If the zeroes are truly temporary, I would not worry too much. Colleges typically want to see first quarter and semester grades. I assume that she would be caught up by those points in time, and the grade listed would reflect that she had completed all of the assignments.
If they are not temporary, or if she will take a big hit on the grades if she hands in assignments late, did the teacher clearly state this policy? If not, perhaps she should talk to the teacher and offer something such as A) I will hand in all assignments on time from this point onward and B) I should have been "more responsible" and handed in the assignments on time, but since the policy wasn't stated, I feel that I should receive partial credit (perhaps 10-20% grade reduction) for the past assignments.
I can understand that a policy of no credit for late work is harsh. However, I can also understand that the teacher doesn't want to see a semester's worth of assignments the last week of the semester. Not only is it a lot of papers to grade, but a student that didn't understand the material could go an entire semester being clueless (and the teacher wouldn't realize).
