Colorado's 45-42 win against No. 16 TCU is one of the most eye-opening results from a season opener in recent Football Bowl Subdivision history.
Hyped and criticized in nearly equal measure amid a transformative offseason makeover, Deion Sanders delivered a victory that justifies his decision to bring in more than 60 new scholarship players and immediately overhaul what had been one of the worst rosters in the Power Five.
Should this continue beginning with next week's matchup with historic rival Nebraska, the Buffaloes' unique blueprint may become the new standard for first-year coaches looking to quickly turn lemons into lemonade.
On the other hand, the narrow loss for TCU sucks some of the life out of last year's Cinderella run from the bottom half of the Big 12 preseason rankings to the national championship game against Georgia. Almost a three-touchdown favorite, the Horned Frogs were stymied by mistakes, turnovers and an inability to capitalize on opportunities in the red zone.
In his first game back in the starting lineup after losing his spot early last season, quarterback Chandler Morris completed 24 of 42 attempts for 279 yards, an average of 6.6 yards per throw, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Last year's primary starter and Heisman Trophy finalist, Max Duggan, averaged fewer than 6.9 yards per attempt just once last season.
No one expected TCU to make a return trip to the College Football Playoff — no one expected the same last year, to be fair. But for everything the win says about Colorado, the loss doubles with a statement about the Horned Frogs: this team is not currently deserving of a national ranking and needs to make huge strides in the passing game and on defense to play any sort of role in determining the Big 12, let alone factoring into the playoff race.
Sonny Dykes' impressive track record across multiple seasons strongly suggests the passing game will get rolling, even if the receiver corps needs to rely on depth instead of one single standout, such as Quintin Johnston a year ago.
The defense gave up 565 yards, 30 first downs and 10.9 yards per pass attempt. That's just not going to fly against the caliber of offenses found in Big 12 play.
Colorado and TCU lead the list of Saturday's biggest winners and losers:
Forget the hype: Colorado proved it on the field against the defending national runner-up, and Sanders deserves tremendous credit for the way he flipped the roster and, most importantly, for getting a team full of transfers on the same page heading into the season opener. One of those transfers, his son, Shedeur, threw for a school-record 510 passing yards. Another, sophomore phenom Travis Hunter, became the first FBS player in more than two decades to have 100 receiving yards and an interception in the same game. And the win was Colorado's first on the road against an opponent ranked in the top 20 since beating UCLA in 2002. How's this for a debut? Sanders and the Buffaloes are already off and running.
No. 11 Washington's senior quarterback started his Heisman campaign with a bang: Penix had 450 yards and five touchdowns, four coming in the second quarter, as the Huskies overcame a sluggish start to romp past Boise State 56-19. An under-the-radar superstar in 2022, his first year after transferring from Indiana, Penix is one of the most prolific passers in the FBS and a prime contender for national hardware should Washington rise to the top of the Pac-12.
The No. 2 Wolverines had no problem with East Carolina despite playing without coach Jim Harbaugh, who is serving a three-game suspension imposed by the university to lessen any possible punishment for violating NCAA rules. The 30-3 win included 73 yards from All-America running back Blake Corum, seemingly fresh after an injury cost him the final two games of last season, and a nearly perfect game from quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Seen entering the stadium wearing a homemade "Free Harbaugh" shirt, McCarthy completed 26 of 30 passes for 280 yards and three scores. The back-to-back Big Ten champions look built to do it again.
The Freeze era at Auburn kicked off with a 59-14 win against Massachusetts, which was fresh off a Week 0 upset of New Mexico State. While three quarterbacks combined for a pedestrian 203 yards on 14 of 25 passing, most from starter Payton Thorne, six players ran for at least 30 yards as the Tiger racked up 289 rushing yards and six scores.
Don't make too much out of Georgia's sleepy start against Tennessee-Martin, which saw the Bulldogs only lead 7-0 midway through the second quarter and 17-0 at halftime after a chip-shot field goal as time expired. The big takeaway from the 48-7 win was the play of new starting quarterback Carson Beck, the winner of the offseason competition to replace Stetson Bennett. Beck went 21 of 31 for 294 yards and two scores, one on the ground.
Beck wasn't the only new starting quarterback to make a good first impression. Milroe played key snaps last year in place of an injured Bryce Young, showcasing a rare blend of running ability, athleticism and arm strength in games against Texas A&M and Arkansas. A late choice to start No. 3 Alabama's 56-7 laugher in the season opener against Middle Tennessee, the third-year sophomore finished with 242 yards of total offense (194 passing, 48 rushing) with five combined scores and seemingly did more than enough to remain the Tide's starter ahead of Ty Simpson and Tyler Buchner for next week's crucial non-conference matchup against No. 12 Texas.
The kicking game needs work after missing a pair of attempts in the first half against West Virginia, though the No. 7 Nittany Lions did bang through a 25-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. The offense converted just three times on third down, albeit in only nine opportunities. But there are some major positives to take from the 38-15 win against the Mountaineers, starting with the dominant performance of a defense that may be one of very best in the FBS. The Nittany Lions gave up 308 yards on 4.6 yards per play, allowing just one gain of more than 17 yards. Most of all, though, was the sparkling debut of another first-year starter: Drew Allar finished 21 of 29 for 325 yards and three touchdowns with several next-level throws. He was terrific.
It was easy to pick Texas Tech to struggle in the season opener against Wyoming. One, Laramie is a tough place to play. Two, the Cowboys are much, much better than many expect, including voters who picked them to finish in the middle of the Mountain West. Three, the Red Raiders were named among the dark-horse contenders in the Power Five. Could they have bought into that hype and looked past Wyoming, especially with Oregon coming to Lubbock next Saturday? After a weather delay, Tech came out fast and led 17-0 before giving up 20 points in a row and rallying to force overtime. Both teams scored touchdowns in the first extra frame but the Red Raiders were unable to notch the two-point after another score to start the second. Wyoming scored and converted to win 35-33.
After giving up at least 400 yards of offense in each of the final three games of last season, including a combined 1,063 yards in losses to Michigan and Georgia, No. 4 Ohio State's defense held Indiana to just 153 yards in a 23-3 win. That's the Buckeyes' best defensive performance since limiting the Hoosiers to 114 yards two seasons ago. But the offense didn't hit the ground running under new starting quarterback Kyle McCord, who threw for 239 yards on 7.2 yards per attempt in his first game as C.J. Stroud's replacement. The Buckeyes' 380 yards of offense are the program's third-fewest in a Big Ten game since the start of the 2019 season.
Given a chance to make a statement in the season opener against No. 20 North Carolina, the Gamecocks held a 14-10 lead with three minutes left in the first half but struggled up front on both sides of the ball and was unable to keep pace with Drake Maye and the Tar Heels' offense in a 31-17 loss. Maye picked up where he left off from a breakthrough 2022 season, easing some of the concerns about the Tar Heels' change at offensive coordinator. This feels like a missed opportunity for USC, which won eight games under Shane Beamer last year and was a trendy preseason pick to finish as high as third in the SEC East.
There’s no way to put a positive spin on this: Texas State 42, Baylor 31. There was some thought that Baylor could rebound from last year’s 6-7 finish and climb back into the Big 12 race, especially given the faith in coach Dave Aranda’s ability to put together a solid defense and the belief that quarterback Blake Shapen would take a noticeable step forward in his second year as the starter. Well, Shapen gave his all despite taking hit after hit behind a porous offensive line, delivering 303 yards and two scores on 21 of 31 passing before giving way to Sawyer Robertson in the fourth quarter. The onus falls on a defense that gave up 441 yards and 9.9 yards per pass attempt and failed to show the discipline that has long been the hallmark of Aranda’s units. Barring a big leap, this team is not going to be a Big 12 factor.
Boston College lost 27-24 in overtime to Northern Illinois, which is awful but not the worst part of the story. The worst part: Boston College lost 27-24 in overtime to Northern Illinois and had to pay for the right to do so. How much would you pay to lose a football game? How about a dollar? Do I hear $5? The Eagles paid $1.1 million to host and lose to the Huskies, which might be the worst return on investment in Boston since the Red Sox signed Carl Crawford.
Iowa's embattled offensive coordinator is coaching this season with a revised contract containing two performance-related incentives: For Ferentz to go back onto his previous two-year rolling contract, Iowa must win at least seven games in 2023 and, crucially, average at least 25 points per game. On the first part, Ferentz is off to a good start; the Hawkeyes topped Utah State in Saturday's opener. But Iowa scored only 24 points, setting Ferentz just a slight nudge behind the curve. The post-Week 1 new number: Iowa will need to average 25.1 points the rest of the way to get Ferentz back on his original deal.
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