College Football's Biggest Week 1 Takeaways

An eventful opening Saturday even without a marquee upset yet

Aug 31, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart wears the old leather helmet after defeating the Clemson Tigers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

College football technically got underway for the 2024 season a week ago when Georgia Tech upset No. 10 Florida State, but Saturday brought the first full slate of games.

Starting with Thursday night's contests, continuing with Friday's, and going through the entire weekend, here are some of the biggest takeaways from the first weekend of games.

Editors Note: This will be updated throughout the day Saturday and through Florida State's game Monday night versus Boston College

Saturday Afternoon Games:

Miami's path to the ACC title looks more likely each time I flip to another ACC team. Cam Ward has been very good to start for the Hurricanes at Florida. Graham Mertz being the Gators answer at quarterback in the portal is going about exactly how you would expect it to go (before you ask - yes, the Wisconsin quarterback against Notre Dame in 2021).

More on Miami: It's one week but early returns suggest it'll be everyone else chasing the Hurricanes in the ACC.

As for Florida and Billy Napier - of the big-three programs in the state, it's a tough sell when you're in your third year and appear to still be more than a couple steps behind the other two (Florida State and Miami).

IDC what you think Northwestern's stadium this year is awesome. pic.twitter.com/aTRIZiej1W

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) August 31, 2024

Jeremiah Smith appears to be the real deal for Ohio State after being the top-ranked wide receiver recruit last year. I'll say what we're all thinking: Finally the Buckeyes will have a top-flight wide out!

Northwestern's makeshift field on Lake Michigan looks awesome all things considered, but its game against Miami looks far too much like Minnesota-North Carolina did the other night.

Oklahoma State wins plenty under Mike Gundy but is usually a slow starter in August and September. The Pokes rolling a formidable foe in South Dakota State is more noteworthy than it'll get credit for being.

Saturday Early Games:

Georgia looks every bit as advertised as the nation's top team as it whipped Clemson. Just how good is Georgia you ask? Tell me where they lose a regular season game this year in the fully loaded SEC even. As for Clemson, perhaps this was what needed to happen for Dabo Swinney to finally change his ways?

Aug 31, 2024; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar (15) throws a pass during the second quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. / Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

Nothing stuck out to me in more of a positive way than Drew Allar and Penn State's downfield passing attack. That wasn't there a year ago and while focusing on this game before the weather delay, that looks night and day different than a year ago. Maybe the Big Ten won't just be a Duck-Buck race after all? Also from this game - I don't remember ever seeing a game where officials struggled so much on spotting a ball with any accuracy.

Congrats to former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea on the Vanderbilt upset of Virginia Tech. Clemson gets routed, Florida State loses to Georgia Tech, and the Hokies fall in Nashville. It's early but things are shaping up extremely nicely for Miami who takes on Florida this afternoon.

Iowa's offense putting up six first half points against Illinois State is classic. Credit to the Hawkeyes for rallying for 34 second-half points but nothing says college football is back like Iowa failing to find the end zone on its first seven possessions of the season.

Friday Night Games:

Hardly a banner night for the Big Ten as Michigan State survives a scare from Florida Atlantic and Western Michigan pushed Wisconsin a lot more than the line-setters thought.

Oklahoma rolled as expected before its schedule heats up in a big way. Was the biggest surprise of the night Stanford showing some semblence of a run defense though and holding TCU to just 3.1-yards per carry? (Forget the fact the Cardinal still lost...)

Thursday Night Games:

Colorado comes back to beat North Dakota State after trailing at halftime. Travis Hunter is as talented as any player in college football. How will he hold up playing just about every meaningful down? Shedeur Sanders is on his way to being a first round pick, but the rest of Colorado besides those two looked a lot like Colorado of a year ago. Next Saturday's trip to Nebraska should be an eye-opener.

Minnesota and North Carolina was like watching a brick throwing contest. You can usually count on Mack Brown offenses to at least be entertaining and that game was interesting because of the score, but the score didn't stay low because of any great defense that was being played.

North Carolina State survives a slow start to beat Western Carolina. Why does it seem like whenever the Wolfpack go into a year with expectations they bomb, but when they don't, they sneak up on almost everyone?

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