Recovering from a Short Week: A Historical Look at Week Two for Teams that Opened on Labor Day

For Ohio State, coming off a Labor Day opener at Virginia Tech, it wasn't quite two games in five days when they welcomed Hawai'i Saturday – it was actually two games in six days – but when you factor in classes and other obligations college players have, it might have well have been.

For example, many players had 8 a.m. classes the day after the game — quite an ask for anyone returning home at 4:30 a.m after playing in a high-level college football game.

For long stretches of the Buckeyes' 38-0 win over Hawai'i, something did look off. Quarterback Cardale Jones and holder Cameron Johnston mishandled snaps, both Jones and J.T. Barrett missed open receivers and the offensive line play was spotty. Luckily, Ohio State's defense rose to the challenge and put the Rainbow Warriors on ice all afternoon.

"I think that's a very solid excuse, one that's not allowed," Urban Meyer said on the short week immediately after the game. "I made that clear down there."

NFL players loathe short weeks, too, resulting in the league scheduling their team for Thursday Night Football. The fewer than four-day window between contests is extremely rough on an athlete's body, no matter how fine-tuned or young.

"That Friday, everything was hurting; knees, hands, shoulders,” Houston Texans Pro Bowl offensive tackle Duane Brown told Roberto Klemko of the MMQB in December 2013. “I didn’t get out of bed until that night. I didn’t leave the house at all."

Football is big business, with massive television contracts from companies who determine when during the week games are played in order to obtain the most viewership. Ohio State took its turn this season, waiting until Labor Day to play its season opener then suiting back up for another game five days later.

With that in mind, we took a look at every one of the 34 teams to have opened the college football season on Labor Day to see if there were any noticeable trends in their performance the following week. Here's what we found.

Of the 34 teams who opened their respective seasons on Labor Day, 12 were ranked in the top-25. Of the 12, all but one finished the season ranked worse or unranked. The lone outlier? The 2013 Florida State squad, led by eventual Heisman Trophy winner and quarterback Jameis Winston, who beat Auburn, 34-31, in the final BCS National Championship Game to finished unbeaten.

A total of 14 of the 34 teams — or 41 percent — who played on Labor Day did not play on the following Saturday, likely a move made by their athletic directors to allow time for proper rest and game planning prior to the team's next outing.

Among those 20 teams that played both on Labor Day in addition to the following Saturday, only one lost its Week 2 matchup: James Madison upset then-No. 13 Virginia Tech, 21-16, days after the Hokies dropped their season opener to then-No. 3 Boise State, 33-30, in 2010. Frank Beamer's club recovered to win 11 straight games and earn an Orange Bowl berth that season.

Each team that played both on Labor Day and the following weekend played an unranked opponent in Week 2. Counterparts in the second game were Idaho, The Citadel, Troy, Florida A&M (twice), UTEP, North Texas, UAB, Louisiana-Monroe, Southeast Missouri State, Howard, Jacksonville State, Georgia Southern, Morgan State, James Madison, Presbyterian, Austin Peay, Murray State, Hawai'i and Furman.

After looking at the Week 2 opponents of those 20 teams to play both Labor Day and the following Saturday, you'll notice just seven — UNLV in 2005 (Idaho), Florida State in 2006 (Troy), Texas Tech in 2007 (UTEP), SMU in 2007 (North Texas), Florida State in 2007 (UAB), Clemson in 2007 (Louisiana-Monroe) and Ohio State in 2015 (Hawai'i) — scheduled FBS opponents for their second game.