Here are 10 things we learned from Week 1 of the college football season:
— 1. Alabama’s Bryce Young makes early case for Heisman: It’s only one game but the sophomore quarterback looked impressive in his first career start for Alabama, passing for 354 yards and four touchdowns in helping lead his team to a rout of No. 14 Miami. Young guided the Crimson Tide to scoring drives on seven of their first eight possessions.
— 2. Second verse same as the first for Sooners: Yet another Oklahoma team struggled with defense as the Sooners allowed 35 points and almost 400 yards of offense to an upset-minded Tulane Saturday. Everyone knows what the offense is capable of, but if OU is going to make a push for its first national title since 2000, it’s going to be its defense that guides them to Indianapolis.
— 3. Georgia makes the case it’s a playoff contender: Georgia looked nothing less than dominant in their win over Clemson, sacking quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei seven times while holding the Tigers to their lowest offensive output since 2007. Along the way, it gave the Bulldogs a huge boost for a run at the College Football Playoff.
— 4. It’s a long and winding road for the ACC: A year after sending two teams to the playoff semifinals, the ACC watched its three top teams in Clemson, North Carolina and Miami suffer devastating losses in the opening weekend. While it’s too early to write anyone off, it’s clear that the league could be up for grabs particularly in the Coastal Division.
— 5. Oregon’s hopes rest on the ankle of Kayvon Thibodeaux: While Oregon’s offense struggled to gain its footing against Fresno State, the defense stepped up in a big way for the Ducks. But the real concern lies with the health of defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, who spent the second half in a walking boot. His status for next week’s Ohio State showdown is huge for a team looking to showcase its playoff hopes.
6. Penn State makes a bid to challenge Ohio State: With Ohio State the team to beat in the Big Ten, the question remained: Who could challenge the Buckeyes? The answer is Penn State, which relied on an opportunistic defense that forced three Wisconsin turnovers, including a pair of late interceptions, that helped suggest the Nittany Lions have put last year’s 4-5 record behind them.
7. Don’t overlook Iowa in the Big Ten West: It seemed just about everyone was buying into the Indiana hype heading into this season except for Iowa, which manhandled the Hoosiers for their seventh straight win dating to last season. No one expects much from the Hawkeyes but Kirk Ferentz’s team has enough talent to put itself in the Big Ten title picture.
8. A forgettable weekend for the American: What looked to be a promising start for the AAC with big wins by UCF and Cincinnati quickly deteriorated after reports surfaced that the Knights and the Bearcats along with Houston are considering a move to the Big 12. To make matters worse, disappointing losses by Tulsa, USF, East Carolina, Navy and the Cougars left the league with a 4-7 mark in the opening weekend.
9. Don’t count out the little guy: Montana became the first school from the Football Championship Subdivision to knock off a ranked team from the Football Bowl Subdivision in five years when the Grizzlies handed No. 20 Washington a 13-7 loss. It was the sixth FCS win over an FBS school this weekend, joining UC Davis (Tulsa), South Dakota State (Colorado State), Eastern Washington (UNLV), Holy Cross (UConn) and East Tennessee State (Vanderbilt) in celebrating huge victories.
10. Rudy who? McKenzie Milton defied the odds and made his successful return to the football field for the first time since 2018 when he entered the game late in the fourth quarter. He led Florida State to 10 straight points, tying the game and sending it to overtime against Notre Dame. Milton suffered a catastrophic knee injury that nearly cost him his leg and spent the past 33 months and multiple surgeries working his way back to being able to play again.
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com . Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel .
