Nebraska's highly touted freshman quarterback, Dylan Raiola, was rock solid in his first career game, throwing for 238 yards and two scores as the Cornhuskers rolled past UTEP 40-7, setting up an tasty Week 2 game against Colorado.
New Mexico State transfer Diego Pavia ran for 104 yards, threw for 190 and scored what proved to be the winning touchdown as Vanderbilt upset Virginia Tech 34-27 in overtime. A huge win for Commodores coach Clark Lea, who imported both Pavia and former New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill from Las Cruces, hoping to show enough progress in Season 4 to earn a Season 5 at his alma mater.
The first Alabama football game without Nick Saban as coach since 2006 could not have gone better. Kalen DeBoer's fifth-ranked Crimson Tide won 63-0 over Western Kentucky and quarterback Jalen Milroe put up this crazy stat line: 7 for 9 passing for 200 yards and three touchdowns and 79 yards rushing and two TDs on 10 carries.
In the transfer portal era, keeping stars is a major challenge for schools outside the Power Four. There was no bigger retention this offseason than running back Ashton Jeanty at Boise State. The preseason All-American ran for 267 yards and tied a Mountain West record with six touchdowns in a wild 56-45 victory at Georgia Southern. The Broncos play at No. 3 Oregon, which had a glitchy 24-14 win against Idaho, next Saturday. ... Arizona preseason All-American Tetairoa McMillan was the receiving star of the day, going off for a school-record 304 yards and four touchdowns in a 61-39 win over New Mexico. The 300-yard receiving game was the first in major college football since Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the 2022 Rose Bowl vs. Utah. ... No. 4 Texas beat Colorado State 52-0, but the big news was Arch Manning had the most extensive playing time of his career. College football's most famous backup quarterback was 5 for 6 for 95 yards and his first touchdown pass. ... Michigan looks as if it could use a guy like Manning. Playing two quarterbacks, the Wolverines' offense sputtered, but Will Johnson and the defense were stellar against Fresno State. The Longhorns visit the Big House next week. ... Lots of transfer quarterbacks debuted for their new teams. One that didn't get a ton of attention in the offseason was former Alabama blue chipper Eli Holstein to Pitt. Holstein was 30 for 40 for 333 yards and three touchdowns running new offensive coordinator Kade Bell's wide-open attack in a 55-24 win over Kent State ... Reminder: There is still a Pac-12. Washington State and Oregon State are operating as a two-team conference this season. The Cougars won their first game after being abandoned, 70-30 over Portland State. Oregon State did the same, beating Idaho State 38-15.