2025 CFB Week 1 Recap: Arch mid-ness, a Crimson Tide catastrophe and the Nuss Bus rides

If Week 0 was the perfect appetizer, the main course that was Week 1 of the 2025 college football season was delicious. We saw top 10 matchups, massive upsets and more in the return of the best sport in the damn world. Let's recap it all.

● In one of the most hyped Week 1 games in recent memory, defense won the day as the defending national champs took out the top-ranked team in the country. #3 Ohio State flummoxed #1 Texas QB Arch Manning all day, spoiling his first road start and ending an 11-game road winning for the Horns. Ohio State’s offense wasn’t much better, but a pretty Carnell Tate TD catch was enough for the Buckeyes to win 14-7. This was a winnable game for Texas, but Manning’s struggles and Steve Sarkisian’s continued woes in red zone play calling doomed them to become the first preseason #1 to lose their season opener since 1990.

● #8 Alabama and the word “average” don’t often belong in the same sentence, but Kalen DeBoer’s version of the Crimson Tide has quickly become just that. As 13.5-point favorites over an unranked Florida State team coming off of a 2-10 season, they instead lost by that amount 31-17 in their first season-opening loss since 2001. It’s a weird thing to type, but Bama was dominated in the trenches, couldn’t protect QB Ty Simpson and got next to nothing from their ground game. Noles QB Tommy Castellanos backed up his offseason trash talk and led FSU to what I’d say is the most surprising result of the weekend. But after seeing Alabama drop winnable games to Oklahoma and Vanderbilt last season, maybe it shouldn’t be.

● A heavyweight battle of the Tigers of Death Valley lived up to the hype, albeit without many points involved. The Bayou Bengals of #9 LSU came out on top in this one, shutting out #4 Clemson in the second half to win 17-10. LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier’s Heisman campaign got off to a good start with no turnovers and a steady hand in guiding the team to a top-5 road win early in the season. Meanwhile, Clemson QB Cade Klubnik looked unsteady in the pocket as LSU’s revamped pass rush attacked him all night.

● In the return of Catholics vs. Convicts after a 8-year absence, it was the latter that got the last laugh. #10 Miami looked the part of a real contender, dominating the trenches against #6 Notre Dame early and coming up clutch late to walk away with a 27-24 home victory. Canes QB Carson Beck was efficient enough in his first game in South Beach, and WR CJ Daniels had the best touchdown catch of the weekend. Why did Notre Dame have QB CJ Carr run so much in his first ever start when they have Jeremiyah Love, one of the best running backs in the country, still on their roster? Carr did settle in and the Irish tied the game late, but a long field goal sealed the win for the Hurricanes. Color me impressed as someone who didn't believe a lick of the Miami hype going into this season.

● #2 Penn State, #5 Georgia and #7 Oregon all rolled over inferior competition to start out 1-0.

● College GameDay icon Lee Corso rode off into the sunset picking the same headgear he chose the very first time he donned a mascot head: Brutus the Buckeye. Ohio State’s win gave him an all-time record of 287-114 on his selections. All of the teams he played or coached for in his pre-GameDay career won too. And his first four picks during GameDay’s pickem segment won, including his Florida State Seminoles.

● In a battle of the 1990 split national champions, Georgia Tech used a late touchdown run from QB Haynes King to beat Colorado on Friday night. Deion Sanders’ clock management at the end of the game left a lot to be desired. Both teams are full of athletes and could end up around the periphery of their conference race, but the Yellowjackets get the early win.

● Nebraska won a one-score game? Say it ain’t so! Never mind it was against a Scott Satterfield-coached Cincinnati team that has similar close game issues, a win is a win. The Cornhuskers won 20-17 in a neutral-site game that really sounded like a home game, one where newly engaged Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift were in attendance.

● Surprise CFP teams from last year like #11 Arizona State, #16 SMU and #20 Indiana got off to fast starts in their quest to return to the College Football Playoff.

● Kent State snapped a 21-game losing streak by beating FCS Merrimack. Hey, it counts!

● Transfer QBs who excelled: Utah’s Devon Dampier totaled almost 300 yards from scrimmage in a romp over UCLA. Oklahoma’s John Mateer set a Sooners debut record for passing yards with 392 in a blowout of Indiana State. Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar looked at ease in Josh Huepel’s offense in a 45-24 blowout of Syracuse. Cal’s freshman transfer Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele shined in a road win over Oregon State.

● For the last eight months, the only thing that matched the Arch Manning hype train in college football was Bill Belichick taking the head coaching job at North Carolina. In the first weekend of the 2025 college football season, the only thing that was more disappointing than Manning's debut was Belichick's. TCU ran roughshod over a Tar Heels defense that couldn't tackle worth anything, running up the score at will to cruise to a 48-14 win in Chapel Hill. Kirk Herbstreit couldn't get out a thought on how important drives were for UNC before TCU scored on them again. By the end of the game, the broadcasters were putting headphones Herbstreit's dog Peter instead of talking about the game. Credit to the Horned Frogs for dominating, but this was about as bad of a start imaginable for Belichick.

● Baylor was my preseason pick to win the Big 12, and I’m still not totally out on the Bears, but it’s hard to be encouraged by watching them give up 307 rushing yards to an Auburn team that couldn’t do much on the ground last year. Bears QB Sawyer Robertson had a good game but Baylor’s rushing attack was nonexistent. A Tigers kickoff return TD and the ground game powered them to a 38-24 road victory in Jackson Arnold’s first game as Auburn QB. We’ll see if they can keep winning without throwing the ball like they did on Friday night, but it’s a win both teams needed and Baylor didn’t get it.

● Northwestern wasn’t expected to do much this season, and they looked poor in a 23-3 loss to Tulane. But they look like villains by not letting the Green Wave wear white jerseys to honor the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Tulane HC Jon Sumrall was rightfully frustrated in his postgame presser.

● G5 contender woes: Last year’s Group of 5 rep #25 Boise State didn’t score for the final three quarters in a 34-7 loss to South Florida, a poor start to the post-Ashton Jeanty era. Meanwhile, it wasn’t the first time some Texans beat an army: FCS Tarleton State waltzed into West Point and beat Army in 2OT. The Black Knights had a chance to win in regulation but missed the FG, then missed another at the start of 2OT, giving the Texans a 30-27 win. With these two teams losing and UNLV looking shaky, the race for the Group of 5 CFP spot seems more wide open than ever.

● Transfer QBs who struggled: UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava was ineffective as his team got blown out at home by Utah. Oregon State’s Maalik Murphy struggled as his team was blown out by Cal at home. Preston Stone had 4 INTs in Northwestern’s listless loss to Tulane.

● Former Auburn head coach and current Florida State OC Gus Malzahn had fun on Twitter after his Seminoles knocked off his old rival.

● Florida WR Vernell Brown III had the catch of the weekend with this one-handed snag in the Gators’ blowout win over FCS Long Island.

● BYU had a nice 69-point win over FCS Portland State. Most memorable moment from the game was mascot Cosmo’s belly flop into an inflatable pool.

● Texas Tech and FCS Arkansas-Pine Bluff underwent a lengthy weather delay thanks to this crazy looking storm cell that moved through Lubbock.

● New Mexico had the play call of the weekend in their loss to #14 Michigan.

● Puddles the duck got decapitated as he ran out of the tunnel for Oregon’s opener and raced back into the tunnel to protect his identity.

● Arkansas converted an accidental onside kick. College football everyone.

1: Garrett Nussmeier, QB LSU. Nuss put up huge numbers in 2024 but never really got a signature win in his career as Tigers starting QB. After Saturday night, he has it with the win over Clemson.

2. Devon Dampier, QB Utah: Almost 300 scrimmage yards in your first career start at a school will get anyone excited, and Utes fans have to feel good about their Big 12 title hopes after blowing out UCLA on the road.

3. LaNorris Sellers, QB South Carolina: One of the preseason favorites, Sellers looked the part against Virginia Tech. The Gamecocks QB ran for a touchdown and threw a beauty to Nyck Harbor, helping his team pull away for a season-opening win in Atlanta.

4. Rocco Becht, QB Iowa State: After winning in Ireland, winning in America proved no problem for Iowa State thanks to Becht. He lost his top two receivers and hasn’t lost a step.

5. Thomas Castellanos, QB Florida State: Tik Tok Tommy talked his talk this offseason, and backed it all up in upsetting Alabama to begin his FSU career. He looks like the perfect fit in Guz Malzahn’s offense.

6. John Mateer, QB Oklahoma: Setting a passing record at a school with plenty of great quarterbacks is impressive, even if it was against an FCS team.