach Lionel Hollins once famously said when the Memphis Grizzlies traded Rudy Gay much to his chagrin, “When you have champagne taste, you can’t be on a beer budget.” Miami is a Natural Light football power whose fans thirst for Veuve Clicquot, and they’ve barely taken a sip of what Manny Diaz is pouring before deciding they want to spit it out. Seriously, it’s crazy. The narrative around Diaz has gone from “hometown hero” to “in over his head” before his first season is even halfway over, and Saturday's ugly 17-12 win over Central Michigan did not upgrade his standing. Miami went 1-for-10 on third down and rushed for just 51 yards against a team that went 1-11 last season.

Utah: When the Utes went down on Friday night with a 30-23 loss at Southern Cal, it wasn't just the same old story for Utah fans watching a completely ineffective passing attack. It was the same old story for the Pac-12, which now has just one undefeated team left with California. In other words, the chances of a Pac-12 team making the College Football Playoff are dwindling to almost nothing. And in a year where the league's South Division is particularly weak, Utah had a historic opportunity to maybe roll through the schedule and sneak into the final four. Instead, the Utes allowed former USC third-stringer Matt Fink to throw for 351 yards and three touchdowns. The world may be upside down when USC is a so-called "bad loss” for Utah, but it certainly narrows a lot of the possibilities the Utes had been dreaming about when the season began.

Nebraska: The Huskers are pretty fortunate to land toward the bottom of this list after coming back from a two-touchdown deficit to win 42-38 at Illinois. Though the game was celebrated as program's 900th overall win, joining just five other schools in FBS history, Nebraska fans have to be a little nervous at this point about the direction of the season. Yes, it's a Big Ten road win, which hadn’t happened since Oct. 28, 2017, at Purdue. But Nebraska has been sloppy all season (10 penalties, four lost fumbles against Illinois) and on its heels defensively way too often. After embracing the expectations as a Big Ten West favorite, the Huskers are among the uglier 3-1 teams in the country. And you have to be a little bit afraid that the narrative of progress in Scott Frost’s second season may get obliterated next Saturday when Ohio State comes to Lincoln.

Texas A&M: In retrospect, why was everyone so bought in on the Aggies this preseason? Yes, they won nine games in Jimbo Fisher’s first year, but if you examine the record closely, there were an awful lot of empty calories in that run aside from the seven-overtime win at home over LSU. A&M fans must now admit after Saturday’s 28-20 loss at home to Auburn that their team was overrated. The Aggies will win at least seven games this year, but it’s hard to envision how they'll beat anyone good without some more dynamic playmakers or significantly more accurate passing from Kellen Mond. Fans aren't going to blame Fisher, at least for now. Instead, the target is going to be former coach Kevin Sumlin, now at Arizona, who spent his Saturday night fanning the flames with a simple eye emoji tweet shortly after the loss went final.

TCU: Gary Patterson is an amazing coach, but he’s not the sport’s most gracious loser. Maybe those two things are related. Patterson has lost a little bit more than he used to in the latest phase of his career at TCU, partly because he’s now in the Big 12. So that makes it that much tougher to take when TCU loses to a team like SMU. The Mustangs notched a 41-38 victory in Fort Worth on Saturday as the Frogs turned it over three times and got uneven quarterback play from freshman Max Duggan. The more intriguing part of the story, though, came after the game when Patterson went to the unusual step of sending co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie out for a news conference to address the offense and answer questions about the quarterback. Keep in mind, Cumbie isn't available to the media outside of a one-time preseason setting. So this was a message and, in a sense, an abdication of responsibility by the head coach. Just three games into the schedule, TCU’s season (2-1) seems in peril.

TOTALLY REAL AND IRRATIONAL MESSAGE BOARD THREADS

“Almost feels like we got the death penalty” - Hogville

“Time to admit we are a helmet, a stadium and a song. Everything else is a fraud.” - MGoBlog (Michigan)

“You know it's bad when they want $2300 for firemuschamp.com" - The Big Spur (South Carolina)

“Not a single good player or coach on this team” - CanesInsight

“Jimbo’s stubbornness will be his downfall" - TexAgs