So, technically, Week 1 was not finished at the time of my writing this (Clemson and Duke play on Labor Day), but all the important stuff has been taken care of. Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes had the statement game of the weekend, while others struggled to get things going until the second half (Ohio State, Georgia, Texas). Not to be outdone, on Sunday, the Seminoles put on an impressive performance to knock off LSU for the second consecutive season. There were a lot of paycheck games this week, so don't look for much change aside from FSU and Alabama leap-frogging the Buckeyes in the Top 10 after a slow performance against Indiana.
Of course, it wouldn't be college football in 2023 without some realignment talk. SMU, Cal, and Stanford are all headed to the ACC in 2024. That leaves Oregon State and Washington State as the lone Pac-12 schools remaining, although it didn't impact the performance on the field as the conference sits at 13-0 in games played (USC played in Week 0). The Mountain West has been linked to the lonely two Pacific Northwest schools, but the AAC announced they aren't interested in bringing those two schools into the fold. Instead, the AAC is rumored to replace SMU with Army if the Black Knights look to no longer remain as an Independent.
There weren't many upsets outside of Colorado knocking off TCU in Fort Worth, but another big blow was dealt elsewhere in the Lonestar State. Texas State secured their first win over a Power 5 school as they were 26-point underdogs against Baylor, but won 42-31. Northern Illinois took the paycheck and waived the MACtion Pirate Flag in Chestnut Hill in their upset of Boston College in overtime. Texas Tech also fell in overtime, but their upset came on the road at Wyoming in the battle between Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes' alma maters. The Big Ten was not immune either as Purdue wasn't able to thwart Fresno State, while Illinois needed a last-minute score to avoid an upset at the hands of Toledo.
Newcomers Jacksonville State has gotten off to a fast start with their first two wins as an FBS school knocking off UTEP and East Tennessee State (FCS). Unfortunately, the Gamecocks won't be bowl-eligible as they transition to the FBS level. Sam Houston State was competitive in its first game at the FBS level, stymieing the BYU offense, but they were unable to score in a 14-0 loss.
Here were the top performers in Week 1.
Passing
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