The first full week of the college football season stretched from Thursday through Monday night, unifying fans nationally in outrage over the most controversial ending in recent memory, sending some fan bases into full-blown panic already and setting the stage for a star-studded Heisman Trophy race and crowded College Football Playoff chase.
Who knew that college football fans, a most passionately partisan people by nature, could be universally unified in a shared cause?
Well, it happened Saturday when the college football world collectively felt aggrieved on behalf of Western Michigan, the plucky reigning MAC champion that sure looked to have pulled off a historic upset over Michigan in the Big House when Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood’s hopeless Hail Mary heave sailed out of the end zone as time expired.
At least the time that is kept on the stadium clock and purportedly synced to the television broadcast — the time everyone both in the stadium and watching from home could see with their own eyes.
Everyone except the officiating crew that decided to put a second back on the clock and let Michigan try again.
This time, of course, Underwood completed his second Hail Mary to JJ Buchanan for a game-winning 47-yard touchdown to improbably and inconceivably push Michigan ahead of Western Michigan, 13-12, and spoil a landmark upset.
The official explanation was that while the television broadcast’s clock is supposed to be synced to the official game clock, it remains unofficial while the Big Ten Conference and the game officials have the only clock that ultimately matters — and that only they can see apparently.
The clock that in the video released by the conference (see below) shows a Western Michigan defender leaping from out of bounds and making contact with the ball before the 0.00s hit.
Needless to say, seemingly nobody outside the Wolverines’ fan base was assuaged by that explanation — or this alternate video released by the conference in the wake of apoplectic outrage over a decision by the conference’s own officials.
Conspiracy theorists have worked with a lot less, and it didn’t take long for the Connor Stalions jokes to start flying on social media.
Speaking of Stalions, the infamous face of Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal from a few years back, he tried to be the voice of reason in defense of the decision — of course.
(College football really does do drama on a higher plane than any other sport …)
Whether it was or wasn’t a justified call, it will nonetheless go down as one of the most controversial college football finishes of all-time — a different kind of history than many believe the Broncos of Western Michigan deserved.
Officially, they’re still winless all-time against the in-state Big Ten behemoth 140 miles away in nine meetings with Michigan dating back to 1943.
Unofficially, most college football fans have already assigned an Ann Arbor-sized asterisk to this one.
Top 10 Takeaways From Week 1 of the College Football Season
What’s the broader fallout?
Let’s tackle that in our top 10 takeaways from the college football’s Week 1.
1. Win Or Not, Michigan And Bryce Underwood Exposed In Opener
The controversial win probably has little bearing on the college football season overall.
Western Michigan can still win the MAC (again), but regardless it’s unlikely to be in position to claim the Group of 6 playoff berth over the top programs from the revived/refashioned Pac-12, Mountain West, AAC or Sun Belt. If the Broncos are ultimately in that discussion, the voters and arbiters of such matters will give them credit for what happened in Ann Arbor.
As for Michigan …
In their first game under coach Kyle Whittingham, the preseason No. 16-ranked Wolverines looked nothing like a College Football Playoff or Big Ten contender. Not with Underwood, once the five-star future of the program, continuing to look as raw and uncomfortable at this level as he did as a true freshman last year.
Outside of that final 47-yard touchdown, Underwood was just 11-of-21 passing for 123 yards with an interception and a rushing TD … against a Week 1 MAC opponent.
As a freshman, he passed for just 2,428 yards, 11 TDs and 9 INTs and rushed for 392 yards and 6 scores. He simply doesn’t look the part of a Big Ten starting quarterback, let alone a five-star prospect.
Whittingham is already leaving the door open for a potential future QB change, with true freshman Tommy Carr (the grandson of longtime former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr and brother of Notre Dame QB CJ Carr) next on the depth chart.
“He’s our QB right now. It’s not something that’s infinite,” Whittingham said Monday of Underwood’s job security. “At some point, we’ve got to turn a corner and we’ve got to see improvement as we do with a bunch of stuff.”
Change could be coming sooner than later as Michigan hosts a top-10 Oklahoma team with a ferocious defense this week, and Underwood was just 9-of-24 passing for 142 yards and 0 TDs in a 24-13 loss to the Sooners last year.
2. Heisman Trophy Aside, Biletnikoff Award Race Could Be One For the Ages
Ohio State star Jeremiah Smith has generally been considered the top wide receiver in college football for three years now, since his breakout freshman campaign during the Buckeyes’ national championship run.
But he has yet to win the Biletnikoff Award — the crowning honor for college football’s top receiver.
It seemed likely that would come this year for the junior in what will be his final college season. Even if it’s a close call in the end, many voters will surely be compelled to honor Smith’s career as a whole.
But Miami sophomore Malachi Toney may have something to say about all that.
While Smith was phenomenal in Ohio State’s 56-3 drubbing of Ball State on Saturday, catching 8 passes for 151 yards and 2 TDs all in the first half, Toney was even better with 12 receptions for 234 yards and 3 TDs in Miami’s 45-6 win at Stanford on Friday night.
Expect those two to battle over the next three months for both the Biletnikoff and perhaps even the Heisman Trophy.
3. Heisman Field Coming Into Focus
While the Heisman Trophy most often goes to the top quarterback in college football, that’s not always the case. In fact, twice in the last six years it wasn’t, with Alabama WR DeVonta Smith winning in 2020 and Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter taking it in 2024.
Toney and Smith will absolutely be in that conversation this year, but the list of quarterback contenders is deep and compelling as well.
DraftKings Sportsbook has updated its Heisman odds as follows: 1. Miami QB Darian Mensah (+600), 2. Texas QB Arch Manning (+950), 3. Smith (+1000), 4. Notre Dame QB CJ Carr (+1100), 5. Toney (+1250), T6. Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss and Oregon QB Dante Moore (+1300), 8. Ohio State QB Julian Sayin (+1400), 9. LSU QB Sam Leavitt (+1500) and 10. USC QB Jayden Maiava (+1750).
The quarterbacks who helped their Heisman profile the most in Week 1 were:
1. Mensah: 27-of-30 passing for 401 yards, 5 TDs and 0 INTs in Miami’s 45-6 win at Stanford
2. Moore: 28-of-37 passing for 378 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INT in Oregon’s come-from-behind 34-27 win over Boise State
3. Leavitt: 16-of-28 passing for 230 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT, 113 rushing yards and 2 TDs in LSU’s 51-10 win over Clemson
4. Maiava: 23-of-25 passing for 349 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INT in USC’s 39-0 win over Fresno State
5. Sayin: 21-of-25 passing for 320 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INT with a rushing TD in Ohio State’s 56-3 win over Ball State
6. Indiana’s Josh Hoover (+1900 odds): 13-of-16 passing for 231 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs in Indiana’s 52-16 win over North Texas with the indelible image of blood streaming down his face and jersey after getting his helmet twisted violently.
7. Manning: 20-of-27 passing for 305 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT in Texas’ 59-7 win over Texas State
4. Lane Kiffin Is The Villain College Football Needs … And LSU Is Legit
LSU coach Lane Kiffin wants everyone to know he’s in on the ploy.
He has embraced being college football’s preeminent villain. It suits him and he knows it.
And he wants you to know it.
That’s why he went on “College GameDay” Saturday morning, before his statement-making LSU debut in a 51-10 win over Clemson, and tells ESPN’s Pat McAfee, “I’ve really appreciated our friendship, and this week your guidance with me. Because between you and I, we’re about the two most hated people there are.”
After being sued by the SEC last week to stop him from trying to activate and use two players who were in NFL training camps earlier this summer, Kiffin couldn’t help himself when he had a national audience at halftime with a 31-3 lead.
“Imagine if we had pro players,” he quipped after turning back to ESPN’s Holly Rowe.
He’d feign afterward that he didn’t know that was going to be used on the broadcast, while at the same time reiterating that he knows how it all plays with the national audience.
“That’s just my personality, it is what it is,” Kiffin said. “And then I said, ‘Did you actually put that on air?’ She said ‘Yes.’ So what’s the difference — everybody hates you, they can’t hate you that much more. So there you go — you got another line.”
A villain is only relevant if he matters and is good at being more than just a lightning rod for controversy, though.
And underneath the Joker mask, Kiffin is absolutely the real deal — as is this LSU team.
That’s the takeaway from Saturday night — and maybe the most important takeaway from college football’s first full weekend.
Clemson may indeed be in retrograde at this point under old-school coach Dabo Swinney, who has tried to row against the changing tides of the sport and may now get washed away because of it.
But Clemson isn’t going to get steamrolled 51-10 many times — if any other times — this season.
That score ultimately said more about the Tigers from Baton Rouge.
After bringing in more than 40 transfers and basically remaking the whole offense, there was some uncertainty as to what to expect in Kiffin’s first season. No longer.
LSU is a legitimate top 10 team and top contender in what projects as a rather wide-open national championship race.
Leavitt, the transfer quarterback from Arizona State, has the aura and moxie to lead team with such expectations, and Kiffin will get the most out of his dual-threat abilities — the same way he did with Trinidad Chambliss at Ole Miss last season.
LSU has plenty of playmakers around Leavitt with Wisconsin running back transfer Dilin Jones (23 carries for 113 yards and 2 TDs), one of the deepest wide receiver units in the country led Saturday by Ole Miss transfer Winston Watkins Jr. (7 catches for 110 yards and a TD), a top-tier tight end in Trey’Dez Green, etc.
And, of course, Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. picking up right where they left off at Ole Miss.
There was never a doubt that Kiffin would build a prolific offense at LSU — he’s done it literally everywhere he’s been.
That’s why the biggest story Saturday was the Tigers defense, which allowed just 145 offensive yards, may have ended Christopher Vizzina’s tenure as Clemson’s starting QB just as it began (he was 10-of-16 passing for 83 yards, 0 TDs and 1 INT before being replaced by true freshman Tait Reynolds, stifled that offense to just 1.5 yards per rushing attempt and just in general caused havoc all night in every way.
If THAT is sustainable even to a lesser degree, LSU just might prove to be the story of the season in college football — and not for any of the sideshow antics of its head coach.
5. Lincoln Riley Finally Has A Defense
Speaking of impressive defenses, Lincoln Riley might finally have a defense at USC.
For that matter, the defensive deficiency of Riley’s teams goes back to his time at Oklahoma and the Sooners squads that lost in the College Football Playoff by margins of 54-48 (to Georgia in two overtimes in the 2017 season), 45-34 (to Alabama in 2018) and 63-28 (to LSU in 2019).
He brought his OU defensive coordinator Alex Grinch with him to USC, along with that reputation for leading high-scoring but one-dimensional football teams. Riley failed to get USC into the playoffs in his first four seasons, including two years with Caleb Williams at QB, largely because of disappointing defenses.
Even in showing improvement the last two years after replacing Grinch with D’Anton Lynn, USC still ranked a middling tied for 56th nationally in scoring defense in 2024 (24.1 points per game allowed) and 51st last season (23.0 PPG).
Lynn left for his alma mater Penn State this year, which could have been seen as a setback on any momentum those Trojans defenses were building, and yet instead it opened the door for Riley to make one of the most underrated offseason moves in college football.
He convinced longtime TCU head coach Gary Patterson to come out of retirement for his first formal on-field coaching role since resigning from the Horned Frogs in the middle of the 2021 season and take over as the Trojans’ defensive coordinator.
It’s Patterson’s first season as a DC in 26 years but he looks to be relishing the opportunity and making an immediate impact.
USC has opened the season with a pair of blowout wins over San Jose State (42-26) and Fresno State (39-0), and the defense has been as much a story as Maiava and the Trojans’ trove of talented young wide receivers.
The Week 0 score is misleading as USC led 35-3 through three dominant quarters before pulling starters and allowing San Jose Start to pile up ultimately meaningless points. Still, that fourth quarter left Patterson frustrated and his message to his unit clearly resonated as the Trojans didn’t allow an even better Fresno State team any openings from start to finish.
USC gave up just 116 offensive yards, held the Bulldogs to 1.3 YPC on 29 attempts, bewildered QB Jayden Mandal into completing only 7 of 15 passes for 77 yards and an interception while taking 5 sacks and 2 safeties (one while pulling a “Dan Orlovsky” while being chased out of the back of the end zone).
Yes, it’s always perilous to put too much stock into early season performances against lower-tiered competition, but it’s hard to ignore the difference in this defense from Riley’s first four seasons. It’s beyond the numbers and even more about the eye test.
The Trojans haven’t had a defensive line this talented in a very long time, before Riley and perhaps even before his predecessor Clay Helton.
Five-star freshman edge rusher Luke Wafle was the jewel of USC’s No. 1 nationally ranked 2026 recruiting class, a five-star goliath (6-foot-6, 265 pounds) ranked the top prospect at his position and the No. 7 recruit at any position by 247Sports.
Jide Abasiri was an under-the-radar three-star defensive tackle who flipped from Minnesota in the 2024 recruiting class. Now a 6-foot-5, 280-pound force of humanity as a junior, he might be one of the best interior defensive linemen in college football.
The Trojans haven’t even had the services of versatile sophomore defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart yet due to a foot injury. Stewart, one of the most coveted recruits nationally in the 2025 class, had 7.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks (and excellent advance metrics) in 11 games as a true freshman, earning PFF Freshman All-American honors.
But the Trojans have the depth to make up for Stewart’s absence because they targeted Michigan State transfer and fifth-year senior Alex VanSumeren in the transfer portal for his specific skill set and prowess as a run-stuffer in the middle of the line.
The defense is loaded with highly rated recruits and veteran talent at all three levels, for that matter.
USC won’t get its first true test until Week 4 vs. Oregon, and until then it’s all extrapolation and projection, but there’s reason to believe Riley may finally have all the pieces to get the Trojans over the hump and into the College Football Playoff this year.
6. Texas Is Absolutely Loaded
This is by far the most talented team Steve Sarkisian has had in his now six seasons at Texas — at least offensively — and the onus is squarely on him to prove he can maximize that talent and get the Longhorns over the top.
It’s much the same situation Mario Cristobal faced last year at Miami after too many seasons falling short of top-end expectations before getting the Hurricanes to the national championship game.
The Longhorns opened the season ranked No. 5 and reinforced that stature in a take-care-of-business opener against Texas State, winning 59-7.
After an up-and-down first season as Texas’ starting quarterback, redshirt junior Arch Manning will have to show he can sustain the momentum with which he finished 2025. That’s to be determined, but as noted up top, he was impressive in his season debut while getting used to his new offensive weapons from the Longhorns’ lavish transfer portal shopping spree.
New running backs Hollywood Smothers (10 carries for 70 yards, 3 catches for 28 yards and a TD) and Raleek Brown (45 total yards and 2 TDs) and prized transfer receiver Cam Coleman (3 catches for 70 yards and 2 TDs) all made their mark in the blowout while returning junior Ryan Wingo led the way with 7 receptions for 121 yards and a score.
But Sarkisian’s Longhorns will get a much more meaningful litmus test this Saturday night as they host No. 1 Ohio State in the biggest game of the week — and really one of the biggest games on the entire 2026 college football schedule.
7. Miami Is Even Better In 2026 — Offensively At Least
Speaking of Cristobal’s Hurricanes, it remains to be seen how Miami’s defense rebuilds after losing tone-setting edge rushers Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor as first-round NFL draft picks, among other key contributors.
But there’s every reason to believe Miami is equipped to be even better offensively in 2026.
We’ve been touting since he transferred over from Duke that Mensah is a clear upgrade at quarterback over Carson Beck (and even Cam Ward before him), and that should have become clear by his sterling 401-yard, 5-TD performance in Miami’s 45-6 win at Stanford in Week 1.
The Hurricanes’ wide receiver corps should be stronger this year as well, with Toney returning as one of the best talents in college football, Cooper Barkate (4 catches for 67 yards and 1 TD in the opener) following Mensah from Duke after an 1,100-yard season and other notable transfers providing bolstered depth.
Senior Mark Fletcher Jr. is back at running back, and despite a quiet 2026 debut (13 carries for 40 yards) he more than proved his worth last year with 1,192 rushing yards and 14 total TDs.
But Mensah is the difference-maker here and why the Hurricanes (ranked No. 7 in the preseason poll) have as much upside as any team in the country, even if the defense isn’t as elite.
After the midseason losses to Louisville and SMU last year, Cristobal clearly put the clamps on Beck and turned him into a game-manager to avoid the crushing interceptions that contributed to those defeats. That shouldn’t be needed with Mensah, who posted TD/INT ratios of 22/6 as a redshirt-freshman at Tulane and 34/6 last season at Duke with far lesser talent around him.
Miami may not face a ranked opponent until Nov. 7 at Notre Dame — the only currently ranked team on the Hurricanes’ schedule — or a couple weeks earlier against Pittsburgh if the Panthers can start strong.
Unlike last year and the drama/controversy that went into the Hurricanes getting the final at-large berth into the CFP (over Notre Dame), they should coast into the playoffs this time around and again be a force to be reckoned with once they get there.
Even if for a different reason this time.
8. Teams That Can Win The National Championship
This list will be ever-evolving through the early part of the season, of course, but these are the teams that look like viable national championship contenders (listed alphabetically!)
For all of its relentless courtroom sagas and inability to enact and maintain enforceable eligibility parameters, college football has never been better thanks to the true depth of legitimate contenders the NIL/revenue-sharing era has created.
Alabama: It’s way too soon to give up on Kalen DeBoer. He got Washington to the national title game, he can figure it out at Alabama. True freshman QB Keelon Russell looked promising in his college debut, passing for 256 yards and rushing for 86 yards and a TD in a 48-10 win over East Carolina.
Georgia: Perennially. The Bulldogs, with Gunner Stockton back at quarterback, toasted FCS foe Tennessee State 63-3 in their opener.
Indiana: The defending national champs replaced a lot of pieces, but they restocked with a lot of proven talent like Hoover at QB, Turbo Richard at RB, Nick Marsh at WR, etc. The Hoosiers looked like the familiar Curt Cignetti Hoosiers in their 52-16 win over North Texas.
LSU: Covered above
Miami: As covered above.
Notre Dame: This is supposed to be the Fighting Irish’s revenge tour after getting snubbed from the playoffs last year, and after a slow start vs. Wisconsin, it pulled away for a 41-13 win. QB CJ Carr is a Heisman contender, but it remains to be seen if Aneyas Williams (20 carries for 90 yards and 2 TDs) can truly replace first-round draft picks Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price.
Ohio State: Two Heisman candidates in Sayin and Smith, a wealth of playmakers in general including transfer WR Devin McCuin, five-star freshman WR Chris Henry Jr., RBs Bo Jackson and Ja’Kobi Jackson, and the integral foundation of a defense that was the best in the country last year even if it has to replace three first-round NFL draft picks and other talent.
Oregon: Don’t read too much into the Week 1 test from Boise State, as the Ducks rallied from an early 10-point deficit and late tension to win 34-27. Coach Dan Lanning has proven he gets the most out of the abundant talent on his rosters each year (in the regular season at least), and Moore should be one of the best QBs in the country and performed as such in Week 1.
Texas: Covered above.
Texas A&M: A ho-hum 50-0 win over Missouri State to start after the Aggies’ CFP breakthrough last year and general upward trajectory under coach Mike Elko. Returning QB Marcel Reed, RB Rueben Owens II, WR Mario Craver and Alabama transfer WR Isaiah Horton lead the way offensively.
Wait and see honorable mentions …
Oklahoma: A 51-0 win over UTEP looks good but doesn’t reveal much. The defense should be great again, but we still have our doubts about John Mateer at quarterback and coach Brent Venables’ ability to win the big ones.
Ole Miss: Riding the adrenaline of his on-the-fly promotion and carrying existing momentum through the playoffs is one thing — molding a contender over the course of a full season is another, and Pete Golding still has to prove he can do the latter. QB Trinidad Chambliss and RB Kewan Lacy are among the best at their positions, but the defense looked discouragingly vulnerable in the Rebels’ 41-38 nail-biting win over No. 24 Louisville.
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders were dominant in the regular season last year thanks to a dominant defensive line assembled via the transfer portal and a fringe Heisman candidate at linebacker in Jacob Rodriguez. All of that is gone. The prolific rushing attack featuring Cameron Dickey, J’Koby Williams and adding in Quinten Joyner back from a torn ACL is as reliable as it gets, but new starting QB Will Hammond has everything to prove as the team’s fallback plan after transfer Brendan Sorsby’s gambling scandal, and ditto the rebuilt defense. Texas Tech beat Abilene Christian 33-10 in its opener.
USC: This seems wild to say given the mostly underwhelming Riley Era in Los Angeles and, beyond that, how long it’s been since the Trojans were truly national contenders. Heck, it IS wild to say. And maybe this will look silly in a couple months after USC goes through a gauntlet of Oregon, Washington, at Penn State, bye week, at Wisconsin, Ohio State, at Indiana. Or maybe not. For now, the Trojans belong on the list because the offense is elite and the defense looks to be legitimate.
9. Notable True Freshman Debuts
Here are the standout true freshman from Weeks 0-1:
Tennessee QB Faizon Brandon: The five-star freshman beat out George MacIntyre for the starting job and showed why in Week 1, completing 13 of 17 passes for 226 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs while rushing for 68 yards and 2 scores.
Alabama QB Keelon Russell: As noted above, the five-star delivered 256 passing yards and rushed for 86 yards and a TD in his college debut after beating out veteran Austin Mack for the job.
USC WR Trent Mosley: Mosely wasn’t the biggest name in the Trojans’ loaded haul of freshmen receivers, but he’s been the star of the show so far with 11 catches for 222 yards and 3 TDs in two games.
Nebraska RB Jamal Rule: What a college debut it was for Rule, who rushed 15 times for 122 yards and 2 TDs and caught 2 passes for 47 yards and a TD in his college debut vs. Ohio.
Mississippi State RB J.J. Hill: Hill led the Bulldogs’ backfield with 7 carries for 118 yards and 2 TDs in a 62-13 blowout of Louisiana Monroe.
Oregon State WR Jesse Legree: The Beavers looked impressive offensively against Houston despite a 33-20 loss, and Legree was a major part of that with 5 catches for 136 yards and a TD in his debut.
10. Fan Bases Ready To Panic
Clemson: The 7-6 finish last year was the program’s worst since 2010, and the 51-10 loss to LSU was one of the worst games of the Dabo Swinney Era, period. The Tigers don’t seem to have a quarterback and could be headed for more mediocrity as questions mount about whether this new era of college football has passed Swinney by.
North Carolina: Tar Heels fans couldn’t even bask for long in the team’s season-opening win over TCU as drama continues to swirl around Bill Belichick’s program. His handpicked general manager Mike Lombardi just resigned amid a university investigation into a human resources complaint. Meanwhile, defensive coordinator (and the head coach’s son) Steve Belichick remains under investigation for potential drug use (or worse).
Florida State: Mike Norvell has been on the hot seat for two years, and there’s no evidence from the Seminoles’ first two games that anything is changing anytime soon. They survived a tough challenge from New Mexico State in Week 0 to win 34-17 and then lost Monday night at home to No. 19 SMU, 27-24, while squandering a prime chance for a notable win. Despite forcing 4 turnovers, the FSU offense mostly flatlined in the second half.
Michigan: It’s way too early to draw conclusions about such a proven winner as Whittingham, but his Michigan debut sure left a lot to be desired. Beyond the QB concerns, the Wolverines committed 3 turnovers and 9 penalties for 80 yards in a sloppy performance.
