2026 College Football: Week 1 Takeaways
The NCAA football season has finally arrived. Hopefully we can set all the off-field drama aside and play some football! Most teams played cupcakes, so we saw some seriously gaudy stats. Miami WR Malachi Toney (11/229/3) shattered Hurricanes records. Pittsburgh QB Mason Heintschel threw SEVEN touchdown passes. In one actual matchup, (11) LSU (Tigers from Death Valley) slaughtered Clemson (Tigers from Death Valley) in the debut of coach Lane Kiffin (don’t worry; we’ll talk all about them when they play (9) Ole Miss next week). So here we go! Here are my week 1 takeaways for the 2026 college football season.
Western Michigan SCAMMED Out of Win Against (16) Michigan
I was planning a nice section about the inspiring win our MACtion friends at Western Michigan pulled off. Apparently, we can’t have nice things. This time, it wasn’t a legitimate case of the ranked team rising up with heroics. Western Michigan was quite literally robbed of this win. First, let’s recap what happened to get us to the final sequence. The Broncos’ defense played brilliantly and turned the first start of Michigan QB Bryce Underwood’s second season into an unmitigated disaster. Their own offense barely moved the ball, but they scored 4 Dieter Kelly FGs while holding the Wolverines to just 7 points through 59 minutes.
WMU did not turn the ball over, and they forced 3 turnovers by Michigan, including an Underwood fumble in the final two minutes. Holding a 12-7 lead with 35 seconds left, the Broncos played strong defense once more but did allow a catch to their 47-yard line. With 9 seconds remaining, Underwood rolled out and fired a Hail Mary out of the back of the end zone, and time expired before it touched any player. Western Michigan won the game! Except the officials, a Big Ten crew I might add, decided to somehow add 1 second back to the clock. Nobody understood this decision, as the clock clearly expired, and it wasn’t close.
Taking full advantage of their unearned second chance, Underwood threw a better ball, and 6’4″ WR JJ Buchanan (6/126/1) hauled it in to stun everybody with a 13-12 win that they paid $1.5M for. I can’t even tell you how ridiculous this is. The Detroit Free Press already wrote an article about Western Michigan’s victory, as evidenced by this fetched Google result:
There were other officiating “decisions” that wrongly went against the Broncos. A missed face mask penalty and an uncalled running into the kicker foul were two of the more egregious errors. However, the ending of the game trumps everything else. I would challenge the Big Ten to prove that their officiating crew did not put their thumb on the scale in favor of their conference member. The optics here are horrific, and they strongly suggest that a conference bailed out one of its own team. Regardless of whether this was an intentionally rigged outcome, it was most certainly crooked in its execution and reeks of foul play.
I’m not going to level any accusations of corrupt actions on account of gambling. In theory, no official would be dumb enough to risk their position by violating clear anti-gambling rules for a small kickback. I promise though that other people WILL make that claim. It’s honestly hard for me to write this piece without outright accusing these referees of malfeasance. I’m trying my best to make this objective, and the clock objectively ran out. You have to feel for the Broncos. They felt such an emotional high for their deserved win, and it got ripped out from under them. Hopefully the CFP committee remembers that the Wolverines are frauds.
What happens next? Western Michigan should try to protest the result, but they won’t. We’ve seen the ugly truth in the past though: there’s really no mechanism by which the NCAA can overturn the result of a game. Obviously, moving forward, we should never have officials who are affiliated with either team competing in a game. It’s just common sense. I’m not worried about this whole debacle for Michigan; if they play like this, they’ll lose plenty of games to conference opponents, where the Big Ten can’t aid them. Once again, it’s Western Michigan who got screwed. And that’s yet another black mark on the sport.
(2) Oregon, (9) Ole Miss Survive Challenges From Feisty Foes
Saturday was not a great day for Group of 6 teams named “Broncos” trying to upset ranked Big Ten teams. Reminding us of a game from a couple of years ago, Boise State went to Eugene with an atypical mindset. They weren’t simply “happy to be there” despite the massive wealth gap between the two teams. The Broncos fully intended to win. Boise State dominated the first 28 minutes with great defense, a consistent rushing attack, and some timely throws from QB Maddux Madsen (15/29, 181 yards, 3 TDs). They couldn’t keep it up though. Clock mismanagement at the end of the first half started their spiral.
Oregon quickly capitalized and scored a TD, and after the break, they had Boise’s defense figured out. The Ducks scored on 5 straight possessions following the intermission. QB Dante Moore (28/37, 378 yards, 3 TDs), a media darling, played better but not as well as those stats indicate. His 5 primary weapons, RB Jordon Davison (12/90/1); WRs Jeremiah McClellan (6/150/1), Dakorien Moore (6/93), and Evan Stewart (8/72); and TE Jamari Johnson (4/57/1) did most of the work. The Broncos fought back to a 34-27 final, but they just didn’t have enough to beat a financial juggernaut. There’s no shame in that at all.
Meanwhile in Oxford, I tried to avoid talking about Ole Miss before their week-2 showdown with LSU, but their game was just too good. The matchup with (24) Louisville was a much fairer fight. In fact, the teams were remarkably equal despite their inconsistency. For two quarters, neither team could move the ball and score. Both QBs were out of sync, and the defenses had the upper hand. The 10-6 Ole Miss lead at the half felt more like a bottle whose cork was stuck but ready to blow, not a defensive struggle. Sure enough, the second half brought us the fireworks we expected: an old-fashioned shootout!
I guess the defenses didn’t come out of the locker room. Louisville QB Lincoln Kienholz (18/29, 307 yards, 2 TDs; 14/69/1 rushing), who was practically an RB in the first half, started slinging the ball all over the place. Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss (21/36, 336 yards, 3 TDs, INT; 9/60/1 rushing) matched him pass for pass and rush for rush. The Cardinals made 3 critical errors. First, they burnt all of their timeouts before the third quarter expired, putting themselves in a predicament later on. Second, they roughed the kicker on a missed 57-yard FG attempt, leading to a Rebels TD. Their final error wasn’t even a mistake.
Trailing 38-31 with 3:09 to go, Louisville rocketed down the field. Kienholz threw a game-tying TD after going 77 yards in just 1:41. That left far too much time on the clock for Ole Miss. WR Deuce Alexander (5/159/2) was simply uncoverable, and Chambliss calmly led the Rebels down the field for a game-winning 48-yard FG by K Lucas Carnerio as time expired. This was a fantastic game for lovers of offensive football, but both teams have reasons to be concerned. Louisville needs to cut down on their errors. They could’ve won if they made a few less mistakes. Ole Miss needs a defense…but we say that about the Rebels every year.
Auburn, Baylor, and the Fallacy of Going for 2
I feel as though I write something like this section at least once per season. Setting the scene, both the Tigers and Bears played poorly on offense but great on defense. Their new transfer QBs, Byrum Brown (26/35, 259 yards, 3 INTs; 21/27/1 rushing) and DJ Lagway (27/54, 333 yards, 2 TDs, INT), respectively, were wildly inaccurate, and 10-7 Auburn led at the half. That score held through most of the second half, but Baylor tied the game off an INT before Brown responded with a go-ahead TD run. In the final minutes, Lagway made by far his best throws, hitting WR Gavin Freeman several times (12/154/1), including for the tying score.
At least, Freeman should have caught the tying score. Baylor HC Dave Aranda, already on the hot seat, apparently ran out of you-know-whats to give. He made the call to go for 2 and the win, and he held firm even after each team called a timeout. OC Jake Spavital actually schemed up a great play. A mix of routes cleared space for TE Matthew Klopfenstein to run to the flat and get open. This play would’ve scored, but Lagway threw a suboptimal pass behind Klopfenstein. A ball in front of the TE would’ve given him a walk-in conversion, but he had to turn to make the catch, causing him to be stopped short of the goal line.
Even if this play worked, Aranda made the wrong decision. Put aside the “analytics” and think about the situation. Neither team looked good on offense aside from one late drive each. Baylor’s QB was uncharacteristically effective on that drive, so counting on him to make ANOTHER perfect throw with the game in the balance felt foolish. Meanwhile, Auburn turned the ball over repeatedly. I’d much rather take my chances in OT and let my defense win the game. Remember: this isn’t like the NFL regular season. Both teams are guaranteed the ball in college OT. The Bears had no risk of seeing Auburn score and never touching the ball again.
That logic makes this particular scenario an easy call. For a coach who needs every possible win to keep his job, this was quite the blunder. If we expand to more general cases though, I still fail to see the logic of going for 2. Media mouthpieces praise these aggressive coaches for trying to “win the game” and put it in their own hands. That’s a false premise. If the game hinges on a 2-point conversion, you weren’t superior to your opponent on that day in the first place. At best, the conversion attempt is a 50-50 proposition. In reality, you’re betting a win-loss outcome on a low percentage dice throw. Good luck with that on aggregate.
UMass, Winless in 2025, Shocks Rutgers on the Road
One MAC team did defeat a Big Ten opponent and get credit for it this week. It was the one we least expected. Massachusetts was the worst team in the country last year. They finished 0-12 as part of a 16-game losing stream. The odds were also against a MAC team in general: the Big Ten has been 31-0 against the conference over the past 3 years, although they lost at least once in each of the prior 16 years. A couple of coaches gave UMass a fighting chance though: new OC Max Warner is a respected offensive mind, while second-year HC Joe Harasymiak spent the previous 3 seasons as Rutger’s DC, so he knows the program well.
Rutgers marched right down the field in 12 plays to start the game, and that 7-0 lead was anything but surprising. Everything that came after their score shocked all viewers. UMass started a Virginia Tech transfer at QB: William “Pop” Watson III, who’s generously listed at 6’0″ but is highly mobile. Despite his limited action for the Hokies, he looked like a cool veteran and led the Minutemen on a game-tying drive. And then another. Following a strip sack by his defense (courtesy of Romando Johnson), Watson led a THIRD straight TD drive to open the day, hitting high school teammate Joseph Griffin Jr (2/61/1) for the score.
By halftime, UMass left the home crowd stunned with a 24-7 lead. Their only non-scoring drive of the half was the one that ended the half. Watson (19/22, 197 yards, 3 TDs; 6/40 rushing) was nearly flawless. The running game worked too, with RBs Curtis Kimmons IV (11/78/1) and Elijah Faulker (19/62; 3/22/2 receiving) contributing to a 200-yard day on the ground. Most damning of all, the Minutemen out-physicaled a Greg Schiano team. UMass bullied the Scarlet Knights on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Rutgers ran for just 30 yards at 1.2 YPG and committed 4 turnovers on the day, all by their QB.
That’s where we have a problem. Dylan Lonergan (16/29, 242 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs, FUM), a Boston College transfer, played just like he did there. You occasionally saw the elite arm talent, but too often he showed off his awful decision-making. Athan Kaliakmanis is gone, so this is Rutgers’ new normal, and it’s not pretty. Let’s give UMass their flowers though! This was a huge win for their program. Finally, they have something to build on, as well as a belief that they can compete with their opponents. From here on out, teams won’t see the Minutemen on their schedules and count the game as a win before even playing.
Three FCS Teams Win in Another Side Effect of NIL
Every so often, we see an FCS team beat an FBS team that paid them to come and play. In a bit of a surprising outcome, THREE teams from Division I-AA won on the road this week. One, The Citadel, emerged victorious in a 4-OT thriller against Charlotte, doing what military academies typically do: almost nothing but running the ball. Another, Tarleton State, bested Bowling Green in a contest that barely had any scoring in the second half. You may remember Tarleton’s upset from week 1 last year. Those two outcomes make some sense. Charlotte is among the worst team in the FBS, and Bowling Green is a subpar MAC team.
The third FCS win really came out of nowhere. Idaho State went to Utah State and thoroughly manhandled the Aggies in a 29-17 victory. Utah State differs from the others: they’re a respectable team from the Mountain West that just joined the newly reformed Pac-12. USU threw 4 INTs and never led in the 4th quarter. Putting all of these results together, it’s fair to ask whether this was a weird blip or a new normal. I’m here to argue that the latter is true, and the culprit is one you’re familiar with: NIL. My premise is that the talent gap between the FCS and the Group of 6 is narrowing, with NIL as the primary cause.
In the current world of college football, the Power 4 teams with all the money buy up all of the most talented players. That leaves the rest of the teams fighting for scraps, with limited options to go around. Some schools will still find decent talent (see Boise State above), but those at the bottom are likely to stay there unless they pump in more financial resources. In the context of the above outcomes, I believe that Utah State’s loss is more like the outliers of years past. The other two games might be something we need to get used to though. That should be alarming for the FBS schools paying heavy prices to play these FCS opponents.