Vote for Athlon's College Football Awards: Who Won, Lost Week 1?

The return of college football is kind of like drinking from a firehose. Week 0 was a nice buffer before the five-day feast that spanned Labor Day weekend. But eight games on a Saturday pales in comparison to 91 from Thursday to Monday. The eyes and mind have to readjust to quad-box mode and having dozens of games to monitor.

A lot happened in Week 1. And Week 2 should bring even better games, but we’re not ready to move on just yet. Athlon Sports is introducing weekly awards as an opportunity to look back on the week that was and honor the impressive and wacky results that only a sport as chaotic as college football can produce.

Case in point, Week 1 had one clock controversy, three FCS-over-FBS upsets, a game that ended early (in a tie) due to extreme heat, a power outage delay and UMass won. Wild, right?

This week’s schedule was a bit strange due to the holiday weekend and SMU-Florida State being played on a Monday, a day even MACtion doesn’t dare touch. But going forward, look out for Athlon’s awards polls over the weekend. Our categories will vary based on what happened in a given week. But you can expect some staples, such as Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week. This week, we’re also honoring the Best Upset and Biggest Flop.

We ask you, dear reader, to vote pick a winner for each category below. Here are our nominees:

Offensive Player of the Week

No. 7 Miami eviscerated Stanford in its season opener. Transfer quarterback Darian Mensah finished with 401 yards and five touchdowns in the Hurricanes’ 45-6 victory, but it was wide receiver Malachi Toney who earns the nomination here. Toney set a new program record with 234 yards on 12 receptions. He also snagged three touchdowns. Consider how many great receivers have come through Coral Gables, and Toney’s record — in his first game with his new quarterback, no less — is that much more impressive.

• Related: Sorry NFL, You’ll Have to Wait Another Year for Malachi Toney

You just read Mensah’s silly stat line, which wasn’t quite enough for a nod here. That’s because Pitt’s Mason Heintschel tied a program record with seven touchdown passes in a 59-14 win over Miami (Ohio). The sophomore signal-caller also completed 31-of-41 passes for 453 yards and added 23 rushing yards.

Sticking with the ACC, Duke running back Nate Sheppard rounds out our trio. The Blue Devils back kicked off the conference championship defense with 227 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 35 carries in a 17-3 victory over Tulane. It wasn’t quite enough for a program record, but Sheppard was involved in almost half of Duke’s offensive plays.

Defensive Player of the Week

Much of the focus in Alabama’s season opener against East Carolina was on quarterback Keelon Russell, who impressed in his first career start. But how about some love for the Crimson Tide defense? That unit led the charge in a 48-10 triumph over the Pirates. And at the heart of that effort was linebacker Yhonzae Pierre, who had three tackles, a sack and a 27-yard pick-six, his first career touchdown.

Baylor-Auburn was a beautiful disaster. These teams combined for five turnovers in a game where points were at a premium. After the Tigers took a late lead, DJ Lagway led the Bears down the field for what could have been the tying touchdown. Instead, coach Dave Aranda went for the win with a two-point try. Lagway rolled out to his right and hit tight end Matthew Klopfenstein for what could have been a walk-in conversion. But the pass was just behind him, and Auburn safety Eric Winters blew up Klopfenstein just before the goal line. In addition to the game-saving play, Winters racked up 11 tackles, including two tackles for loss, in a 17-16 win in coach Alex Golesh’s debut.

Believe it or not, Clemson struck first against LSU. But after an early field goal, the Bayou Bengals scored 51 unanswered points in a 51-10 victory in Lane Kiffin’s first home game in Baton Rouge. LSU defensive end Jordan Ross helped blow the game open with a pick-six on Clemson quarterback Christopher Vizzina with his team nursing a 10-3 lead late in the first quarter. Ross also had four tackles, including two tackles for loss, a sack in his LSU debut.

Best Upset

Western Michigan over Michigan probably should have been the biggest upset of the week, but we’ll get to that later. A Big Ten team actually did go down when UMass toppled Rutgers on Thursday. The Minutemen blew out the Scarlet Knights 37-21 on the road as 29.5-point underdogs. It was their first win since 2024, first FBS win since 2023 and first-ever win against a Power 4 opponent. Coach Joe Harasymiak told me this offseason his team would be better after going winless. Evidently, he was right.

Charlotte went 1-11 in coach Tim Albin’s debut last season and lost its final nine games. The 49ers had a chance to start this season in the win column against The Citadel, an FCS program that hasn’t enjoyed a winning season in a decade. But the Bulldogs simply refused to lose. The Citadel upset Charlotte 43-41 in triple-overtime as 20.5-point underdogs behind a relentless run game.

Word to the wise for FBS programs: Don’t schedule Tarleton State in Week 1. The Texans are a burgeoning FCS powerhouse with aspirations of moving up a level. That campaign will only gain more steam after Tarleton State upset Bowling Green on Saturday. The Texans were only 1.5-point underdogs, so while their 20-13 triumph wasn’t a massive upset in bettors’ eyes, this was a big win for the program nonetheless.

Biggest Flop

So about what happened in Ann Arbor … By now, you’ve probably heard how Western Michigan outplayed Michigan for 59 minutes and 59 seconds. The Broncos thought they had the state’s flagship program dead to rights when Bryce Underwood’s Hail Mary try sailed out of the end zone. Ball game? Not so fast. Apparently, the broadcast clock on NBC, which showed that the game was over, was not synced with the official game clock in the stadium. It was determined that one second remained when a Western Michigan player touched the ball while out of bounds. With that extra tick, Underwood’s prayer was answered this time around as JJ Buchanan caught his heave in the end zone to secure a 13-12 win. Mayhem. The Western Michigan-Michigan clock manager likely did not expect to be in the limelight in a game in which the Wolverines were favored by 27.5 points. (Then again, no one expected a field storming in a game with such a hefty spread, but that happened, too.) It’s never good when the Big Ten has to issue a Notes app-esque statement explaining what happened. Just bad all around.

I was briefly validated in thinking Clemson could stay within striking distance of LSU after coach Dabo Swinney’s squad turned an early interception into points. Then, Lane Kiffin’s Bayou Bengals scored 51 unanswered points in one of the most dominant performances of Week 1. Clemson has now lost four consecutive season openers. Clemson’s defense was outclassed, and its offense was uncompetitive.

Again, hand up: I was a believer in Oklahoma State. The Cowboys brought over all the heavy hitters from North Texas, the highest-scoring offense in college football last season. Surely they could cover a couple of scores on the road against Tulsa, right? Wrong. The Golden Hurricane won outright, 24-10. That was Oklahoma State’s 12th consecutive loss and quarterback Drew Mestemaker’s worst outing as a starter.