College Football Week 1: Five biggest takeaways

• Ohio State can repeat: The Buckeyes are now the team to beat after taking down top-ranked Texas.

• LSU’s defense makes the team a national championship contender: The Tigers’ defense was stellar against Clemson, powering a 17-10 win.

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It was a wild Week 1 of college football. Four top-10 teams went down, including top-four squads Texas and Clemson. 

Now that every team has taken the field, here are some early takeaways from Week 1.

Ohio State can repeat 

The defending national champions proved they’re still the team to beat in college football after a 14-7 victory over top-ranked Texas. The Buckeyes’ defense was stellar, holding the Longhorns to just 4.9 yards per play. Ohio State’s secondary stole the show, especially cornerback Jermaine Matthews, who posted an 84.4 PFF coverage grade. 

Even with eight new starters, the Buckeyes look like they’ll have one of the nation’s best defenses once again. And unless they lose to Illinois, Penn State and Michigan, they are all but guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Pump the brakes on the Arch Manning criticism

While Manning certainly didn’t have the cleanest performance, it’s still far too early to make any definitive statements about the heralded Texas quarterback. He posted a solid 72.2 PFF passing grade overall, largely buoyed by a 91.3 mark in the fourth quarter. The redshirt sophomore tossed four big-time throws in the final nine minutes of the game. The Longhorns still have a very young offense after losing four starters along the offensive line and their top three receivers from a year ago. They need time to jell.

A revamped defense makes LSU a legitimate national championship contender

Across the 2023 and 2024 seasons, LSU fielded the most efficient offense in the country by EPA per play. But the Tigers missed out on the College Football Playoff in both years because they ranked just 115th in defensive EPA per play. They were thrown into the fire in Week 1 against Clemson, PFF’s top-ranked offense.

The Tigers answered those questions and then some. They held Clemson to -0.316 EPA per play, LSU’s best defensive performance since the 2014 season. The Tigers averaged only 4.5 yards per play, and defensive coordinator Blake Baker had Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik’s head spinning by blitzing him on 67% of his dropbacks.

If that defensive effort holds and Heisman Trophy favorite Garrett Nussmeier continues to excel, LSU is suddenly a legitimate national title contender.

Tommy Castellanos was right: Nick Saban wasn’t there to save Alabama

Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos made waves this offseason when he said in an On3 interview that “[Alabama doesn’t] have Nick Saban to save them, I just don’t see them stopping me.” 

As it turns out, he was right. The unranked Seminoles dominated No. 8 Alabama 31-17 on Saturday. The Crimson Tide faltered in the trenches, giving up 5.0 yards per carry while surrendering 29 pressures on offense. Head coach Kalen DeBoer is now 4-4 when favored by 14 or more points at Alabama, losing to Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Michigan and Florida State. His predecessor, Nick Saban, was 131-2 in such situations. With a difficult schedule remaining, the Crimson Tide are in danger of missing a 12-team playoff once again.

Notre Dame’s back is against the wall

No. 6 Notre Dame opened its season with a 27-24 loss on the road against No. 10 Miami. The Hurricanes’ defensive line dominated, holding the Fighting Irish’s normally elite run game to just 3.3 yards per carry.

Notre Dame has a bye week to regroup before taking on a top-20 opponent in Texas A&M. Considering the Aggies are currently the only ranked team remaining on the Fighting Irish’s schedule, that game all of a sudden could be a playoff eliminator for a school that made it national championship game in 2024.