Sideline-to-helmet communications garner praise, some frustration in Week 1

Here's a scenario that Alabama was not prepared for in Week 1: getting offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan down from the press box to the field as quickly as possible, during the game, so he could keep calling plays.

Here's why it had to happen: The Crimson Tide was playing Western Kentucky, and because the Hilltoppers' headsets — part of a new wrinkle to college football this season — stopped working, Alabama by rule couldn't use its headsets, either. So, Sheridan had to make an unplanned dash to the sidelines to keep communicating with Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe.

"I thought our staff did a great job because that's something you don't practice," Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said after the 63-0 win in his debut at the school.

Helmet communication has come to major college football, with a single player on each team designated with a green dot on his helmet — the quarterback on offense, typically the on-field play-caller on defense — being able to hear voice instructions from the sideline until 15 seconds remain on the play clock. It's a new option for this season after being experimented with for bowl games a year ago, and in theory it'll replace signs being sent in from the sideline through hand signals.

Early returns on the new gizmos were mixed. Some liked it. Some didn't.

"It helped us some, but it kept messing up," said FIU coach Mike MacIntyre, whose team lost 31-7 in its opener at Indiana. "It kept going in and out all of the time on us. We have been working on it for a while. I don’t know why it keeps going in and out."

Even when the headsets work, there's another challenge: noise.

The first real game of the season was a Week 0 matchup between Georgia Tech and Florida State in Ireland. By big-time college