College football is unpredictable and delightful, which is why we live for what happens on Saturdays. And the first Saturday of the season did not disappoint, delivering both statement-making wins from teams such as Miami and Penn State and performances by Clemson and Florida that led to message-board meltdowns.
Each Sunday, I’ll publish my biggest takeaways from the college football weekend. I’ll highlight the most interesting storylines, track College Football Playoff contenders and specifically shout out individual and team performances that deserve the spotlight.
Here are my top takeaways from Week 1 (through Saturday night):
1. Let’s consider Georgia the best team in the country until proven otherwise.
After a defensive battle in the first half against Clemson, Carson Beck and his receiving corps took over the game, with two 75-yard touchdown drives in the third quarter to pull ahead and the 40-yard touchdown pass to London Humphreys essentially iced it. The Dawgs are supremely talented, super athletic and quite physical, and even though they were heavily favored over the Tigers coming into the game, they still managed to impress in the 34-3 win. After a one-year CFP hiatus, Georgia seems to be the favorite to be the top overall seed.
2. A ton of stars lived up to the hype in Week 1.
Washington State transfer quarterback Cam Ward was spectacular in his Miami debut, completing 26 of 35 passes for 385 yards and three touchdowns. Five-star freshman Dylan Raiola dazzled in his Nebraska debut; the Huskers didn’t throw for more than 200 yards in a single game last season, but Raiola threw for 238 and two touchdowns in his very first. Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart put up video-game-caliber numbers in their season-openers, albeit against overmatched opponents. Five-star freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith pulled in two touchdowns in his debut, clearly already a focal point in the Buckeye offense. And Boise State‘s do-it-all running back Ashton Jeanty may have had the best individual performance among all of those standouts, rushing for 267 yards on 20 carries — that’s 13.4 yards per carry for those who didn’t want to do the math — and six (!) touchdowns.
3. The potential breakthrough teams appear poised to break out.
Penn State has been the poster child of the 12-team CFP, because it would have benefitted more than any other program over the past decade from an expanded bracket. There’s a great deal of pressure on James Franklin and co. to make the CFP this year, now that the Playoff field is bigger, and divisions have been abolished in the Big Ten. If Penn State’s offense does what it did against West Virginia on Saturday, then this could be a very Happy Valley this fall. Quarterback Drew Allar looked confident and aggressive in his first game under new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, with Allar throwing for 216 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions on the road. Meanwhile, Ole Miss could have hung 100 points on poor Furman if it wanted to. Dart threw for 418 yards and accounted for six total touchdowns … all in the first half. The Rebs are another team that’s putting all its eggs into the basket of the first year of the 12-team CFP, and they, too, couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.
4. Week 1 was a mixed bag for the ACC.
Saturday started with Clemson getting blown out by Georgia in a game that cemented the Bulldogs as the favorite to win the national championship and showed just how far the Tigers have fallen from the top of the sport. Again, Dabo Swinney is facing questions about the way he constructs his roster (without using the transfer portal) and why the offense remains so mediocre. Then, Virginia Tech — a popular pick to win the ACC as a dark horse or simply make the CFP as an at-large — went and lost to Vanderbilt in overtime on the road. This is all insult to injury after Florida State‘s opening-week win (which, to be fair, was to ACC team Georgia Tech). Miami’s massive 41-17 win over Florida salvaged the day for the league, though, and in doing so cemented the ‘Canes as the favorite to win it. If Miami can actually be Back, that would certainly be a big deal for a conference trying to remain relevant at the highest level of the sport … and a league that’s currently in active litigation against two of its biggest brands in Florida State and Clemson (both 0-1, by the way).
5. Michigan has a lot of work to do.
This is a very different team than the one that won a national championship seven months ago. We knew that going into the season-opener, but it became extremely apparent when watching the new offense. It looked a lot harder for the Wolverines to run the ball with a totally new offensive line. It looked harder for the Wolverines to get the passing game going, too, which is to be expected with former walk-on Davis Warren making his first career start (and Alex Orji, who had never completed a pass in a college football game, in spot duty). Eventually, Michigan figured some things out late in the game, and the defense played well, but this is a team that needs to get better fast, with No. 4 Texas up next week. Fresno State is a good Mountain West team, but it shouldn’t be able to push Michigan around at the line of scrimmage as much as it did. The Longhorns will be fast, physical and explosive. And the Wolverines will have to figure out how to keep up … or it’ll be a long day at the Big House next Saturday.
6. Notre Dame has a clear path to the College Football Playoff.
The Fighting Irish just won the toughest game on their schedule, a 23-13 win over Texas A&M at Kyle Field. No other environment will be as challenging as that was, and I don’t think any of Notre Dame’s remaining opponents will be favored over the Irish. It’s an incredibly manageable schedule, especially after seeing Florida State lose to Georgia Tech in Week 0. They’ve got USC to close out the season, too, but with the 12-team CFP, there’s a lot more wiggle room for everyone. Notre Dame can probably lose two games and still make the Playoff! That’s the kind of cushion this team has now, with a big road win over a ranked team in its pocket already.
7. Vanderbilt got its best win of the Clark Lea era to date — and the ‘Dores can thank New Mexico State for that.
Vandy won one of the most compelling and competitive games of the day even after watching its 17-point lead evaporate as Virginia Tech came all the way back in the second half. But the ‘Dores have Diego Pavia at quarterback, and the Hokies don’t, and that proved to be the difference in overtime. The graduate transfer from New Mexico State (and the reigning Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year) helped Jerry Kill turn that downtrodden program into one that won 10 games in 2023. Vanderbilt head coach lured both Pavia and Kill to Nashville, and that move proved genius already. Pavia scored the game-winning touchdown run in overtime, finishing the game with 104 rushing yards and 190 passing yards (and three total touchdowns).
8. Iowa has a functioning offense?!
I’m as surprised as you are! But the Hawkeyes notched a 40-0 win over Illinois State with 492 yards of offense, the most offensive yardage for Iowa in a single game in five years. There were three touchdown passes caught by wide receivers in the second half alone, which matched the total number of touchdown receptions by Iowa receivers all of last season. New offensive coordinator Tim Lester and quarterback Cade McNamara, who missed much of last year with an injury, must feel great after a performance like that.
9. Ninth-year senior Cam McCormick scored Miami’s first points of the season with a nine-yard touchdown reception.
So, of course he had to get the No. 9 spot in my takeaways. McCormick is one of my favorite players in all of college football, and it’s not just because he’s the closest to my age. (He’s 26.) He’s the longest-tenured player in college football history after enrolling as part of Oregon’s 2016 recruiting class — alongside Justin Herbert, who is about to enter his fifth (!) season in the NFL. McCormick redshirted in 2016, played the full season in 2017, then suffered season-ending injuries in 2018, 2019 and 2021. This is his second season at Miami, and the touchdown he caught on Saturday was only the fifth of his very long career. It’s easy to feel great for this kid — err, adult man who can definitely rent a car — for opening the 2024 season on such a positive note.
10. Travis Hunter deserves to be in the Heisman conversation.
Maybe this is wishcasting, because I love to see non-quarterbacks in the mix for college football’s greatest individual honor. And Colorado’s two-way superstar is one of the best players in the sport, even if his team doesn’t end up contending for any championships or if his usage decreases as the season goes on. Counting offense, defense and special teams, Hunter played 137 snaps in the Buffs’ win over North Dakota State, per PFF. That’s an insane workload and probably is not at all sustainable for an entire season. But Hunter is already talented enough as both a cornerback and wide receiver to prompt the question of what he should play in the NFL. (I vote wide receiver, FWIW. Or both!) While we have him in college, though, he’s appointment television while doing something incredibly difficult. And we need to celebrate that and keep it top of mind, even as we see quarterbacks pile up the yardage week over week.