College football is off and running for real.
Thursday night brought some excitement as FCS power North Dakota State nearly upset Colorado in the national game of the night. The Bison fell 31-26 after coming up four yards short of the potential winning touchdown as time expired.
Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders made preseason headlines by sparring with reporters. Had his team dropped the its season opener after its epic 2023 collapse, there would have been tremendous blowback on Coach Prime.
As it was, Colorado got off to an underwhelming start to Sanders’ second season. The Buffaloes needed their star players to deliver huge performances to scrape out a harrowing victory.
“You ever feel like you won but you didn't win?†Sanders said. “Let's move on from that. I'm going to try my best to hold back my anger. But we got a 'W' so I'm happy.â€
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Missouri got what it wanted from its 51-0 rout of outmanned Murray State. The Tigers raced to a 28-0 lead, then suffered an offensive lull that gave Eli Drinkwitz and his staff plenty of coaching moments.
A botched gimmick play, costly holding penalties, a clock management mishap . . . the Tigers lost focus for a bit. Also, Brady Cook missed all of his deep throws after putting much focus on that aspect of his game during the summer camp.
Still, the Tigers won 51-0, satisfying their impressive sellout crowd. Drinkwitz got to test his impressive offensive depth and applaud a defense that manhandled the Racers from start to finish.
Illinois handled Eastern Illinois 45-0 with Luke Altmyer throwing four touchdown passes.
"I felt confident out there," Altmyer said. "I thought I saw everything well. It came off my hand pretty well. I feel like the route details and the receivers were on their Ps and Qs. Looking forward to just growing from Week 1 into Week 2. Excited to get back to work and display some other things too."
Lindenwood made a fundraising trip to Kansas City, Kan. and fell 48-3 to No. 22 Kansas at Children’s Mercy Park. The Jayhawks played at the MLS stadium with their on-campus stadium undergoing renovations.
This opportunity was another step forward for the Lions program.
"Our goals coming into the game was how are we going to handle the big stage, and play solid fundamental confident football,†Lindenwood coach Jed Stugart said. “The first quarter I felt like we did a good job doing that.  Big plays took momentum and it was hard to get back.  We'll see the film to see the areas to improve.  But was proud of our effort and how we fought till the end.â€
Elsewhere Thursday, Buffalo warmed up for its looming game at Mizzou by handling Lafayette 30-13.
Thursday night’s action yielded at least one serious injury, with North Carolina quarterback Max Johnson, son of former NFL QB Brad Johnson, suffering an ugly hip injury that hospitalized him.
THE GRIDIRON CHRONICLES
Here is what folks are writing about college football:
Shehan Jeyarajah, : “The Buffs will go exactly as far as Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter can take them. The good news for Colorado? Its two biggest stars are even better than they were last year. In a 31-26 victory over North Dakota State, Sanders threw for 445 yards and four touchdowns. He showed some real growth from an impressive first season, stepping into the pocket and absorbing some unbelievably big hits from North Dakota State defenders. Sanders has always been a tough player, but his toughness took another step forward in Week 1. After almost any other game, Sanders would have been the biggest story of the day. Unfortunately for him, Travis Hunter was on the same field. Hunter rose to stardom one year ago after torching reigning national runner-up TCU on both sides of the ball in a 45-42 upset victory. Against the Bison, he was even better. While playing both wide receiver and cornerback, Hunter broke the game open with a 41-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown on Colorado's sixth play. He played good coverage and handled his matchup. In the fourth quarter, he reeled in an unbelievable highlight-reel touchdown catch through blanket coverage, somehow bringing the ball in with just his hands.”
Chuck Culpepper, Washington Post: “College football, with its 155 years of deeply eccentric behavior, goes still battier here shortly. Mass conference realignment born of the pursuit of television money means brains must undergo another rewiring concerning which teams are in which conferences, which figures to litter chitchat with errors. Experts will err occasionally. Casual fans will err more than occasionally. Rational people will recoil or regurgitate. The Big 12 and Big Ten have four new teams each, the ACC has three and the SEC has two. Both the Pac-12 and geography have croaked. The world-as-neighborhood that Amelia Earhart envisioned has found one of its nuttier epitomes, with air travel more crucial than ever and teams flying sapping distances to play conference games.â€
Dennis Dodd, : “This week's games are great because they're not definitive. That's good news for those on the unfortunate end of Clemson vs Georgia, Penn State vs. West Virginia, Miami vs. Florida, Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M and LSU vs USC. Losing doesn't kill your season. You can rebound. In fact, third place in the Big Ten and SEC might be a safe haven in the expanded playoff era. Those teams will probably be in the CFP and don't have to risk their seasons in a conference championship game. Last year, those teams would have been Missouri, a No. 9 seed at 10-2, and Penn State, a No. 10 seed at 10-2. Penn State lost to Ohio State and Michigan in the regular season. Missouri lost to LSU and Georgia. Before we go any further, yes, I know Alabama got to the BCS (2011) and CFP (2016) without even winning its division. I know LSU lost twice, gave up 50 points at home and still somehow won a national championship (2007). While those results were outliers, they are also further evidence that the SEC -- and now Big Ten -- will get every consideration from the selection committee in the room.”
Dave Wilson, : “The (Conner) Weigman era in College Station has been one of promise but also frustration. He set a Texas A&M true freshman record in his first start in 2022 with 338 yards passing, throwing four touchdowns against Ole Miss before throwing two touchdowns in an upset of No. 6 LSU at the end of a 5-7 season. He began last season by throwing five touchdown passes in the opener against New Mexico. He played three complete games last year and looked the part of the No. 27 overall prospect in the 2022 class, throwing for 909 yards, 8 TDs and 2 interceptions, but a foot injury against Auburn ended his season as the Aggies limped to a 7-6 finish. New coach Mike Elko lured Collin Klein from Klein's alma mater, Kansas State, to revitalize the offense, and his first order of business was to fix an offensive line that has struggled to keep Weigman and his other QBs upright. Weigman said this week that he's finally back to 100 percent and is ready to get to work.”
Erick Smith, USA Today: “Lots of attention will be focused on the matchup between Georgia and Clemson, however this is a more pivotal game for the Fighting Irish and Aggies. Notre Dame's schedule features only three teams in the preseason poll — one of which is Florida State. There aren't a ton of opportunities for high-quality wins, making this road trip crucial to its playoff hopes. Texas A&M winning would be huge to start Mike Elko's tenure and would be a big resume builder come December.â€
Justin Williams, The Athletic: “A neutral-site bout in Las Vegas featuring two programs that are uniquely intertwined. USC’s Lincoln Riley and LSU’s Brian Kelly were hired to their respective jobs a day apart in November 2021. Each had encouraging first seasons and disappointing second seasons. Each coached one of the past two Heisman Trophy winners and is breaking in a redshirt junior quarterback with one career start — Miller Moss for USC and Garrett Nussmeier  for LSU. Both had ghastly defenses last year, with the Trojans swiping coordinator D’Anton Lynn from UCLA Trojans and LSU paying a pretty penny to lure coordinator Blake Baker from Missouri. Both are wading into deeper, division-less conferences, and both programs have sky-high expectations in the new Playoff era.â€
Nick Bromberg, Yahoo! ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ: “The first official Saturday of the season starts with what could be the game of the week. We’re hedging a bit because of that two-touchdown spread. It’s the first matchup between the two teams since they opened the season in Charlotte in 2021. That game was hardly a thriller. Georgia won 10-3 as Clemson’s offense struggled mightily. Clemson enters this game looking to get its offense on track after a rough first season under offensive coordinator Garrett Riley. After a promising end to the 2022 season when he took over as the Tigers’ starter, QB Cade Klubnik averaged just 6.3 yards a pass a season ago and threw for fewer than 3,000 yards despite throwing over 450 passes. Georgia QB Carson Beck is one of the top favorites for the Heisman in 2024 after a stellar first season as the Bulldogs’ starter in 2023. The potential No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft won’t have Brock Bowers to throw to this season, but Georgia still has plenty of talent on the outside. Keep an eye on Georgia’s backfield in this game. With Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton now gone, Roderick Robinson was the Bulldogs’ leading returning rusher in 2024. He’s out for a while because of toe surgery, and former Florida running back Trevor Etienne could miss the game via suspension. He was arrested for DWI over the offseason and reached a plea deal.â€
MEGAPHONE
“When you're making changes to be the best version of yourself, you learn to let go of control, to let go of your ego, to let go of the things that don't matter. Everything I ever wanted was on the other side of letting go, which is the exact opposite of how you think because you think you can't let go of anything. You're not trained that way, especially in football.â€
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, to ESPN.