It sure was nice to sit back and enjoy a Saturday of college football again without having to worry about pro-to-college eligibility rules, temporary restraining orders or other lawsuits.
Just football, all day, with actual games to consume.
Granted, Week 0 wasn't exactly a full slate, but three of Saturday's eight FBS games were within one score in the fourth quarter, providing enough drama for the opening weekend.
Bill Belichick got his first big win at North Carolina, beating TCU in Dublin in a game that said as much about the Tar Heels' underrated defense as it did about Sonny Dykes' new-look offense and the Horned Frogs being overrated.
Unlike TCU, Virginia got a big debut from its new transfer quarterback in Beau Pribula, who had a career game in a blowout win that crushed NC State's hopes of emerging as an ACC dark horse. Meanwhile, Mike Norvell's seat in Tallahassee didn't get any cooler after Florida State needed four quarters to put away New Mexico State.
Those weren't the only Power Four teams in action. No. 14 USC got an early look at how impactful its top-ranked freshman class could be in a win against San Jose State.
There were also early College Football Playoff implications in the race for the Group of Six bid. North Dakota State made its FBS debut by rolling Jacksonville State, while Memphis picked up an important win on the road against UNLV and former five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold.
Week 0 gave us plenty of first impressions, surprises and warning signs. Here are the winners and losers from the opening Saturday.
Loser: Sonny Dykes' new offense
Perhaps a fitting outcome for the way TCU treated the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this week.
The Horned Frogs flew to Ireland with a revamped offensive philosophy, a new scheme under offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis and Harvard transfer Jaden Craig replacing Josh Hoover, only to produce one of the most lifeless offensive performances of the Sonny Dykes era.
TCU managed just 10 points, the fewest scored in 31 games, while Craig's 175 yards passing were their fewest since the national championship game blowout loss to Georgia at the end of the 2022 season. TCU's 27% offensive success rate was its lowest since Dykes took over in 2022.
Winning the Ireland game hasn't exactly been a springboard over the past four years, but losing it certainly has been a bad omen. Scott Frost was fired 12 days after Nebraska lost to Northwestern in 2022. Navy finished 5-7 in 2023. Florida State collapsed to 2-10 in 2024 after winning 13 games the year prior. And Kansas State started 1-3 in 2025 before Chris Klieman retired and the Wildcats skipped their bowl game.
This was about as bad of a first impression as Dykes and the Horned Frogs could have made.
Winner: Bill Belichick gets his first big win
It wasn't pretty, but Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels got the payback they wanted for last year's embarrassing loss to TCU in the opener. There is plenty to clean up if UNC wants to improve in 2026, but there's reason for optimism after a defense that held TCU to 286 yards and 10 points.
The Bobby Petrino influence on the offense wasn't as noticeable as expected, though sloppy conditions in Dublin played a role. Transfer quarterback Billy Edwards had his share of misfires, but tight end Jelani Thurman's emergence was a major positive with four catches for 94 yards. UNC also held a halftime lead against a Power Four opponent for the first time of the Belichick era.
This also might be the most emotion we've ever seen from Belichick on the sideline. The Tar Heels got TCU to jump offside on fourth-and-1 to clinch the win, and Belichick couldn't contain himself.
UNC gets TCU to jump on 4th & 1 to seal the deal 😤 pic.twitter.com/gaUKbiI37Y
— ESPN (@espn) August 29, 2026
Now comes a bye to recover from the trip to Ireland before a matchup with FCS East Tennessee State. Then the schedule gets significantly tougher: at Clemson, another bye, then Notre Dame.
Winner: USC's freshmen make early impact
A lot was made about USC's No. 1 recruiting class and how many of those freshmen could play right away. That group wasted little time making an impact in the opener.
Obviously, the opponent was San Jose State, so there were going to be opportunities for USC's young players to get on the field, but this was more than simply throwing freshmen into the mix against an overmatched team on the other side.
Receiver Trent Mosley led the way with seven catches for 118 yards and a touchdown, while fellow wideout Kayden Dixon-Wyatt added four catches for 36 yards and a score. Running back Shahn Alston also found the end zone on the ground.
USC's Trent Mosley is the first P4 freshman with 7+ receptions, 100+ yards and a TD in his debut since Purdue's Rondale Moore in 2018. pic.twitter.com/ce8MSql0ZJ
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) August 29, 2026
On defense, five-star edge rusher Luke Wafle also made his presence felt with a half-tackle for loss and a pass breakup.
For a program counting on its top-ranked recruiting class to help push it toward its first CFP appearance in 2026, this was an encouraging start.
Loser: NC State's path to 10-win breakthrough
There wasn't a more disappointing Week 0 showing than whatever NC State did in its 34-8 loss at Virginia. Dave Doeren had won eight consecutive season openers and was 4-0 against the Cavaliers. But this one was over by halftime.
The Wolfpack punted five times and turned the ball over twice in the first half, while Beau Pribula and the Cavaliers gashed the defense for six explosive plays.
It's only one game, and NC State can still turn this around, especially with one of the easiest schedules in the Power Four. But this has been the story of the Doeren era as he enters his 14th season.
The Wolfpack have won at least eight games eight times under Doeren and have missed a bowl just twice. Yet they have never reached 10 wins, with nine victories remaining the program's peak. They have consistently been good enough to matter in the ACC, but never quite good enough to break through.
Doeren and the Wolfpack believed this could finally be the year to change that. After Saturday, that goal already feels much more difficult to reach.
There's also a strange bit of Raleigh history working against Doeren. NC State went 3-9 in 2006 after the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup, with coach Chuck Amato getting fired at the end of the season.
The Hurricanes just won the Cup again.
Winner: Beau Pribula's stock
Hope you bought your Beau Pribula stock, or maybe you've been holding onto it since his Penn State days. The Virginia transfer put together a sensational debut in Charlottesville, completing 9 of 11 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns while leading the Cavaliers in rushing with a career-high 110 yards on 15 carries (7.3 yards per attempt).
Virginia hit in the transfer portal with Chandler Morris last year, leading the program to a record 11 wins and an appearance in the ACC Championship Game. Early returns suggest the Cavaliers may have found something even more special in Pribula.
@beauprib ➡ @DaShawn5Martin Martin's 47-yard TD reception gives us 24-0 lead in the third quarter 💯 📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/rpfwG62fpO
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) August 29, 2026
Pribula became just the third Virginia player in the last 30 years to record at least two passing touchdowns and 100 rushing yards in the same game. His 110 rushing yards were also the most by a Virginia quarterback since Brennan Armstrong ran for 130 in 2020.
Not a bad way to introduce yourself to Charlottesville.
Loser: Mike Norvell's seat stays hot
Yes, Florida State won its opener against New Mexico State. But that doesn't mean the final result was a win for Mike Norvell. The coach with the hottest seat in America didn't do much to cool his backside as the Seminoles let the Aggies hang around despite being 31.5-point favorites.
It was a one-possession game in the third quarter, and New Mexico State cut the lead to 10 with a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. Florida State just seems to find a way to make it harder on itself than it needs to.
Now, it is Week 0, and sometimes teams just start slow. Shoot, reigning national champion Indiana beat Old Dominion 27-24 in its opener last season. The difference for Norvell is that Florida State isn't entering this season with much room for a slow start if he wants to be around for 2027.
Ashton Daniels was mostly fine otherwise, but his interception was particularly concerning, considering turnovers have been an issue for him throughout his career, as they have plagued Florida State quarterbacks in recent years.
Ashton Daniels throws a rough interception 😬 pic.twitter.com/07TZ4L4waY
— SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) August 30, 2026
The defense wasn't much better, either, as New Mexico State moved the ball rather consistently and hit the Seminoles for several big plays through the air.
Maybe this was simply a sluggish opener. But New Mexico State is projected to be one of the worst teams in the FBS, and Florida State had every reason to make this game look easy.
Winner: Stanford exorcises some demons
Stanford has been the worst "closer" in the FBS over the past five years, winning just two-thirds of the games in which it entered the fourth quarter with at least a seven-point lead against FBS opponents. For a while on Saturday, it looked like the Cardinals were headed for another collapse after blowing a 23-7 lead against Hawaii.
Instead, Stanford scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:41 left. Then came a scoop-and-score just 29 seconds later to put the game away.
TEVAAAAAAAA ‼️SCOOP AND SCORE ‼️ pic.twitter.com/mrIFaUVhPN
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) August 30, 2026
After years of finding ways to lose games like this, Stanford finally found a way to close one. Tavita Pritchard exorcized some Palo Alto demons in his head coaching debut.
Winner: The Bison have arrived
What a way to announce your arrival to the FBS. Just like it did for years from the FCS level, North Dakota State showed it can hang with (and beat) teams from college football's top subdivision. Now playing at the same level, the Bison thumped Jacksonville State 33-7 in the Fargodome.
This isn't some new trick for NDSU. Since moving up to Division I in 2004, the Bison are now 10-5 against FBS opponents. Yes, twice as many wins as losses. Even more impressive, four of those five losses came by a combined 12 points, with only one coming against a non-Power Four opponent.
Jacksonville State isn't some bottom-feeder making up the numbers in the FBS. The Gamecocks own the ninth-best record among Group of Six teams since moving up themselves in 2023, have reached the C-USA championship game twice and won the league in 2024.
NDSU deserves to be taken seriously as a potential Group of Six College Football Playoff contender.
Loser: Jackson Arnold's struggles under pressure
Although still locked in a battle with Alex Orji coming out of fall camp, Jackson Arnold took nearly all of the snaps in UNLV's 27-21 loss to Memphis. For at least one half, it seemed like the former five-star quarterback had finally found his footing. Arnold went 17 of 22 for 203 yards and a touchdown before the break.
Then Memphis cranked up the pressure. The Tigers sacked Arnold six times and held him to 95 yards on 8 of 16 attempts in the second half. The pressure seemed to bring out the Jackson Arnold we saw at Oklahoma and Auburn, where he was ultimately benched.
Among 131 FBS quarterbacks with at least 12 starts since the beginning of the 2024 season, Arnold has the second-highest sack rate at 12.3%.
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