A JCSU fan relishes a Bulls score.

Bulls wide out Reginald Daniel scores on a 33 yard pass from Kelvin Durham.

TCU defensive back Bud Clark scores on a pick 6 versus North Carolina.

The defending national champion Ohio State, No. 3 in the Associated Press rankings, and the University of Texas, the preseason No. 1 team according to the AP poll, squared off in Columbus, Ohio. When the smoke cleared, the Buckeyes came out on top by the final score of 14-7.

The game was the coming-out party for Arch Manning, quarterback descendant of the Manning legacy, grandfather Archie, and uncles Peyton and Eli. The contest boiled down to two plays: Ohio State scoring on a Donaldson run up the middle for a one-yard touchdown and Manning failing to convert on a fourth down and one from the Ohio State one-yard line.

The high-drama game of opening week was Florida State’s thrashing of eighth-ranked Alabama in Tallahassee, Florida.

Seminole quarterback Tommy Castellanos, who transferred from Boston College, backed up his preseason comments with gusto. He gave the Crimson Tide plenty of bulletin board material when he said, “Nick Saban (the former Alabama coach) won’t be able to save them this time. I don’t see how they can stop me. I’ve waited my whole life for a chance to play against Alabama.” Then he went out and backed up his words with a stunning performance: 9-for-14 passing for 152 yards, 16 rushes for 78 yards and one touchdown to lead his team to a dominant 31-17 triumph.

This is Florida State’s first win against a ranked team since 2023. There were all measures of consternation for Alabama and its demanding fan base who witnessed the Tide’s 23-game season-opening win streak come to an end, as well as the ignominy of losing their first regular season game against an out-of-conference unranked opponent since their 2007 loss to Louisiana/Monroe in the first year of the Nick Saban era. The calls for Kalen DeBoer’s job are loud and long.

For Castellanos, it is sweet redemption following his less than glorious ending of his playing career at Boston College.

“I’ve been an underdog my entire life but thank God for this chance to prove that I can play this game at the top level of college competition,” said Castellanos.

In the other top 10 action, ninth ranked Louisiana State University stopped fourth-ranked Clemson University, 17-10. Tigers quarterback Brad Nussmeier (28-38 passing for 231 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions) out-dueled Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik to lead his team to their first season-opening win since 2019.

The 10th-ranked Miami Hurricanes squeezed past the sixthranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 27-24, for their 18th straight home opening game win at Hard Rock Stadium. The Hurricanes picked up their first victory against a top 10 opponent since 2017 against Notre Dame, snapping an eightgame losing streak against top 10 opponents in the process.

Carter Davis kicked the game-winning 47-yard field goal with 1:04 left in the fourth quarter.

Bill Belichick’s debut as head coach of the University of North Carolina was one to forget. His Tar Heels took the opening kickoff and drove 83 yards for a touchdown on their first offensive possession of the season. Then, the roof fell in as Texas Christian University scored the next 41 points, the most allowed by any Belichick-led team. North Carolina suffered an embarrassing 48-14 loss.

The Horned Frogs, coming off a nine-win, four-loss campaign the previous season, felt that they were being disrespected amid the hoopla over Bill Belichick. TCU Coach Sonny Dykes’ team thoroughly humbled Belichick’s Tar Heel squad.

“I think we all felt a little disrespected coming in,” said Dykes.

“There was a lot of conversation and none of it was about us. I think my players were highly motivated to play.”

On the 34-point loss, the most significant UNC defeat in a season opener since 2003, Belichick said, “Look, they just outplayed us, they outcoached us, they were better than us tonight. That was all there was to it. They controlled both sides of the line of scrimmage.

They did a lot more things right than we did.” It was TCU’s 10th straight season-opening game scoring 30-plus points.

There are two other college football notes worth mentioning. Johnson C. Smith destroyed Morehouse, 45-9, in the inaugural Essence HBCU Classic, played at Harvard Stadium. Quarterback Kelvin Durham tossed three touchdown passes for the winners. This game was the first of its kind in the Boston area, where this city hosted an event of this magnitude, centered on HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Culture. The game and all the festivities of the HBCU weekend proved to be a considerable success, with a large crowd attending the game at Harvard. A heartfelt thank you to every HBCU person who participated in this special weekend.

Finally, Da’Realyst Clark returned a kickoff 102 yards for the game-winning touchdown that helped Kent State beat Merrimack College, 21-17, snapping their 21-game losing streak, the longest active in FBS entering Aug. 30.