Week 1 - Sunday Storylines
Tigahs take Death Valley, Bama goes belly up and Arch Sadness in The Shoe.
Instant Replay
What did we just watch?
Death Valley delight - Through a half of football, no one could blame fans for muttering something along the lines of, “I’ve seen this script before.”
LSU was down a touchdown at halftime. The transfer-heavy offense hadn’t yet picked up steam, and head coach Brian Kelly, loser of five-straight season openers, was searching for answers.
But unlike LSU teams in the past, this team refused to relent. Instead, Brian Kelly’s bunch stood tall in the face of immense adversity, outlasting Dabo Swinney and fourth-ranked Clemson 17-10 in primetime.
Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier did what he failed to do at times last season: he protected the football. Nussmeier beautifully orchestrated the offense, finishing with 230 yards and a touchdown on 28-of-38 attempts. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik did not shine when the lights were the brightest. He struggled down the stretch, as the Clemson offense was shutout in the second half.
LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker deserves an immense amount of credit for how the Tigers’ defense played. He called a helluva game.
Bama goes belly up - Unranked Florida State exorcised some heavy demons in its triumphant 31-17 shocker over No. 8 Alabama. This was the first season-opening loss for Alabama since 2001. No, that is not a typo.
Tommy Castellanos spent the offseason saying things like “Nick Saban isn’t there to save Alabama anymore,” and, wow, did he back up that smack talk. Running a high school ass offense (compliment), Florida State and Castellanos repeatedly bludgeoned a very mortal Alabama defense. The Seminoles ran for 230 yards on the ground, with Castellanos rushing for 78 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries.
I try not to be too hyperbolic on instant reaction posts like this, but it feels like Alabama’s Reign of Terror is over.
Ty Simpson did not look like HIM. The Crimson Tide struggled to win up front on the offensive line. And the defensive line looked as mid as I can ever remember an Alabama defensive line looking and playing.
Kalen DeBoer has some explainin’ to do.
Arch Sadness - Hype was through the roof for the most anticipated Week 1 game ever, but unfortunately, neither this game nor Arch Manning lived up to the hype.
Manning stunk for 3.5 quarters. He struggled to hit short passes. He had happy feet. And ultimately, he just never looked settled in the top-ranked Longhorns’ 14-7 defeat at the hands of No. 3 Ohio State.
Manning finished 17-for-30 for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception, but that stat line doesn’t do his performance justice. He simply looked out of his depth outside of a few solid drives late in the fourth quarter.
Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia deserves a ton of credit for calling a heck of a game. Special shoutout to that OSU secondary, too, which looked as good as they come on the back end Saturday afternoon.
Freshman quarterback Julian Sayin didn’t need to do anything special Saturday. But he did a nice job managing the offense, staying on rhythm and taking what the defense gave him.
My molten lava hot take is that both of these teams are very good and both will be good throughout the season. There’s plenty to work on, sure, but this was a matchup between two elite teams. Take the good with the bad and move on.
Tennessee trounces Syracuse - Much was made about Tennesse’s tumultous offseason, but that mattered very little in the opening game of the 2025 season. Tennessee looked far and away the better team in its 45-26 win over Syracuse in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
New transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar looked the part, finishing with 247 yards and three touchdowns. The Volunteers pounded the Orange on the ground, racking up 246 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Syracuse quarterback Steve Angeli was 23 for 40 for 247 yards and a touchdown in his first start with the Orange. He also threw an interception and was sacked five times.
Buzz Buzz - Georgia Tech survived a disastrous three-turnovers-in-eight-minutes stretch in the first quarter and rallied to knock off Colorado 27-20.
Rowdy cousin quarterback Haynes King was incredible, headbutting his way to 156 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
I think I like Georgia Tech to be a frisky, tough out in the ACC.
Trouble for the troops - Little-known Tartleton State knocked off G5 darling Army 30-27 in 20T on Friday night. The Texans deserve a ton of credit for hanging tough against what I think is a good Army team.
Tartleton State managed to 192 yards and forced three turnovers in the win. Always love a good upset special.
Do it for NOLA - On the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Tulane beat the heck out of Northwestern 23-3.
Northwestern quarterback Preston Stone threw four interceptions. Wildcats, you aren’t allowed to have nice things.
CLANGA - Mississippi State managed to not step on a rake and lose to little cousin Southern Miss. Progress, baby!
Cardiac Cats - Kansas State narrowly avoided disaster, rallying late to defeat North Dakota 38-35. The jet lag was apparently very real off that trip to Ireland.
K-State needs to fix a lot of issues moving forward if it hopes to be a player in the Big 12 this season.
Bulls on Parade - Alex Golesh’s USF Bulls ran through, around and over No. 25 Boise State Thursday evening en route to a pronounced 34-7 victory.
USF quarterback Byrum Brown came up huge, finishing the game with 210 passing yards and a pair of clutch rushing touchdowns. For all the hype about both offenses, it was USF’s defense that had the most dominant showing. The Bulls’ defense limited an Ashton Jeanty-less Boise State offense to under four yards per carry, forced a pair of fumbles that swung the momentum of the game and had Boise State quarterback Maddux Madsen unsettled from the get-go.
Also, rule of cool: South Florida snuck the backup quarterback onto the field as the punter and he proceeded to launch a fake punt TD pass. College football totally rules!
Small sample size alert, but USF looks like it could be a real force in the upcoming American Conference title race, pending Brown’s health. It appears I was just a year ahead of schedule on this team.
Choppin’ Wood - Ohio-Rutgers was one of the more entertaining games of Thursday night. After falling into a big hole early, the defending MAC champs stormed back and took Rutgers to the absolute brink, before falling 34-31 on the road.
Both quarterbacks looked the part in this one. Rutgers’ quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis finished with 252 passing yards and a pair of passing touchdowns. From what I saw (especially in the first half), he had a nice command of the offense and was hitting some nice rhythm passes. That’s one to watch as the season progresses.
On the other side, Ohio quarterback Parker Navarro was awesome. Navarro’s dual-threat capabilities really showed Thursday night, and I thought he did a nice job pulling this team out of a hole. It’s a shame the Bobcats couldn’t finish the job.
But remember, good teams win, great teams cover.
Husker heroics - Nebraska notched its first win decided by three points or less under Matt Rhule (0-5 previously) Thursday night, when it held on to beat Cincinnati 20-17 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Note: I missed almost all of this game because I was at Urgent Pet Care. (Life, am I right?)
Box score watching, it looked like Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola and the offense had its way with Cincy’s defense, even if that unit failed to punch it in at times. Conversely, Cincy mustered just 69 passing yards and couldn’t convert with the game on the line.
I’m not sure this win says a ton about either team, but you have to feel great that your team finally won a close game if you’re a Husker fan.
Hungry Like the Wolf - In a game filled with fireworks, flash and surprisingly no fistfights, North Carolina State outlasted ECU 24-17 to notch its first win of the young season. North Carolina State quarterback C.J. Bailey had some strong moments, finishing the game 24-of-34 with 318 yards and one touchdown both in the air and on the ground.
I really like the upside of Bailey. If he can put it all together, NC State could be a tricky out in the open middle of the ACC.
The Brent Musburger Gambling Guide
Let’s review my locks of the week.
+14 Ohio vs. Rutgers -+1 units
Nebraska vs. Cincinnati OVER 52.5 - -1 units
+14.5 South Dakota vs. Iowa State - -1 units
-4.5 Utah vs. UCLA - +1 units
Overall: -1 units