Coach Prime 2.0: What’s next for Deion and the Buffaloes
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Adam Rittenberg
BOULDER, Colo. — The texts and calls went unreturned, so Warren Sapp decided to pay Deion Sanders a visit.
Sapp was concerned about Sanders, his friend, Colorado coaching boss and fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer. In the spring, Sanders had left Colorado for his ranch in Texas, where he had spent months recovering from surgery to remove and reconstruct his bladder after a cancerous tumor was detected. But Sanders, who spends much of his life on camera, did not circulate the extent of his condition, even shielding sons Shedeur and Shilo from the details as they went through the NFL draft.
After several attempts to reach Deion Sanders, Sapp called once more and left a message.
“I said, ‘You call buddy at the gate, because I’ll be at the front this afternoon,’ and the gate was open,'” Sapp told ESPN. “I went to see him. I’m just that guy. I’m a bull in a china shop. I’m going through the front door.”
Sapp, who reached seven Pro Bowls by busting through barriers to grab ball carriers, had a similar, albeit gentler, mission in mind with Sanders.
“I just wanted to see my man and put my hands on him and hug him,” Sapp said. “I just wanted him to tell me, ‘I’m fine, I’ll be there.’ And that’s what he said: ‘I’m good.’ … I’m right back in front of him, and the jokes flowed, the stabs and the jabs. He’s still Prime, all day long.”
Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders is still at Colorado to lead his team, following the most serious health scare in a series of medical challenges. An athletic marvel who played in both the NFL and MLB, Sanders has had 14 surgeries since 2021, including the amputation of two toes because of blood clots.
“I had more surgeries out of the game than I did in the game,” he said.
But the setbacks haven’t removed him from the Buffaloes’ sideline, where he will be Friday night as Colorado opens the season against Georgia Tech at Folsom Field (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). Although Sanders is beginning his third year with the Buffaloes, after a five-win improvement last fall, he’s truly kicking off Phase 2 of his time at CU.
Colorado no longer has Sanders’ sons Shedeur and Shilo on the field. The pair of players who headlined the past two Buffaloes seasons, Shedeur and Travis Hunter — the two-way marvel and 2024 Heisman Trophy winner — is gone. So are others from a pass-heavy offense that was fun to watch but also faded in key moments.
So what would Deion 2.0 like to be? A team designed to excel more at the line of scrimmage, display better run-pass balance on offense and transition from finesse to physicality. Players will be coached by a staff perhaps unlike any in college football history, featuring three Pro Football Hall of Famers in Sanders as well as Sapp — the team’s defensive pass rush coordinator after a season as a quality control analyst — and Marshall Faulk, the former NFL MVP who is overseeing the running backs. Faulk was hired in February.
Colorado also is getting a new version of Sanders, who hasn’t lost any charisma but also has a different view on life.
“I’m a better man now than I was two years ago, because of things that God has allowed me to go through …” he said. “So I’m a better man, which makes me a better coach.”
The question now is: Will he lead a better team in 2025?
ON AN AUGUST morning, after a team practice, Sanders bounded into a room and sat down behind a placard that read, “Coach Prime.” On the eve of his 58th birthday, he didn’t look or sound like a man who, months earlier, underwent a major surgery to address a life-threatening condition. The shades, smile and swagger were all there.
“I’m living life right now,” Sanders said. “I’m trying my best to live it to the fullest, considering what transpired.”
At a news conference last month alongside his medical team, Sanders was declared “cured of cancer” by Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urological oncology at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. But his ordeal caused significant lifestyle changes. Sanders joked that he “truly depends on Depends” and that he and his grandson “see who has the heaviest bag at the end of the night, it’s ridiculous.”
Sanders’ bladder reconstruction causes him to urinate more frequently. A portable toilet has been placed at Colorado’s practice field for Sanders to use and could be on the Buffaloes’ sideline tonight and for future games.
Sanders has maintained a positive outlook, but there’s no downplaying what he went through in the spring.
“He showed me the [postsurgery] pictures,” Sapp said. “We are out of the dark.”
Sanders’ recovery in Texas kept him away from the team for several months. He credited his assistants with maintaining the program during his absence, especially the strength and conditioning staff. Sanders “never had to call 100 times and check on the house,” because he had confidence nothing would veer.
When Sanders rejoined the team in July, he didn’t hold back.
“Every morning, he rises to the occasion,” Faulk told ESPN. “He’s out there at practice. He’s not just a lame-duck coach. Like, he’s out there, he’s fired up, whatever energy he has, he’s giving it. There’s no difference in him before he had the surgery, to now. There’s been no falloff.”
Faulk laughed and shook his head.
“It’s literally amazing,” he continued. “It’s divine, in a sense. People are always listening to him praising the lord and [saying] God is good and this stuff. Then, to see the video, tubes hanging out of him, it’s like, ‘Wait, what?’ It’s crazy because it’s so hard to believe. But if you believe he’s been put on this earth to do something special, as he’s always done, then it starts to make sense.”
SANDERS WILL ALWAYS elicit a range of reactions. But the fact that he’s still at Colorado, without his sons on the field, at nowhere near peak health, is notable. When he took the CU job, many thought without the draw of coaching Shedeur and Shilo, he would be gone by now.
But Deion Sanders’ commitment to Colorado has extended beyond his family history. In March, he received a new five-year, $54 million contract that makes him the highest-paid coach in the Big 12 and among the 10 highest-paid in the sport. The money is notable, but Sanders, a marketing machine outside of his coaching role, already has plenty. The commitment is more significant.
Colorado athletic director Rick George called the negotiation “very easy,” even though the finalizing process took longer than he and others anticipated.
“We were both very thoughtful about what we wanted,” George said. “[Sanders] wanted to know that he was going to be at Colorado for a while. He loves the city, he loves the state, he loves the community, he loves the university. I just think he’s in it for the long haul.”
Sanders had no connection to Colorado before he arrived. His personal ties are much stronger in Florida, Texas and Atlanta, where he played for the Falcons and Braves. Sanders’ name surfaced last year as a potential candidate to coach his former team, the Dallas Cowboys, and could continue to generate buzz for other jobs if Colorado can build on last year’s success.
But for now, Sanders seemingly has set up roots in the Rockies.
“I don’t think that he has a desire to go to the NFL, because I think he has a desire to impact kids, and this is the way that he can do that,” said Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt, a former Colorado quarterback. “If he’s healthy, he’s going to coach. Colorado is perfect for Deion, just like Deion is perfect for Colorado. As much as that program needed him, and they needed him desperately, I think it’s a perfect fit for him. They gave him the keys to the castle.
“He can be completely himself. He can be totally authentic.”
Sanders isn’t the only one who feels as though he belongs at Colorado.
FAULK’S ARRIVAL AND Sapp’s promotion are not for show. They are there to help Sanders usher in a new way for Colorado to play.
The Buffs have made undeniable improvement since 2022, the year before Sanders arrived, when they went 1-11 and were outscored 534-185. Last year’s jump to nine wins was fueled in part by an improved defense under first-year coordinator Robert Livingston, who is back this fall.
But so much of Colorado’s offense seemed to revolve around two players.
“We don’t have his son, the quarterback that can score from anywhere on the field, and the unicorn that we’ve only seen once in a lifetime,” Sapp said, referring to Shedeur Sanders and Hunter.
The hope at Colorado is that its collective strengths can help offset the loss of genuine star power. Shedeur Sanders completed 71.8% of his passes for 7,364 yards with 64 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, while breaking more than 100 CU records. Hunter was a modern-day iron man, leading the FBS in snaps played in both 2023 and 2024, while recording seven interceptions, 16 pass breakups and 153 receptions for 1,989 yards and 20 touchdowns in a Buffaloes uniform.
Their departures reinforce Colorado’s need to win through more traditional means. Over the past two seasons, the Buffaloes rank last in the FBS in rushing at 67 yards per game — 19 yards fewer than the next lowest team (Hawai’i). They’re also 132nd in both rushing attempts per game (28) and runs of 10 yards or more (66). Despite record-setting passing by Shedeur Sanders, Colorado also allowed 99 sacks since 2023, most in the FBS.
Colorado’s approach wasn’t sustainable, especially without Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. Enter Sapp and Faulk.
“Nobody was pulling me off my couch but Deion,” Sapp said.
Faulk had never played with Sanders, but the two crossed paths while working as analysts at NFL Network, where Sapp also worked after retirement. Since retiring in 2007, Faulk had been approached by both NFL and college teams about coaching.
“I say this in the nicest way: I’m not a regular dude,” Faulk said. “If I’m going to work for somebody, or coach under somebody, it’s got to be somebody.”
During Sanders’ tenure, he has increased the NFL flavor of his staff. Former NFL head coach Pat Shurmur directs the offense, while former NFL players work with position groups such as cornerbacks (Kevin Mathis) and offensive line (Andre Gurode and George Hegamin). Byron Leftwich, a former NFL quarterback and offensive coordinator, joined the staff this summer. But the three gold jackets in the building speak from a platform that few college coaches can. Sanders, Sapp and Faulk have combined for four Super Bowl rings, five NFL offensive or defensive player of the year awards, 23 Pro Bowl selections and 13 first-team All-Pro selections.
2:08
Josh Pate: Being competitive means success for Deion Sanders
Josh Pate and Joey Galloway discuss what they think a successful 2025 season of football will look like for Deion Sanders and Colorado.
Faulk’s presence, and Hall of Fame credentials, are meant to boost the running back room. For Faulk, it starts with teaching the position. He will ask Colorado’s running backs to draw their favorite play on the whiteboard. Then, he asks them to draw the defensive set best equipped to stop the play and one where the play can be most effective.
“It hits as a player, just understanding, like, coming from him, what he’s done, he’s proof,” Buffaloes running back DeKalon Taylor said. “He’s not just telling us something that he hasn’t done himself. He helps make the game easier, helps slow it down, helps us truly understand it.”
In his role, Sapp is taking a similar approach, trying to teach the innate tenacity he played with to Buffs defensive linemen.
“I play 3-tech, the same as he played,” defensive tackle Amari McNeill said. “I love having Coach Sapp around, every day, on my side. He says, ‘Don’t wait for no action. Meet the action.’ It helps me play faster.”
Although the defense undoubtedly made strides in 2024, Colorado still ranks 117th in runs allowed of 10 yards or more, and 105th in third-down conversions against during Sanders’ tenure. The pass rush has generally been a strength, especially with Livingston’s aggressive scheme, but Colorado also gave up too many conversions.
“He wants to run it,” Sapp said, nodding at Faulk, “I want to stop the run and earn the right to rush. I believe in dominating the LOS, the line of scrimmage. I live that way. That’s the way the game’s always going to be played.”
DEION SANDERS SUBSCRIBES to the same belief. The difference now is Colorado thinks it has the roster to achieve that vision.
“The next phase is: We’re going to win differently, but we’re going to win,” Sanders said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be the Hail Marys at the end of the game, but it’s going to be hell during the game, because we want to be physical, and we want to run the heck out of the football.”
Sanders was referencing the Hail Mary pass from Shedeur Sanders to LaJohntay Wester at the end of regulation against Baylor, which sent the game into overtime that the Buffaloes eventually won 38-31. The Baylor game was one of just two that Colorado won by single digits, but the team hopes depth in areas such as offensive line and running back will lead to further dominance.
The offensive line was the weakest position group when Sanders arrived, but the group returns several experienced players, led by Jordan Seaton, who became the Colorado freshman to make 13 starts last fall. Colorado also added notable line transfers such as Xavier Hill, a first-team All-AAC selection at Memphis, and Zy Crisler, who started 28 games at Illinois.
“It’s kind of hard to fool the defense when you’re passing the ball so many times a game,” Seaton said. “So this year we’re going to balance it out and keep everybody guessing.”
Colorado’s emphasis on offensive line play shows not just in the number of players but coaches. After Phil Loadholt left for Mississippi State, Deion Sanders appointed three offensive line coaches: Gurode, Hegamin and Gunnar White, who leads the room.
“It’s a bunch of high expectations,” Hill said. “Everybody wants to play, everybody wants to be great. We don’t just have five, we have 10.”
Colorado also thinks it has capable options at running back in returnees Dallan Hayden and Micah Welch, and transfers such as Taylor (Incarnate Word) and Simeon Price (Coastal Carolina). Sanders said “at least” three backs will be in the rotation.
“I believe that they’re going to be far better at the line of scrimmage than they have been over the last two years,” Klatt said. “This is a program that is foundationally stronger than it was two years ago, foundationally stronger than it was last year, and we’ll just see what they can do in one-possession games.”
For Deion Sanders, Phase 2 at Colorado will bring adjustments. He has downplayed the shift at times, saying his job is easier without having to balance being a father and a coach.
But he also entered coaching because of his sons, and recently acknowledged it’s “not easy” without them.
“He’s building a legacy here,” Seaton said. “He started with his kids and he got to finish with them, but this journey, we’re his new kids now, so he’s going to finish with us.”
After a difficult spring and summer, Sanders looks forward to beginning a new chapter at Colorado.
“First, it was the challenge of coming to this level. Could we change the game? We did,” he said. “Then, can you consistently do it with the players you have? Can you win? We did. Now it’s: Can you do it without Travis and Shedeur? It’s always going to be a challenge, I don’t mind that. I stand up to those.”
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David Hale
During the long, dark months between the end of one season and the beginning of another, we tell each other stories, because we need something to fill the void. We dress those stories up, calling them things like “way too early” rankings, preseason predictions or scalding hot takes, and we sustain them with statistics, data and historical perspective. But ultimately, they are at best educated guesses and, at worst, outright lies.
Then Week 1 comes along and college football delivers us a heaping dose of the truth, exposing our deceptions to the world like the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert.
On Saturday, college football’s truth still seemed hard to believe.
We’ve spent months burnishing the image of our next Heisman Trophy winner, Arch Manning. Only, in Week 1, Manning’s offense was overwhelmed by the defending champs, as Ohio State dumped Texas 14-7.
We’ve spent the summer laughing incredulously at Florida State ‘s Tommy Castellanos, seemingly the only player foolish enough to poke the bear by taunting Alabama when, in fact, he was a fortune-teller. Nick Saban couldn’t bail out the Crimson Tide on Saturday, and the Seminoles, buried after a 2-10 season a year ago, toppled Bama in convincing fashion 31-17.
We’ve heard all offseason Clemson was the class of the ACC, a nearly perfect team built around loads of returning talent that, after Dabo Swinney lost a bet with Tom Allen on who’d win the three-legged race at the team’s annual team picnic, even added players from the transfer portal. On Saturday, however, Clemson’s offense looked woefully similar to those stagnant offenses of years past. LSU‘s defensive front steamrollered its way to a 17-10 win in what used to be Clemson’s Death Valley, which must now be referred to as Critical-but-Stable Condition Valley due to the stakes of this matchup between two teams with the same nicknames for their stadiums.
Yes, Saturday’s results revealed that all our offseason narratives were no different than the description on a John Mateer Venmo transaction — dangerous, hilarious and completely made up.
In Columbus, the preseason No. 1 Longhorns couldn’t crack the scoreboard for the first 56 minutes of action. This was to be Manning’s coming-out party after two years in waiting behind Quinn Ewers; instead, the day belonged to new Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, a man hired only so Ryan Day wouldn’t have the weirdest-looking beard on staff. Patricia’s defense had an answer for everything Texas threw at it, holding Manning to just 17-of-30 passing, picking off a critical third-quarter pass to set up the decisive touchdown and stuffing the Horns on fourth down four times — including twice inside the 10-yard line.
It’s not that Ohio State’s offense wowed. A unit that proved deadly in last year’s College Football Playoff en route to a national championship mustered just 203 total yards — the Buckeyes’ worst regular-season output since 2015. But new quarterback Julian Sayin avoided any catastrophic mistakes and delivered a 40-yard dagger to Carnell Tate in the fourth quarter despite no one even knowing who his uncles are. If it wasn’t an emphatic endorsement for the 2025 version of Ohio State, it was a reminder the Buckeyes will not be swept aside without a fight.
In Tallahassee, Kalen DeBoer took another huge step toward having the word “tarmac” appear on his Wikipedia page. Since toppling Georgia last September and climbing to No. 1 in the AP poll, the Tide are just 5-5 overall, and Saturday’s loss to Florida State — a team that finished 2-10 a year ago — marks a new nadir.
In the aftermath, DeBoer was left scrambling for answers, saying, “There’s no excuse about what happened. We’ve got to play our style of ball. Last year isn’t this year. You’ve got to focus on the moment …” and there’s a long run past midfield by Castellanos.
Castellanos had promised a win, saying in June he saw no way Alabama could stop him. Lo and behold, he was right. The signal-caller who was benched at Boston College just a year ago ran all over an Alabama defense that seemed utterly flustered at times, despite FSU’s game plan including just nine completions.
Fewest completions in a win over Alabama since 2008:
FSU – 9, today
Okla – 9, Wk13, 2024
LSU – 10, Wk10, 2011
Mich – 11, bowl, 2024
Aub – 11, Wk14, 2013
Aub – 13, Wk14, 2010So, 3 all-time Saban classics (Cam, 9-6, Kick 6) and 3 of DeBoer’s 14 games as Bama HC.
— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) August 30, 2025
But it was FSU coach Mike Norvell who delivered his own truth in the fourth quarter. After a year in which he aged on the sideline the way a president does over two terms, Norvell promised he wouldn’t let this team roll over in the face of adversity. After Alabama charged back to within one score, FSU faced a fourth-and-1 at its own 36, and Norvell decided to go for it. It was a decision that would have been lambasted if it had failed and the Tide tied the game, but Alabama transfer Roydell Williams plunged ahead for 4 yards, FSU capped the drive with a touchdown, and Norvell’s message to his team couldn’t have been more clear. This year is different.
Things are different at LSU, too. While so much of the college football world had grown to love Brian Kelly’s annual Week 1 postgame press conferences in which he’d raise a podium over his head while decrying his lack of a ground game and yelling “Hunk smash!” this year’s Bayou Bengals actually played hard from start to finish and finally snagged a season-opening win.
In what was billed as a showdown between arguably the two best QBs in college football, it was the LSU defense that stole the show, tormenting Cade Klubnik throughout and holding Clemson to 31 rushing yards. Clemson’s last 19 plays were all passes, and Klubnik was under pressure on nearly all of them. Swinney may insist on bringing his own guts, but he keeps leaving his rushing attack at home.
So here we are, still not quite through with the opening scenes of the 2025 season, and we’ve already upended the Heisman race, slayed a giant and left Kelly with a smile on his face. What were the odds?
Of course, that’s the point, right? After an offseason in which conference commissioners tried to codify their own stories in the form of scheduling metrics, guaranteed playoff bids and TV revenue splits, a real Saturday of games is the respite from the narratives, a reminder that the games remain blissfully unpredictable.
After all, to paraphrase Lester Bangs from “Almost Famous,” the only true currency in this bankrupt world of college sports is the jokes you share with someone else when watching Alabama lose as a 14-point favorite again.
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Notes from the road | Best of Texas-Ohio State
Week 1 vibe check
Each week, major upsets, emphatic wins and stellar performances grab the headlines around the college football ecosystem, but there are also many smaller storylines that matter just as much. We try to capture those here.
Trending up: Trendy fashion choices
Georgia Tech upended Colorado on Friday 27-20, but the real buzz was all about the attire of return man Eric Rivers, who took the field dressed as though he was the lead singer of Talking Heads during the “Stop Making Sense” tour or had just been selected sixth overall in the 1999 NBA draft.
Pierrot, by Jean-Antoine Watteau, 1718-19 pic.twitter.com/dHRfgGYzPP
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) August 30, 2025
If the Yellow Jackets have any sense of humor at all, Rivers should line up for his first scrimmage play next week rocking a pair of parachute pants.
Trending down: Bad fashion choices
To honor the city of New Orleans on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Tulane had hoped to don its 2005 uniforms for its game against Northwestern on Saturday. The Wildcats denied the request, which led to a 23-3 whooping by the Green Wave and some spicy comments from Tulane coach Jon Sumrall afterward.
“When you disrespect the city of New Orleans, you’re going to run into it,” Sumrall said. “I’m not trying to be a jerk, but don’t disrespect the city of New Orleans.”
In contrast, after Florida State’s QB disrespected the city of Tuscaloosa this offseason, Alabama responded by writing a sternly worded letter to its commissioner insisting that, instead of a nine-game slate, the SEC move to a 12 conference games so this can’t happen in the future.
Trending up: In-game ad revenue
Deion Sanders delivered on his promise to have a portable toilet on the sideline for Colorado’s game against Georgia Tech, and he even got it sponsored by Depend.
Deion Sanders indeed has a portable toilet next to Colorado’s bench, to accommodate him following bladder reconstruction surgery.
And it’s sponsored. pic.twitter.com/GegvViVJQC
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) August 29, 2025
While we’re certainly glad to see Sanders is feeling better, the Buffs’ loss makes this sponsorship feel as though it’s one of the worst on-field marketing disasters since Red Lobster sponsored Les Miles’ ill-fated sideline seafood tower during the 2015 Texas Bowl.
Trending down: The middle seat from ATL to SYR
Tennessee‘s offense certainly didn’t look any worse off after waving goodbye to Nico Iamaleava. Transfer Joey Aguilar threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-26 win over Syracuse.
This, of course, was bad news for whichever member of the Orange had to sit next to Syracuse coach Fran Brown on the flight home, as Brown famously refuses to shower after a loss. Luckily, for just an additional $29.95, Spirit Airlines will furnish the team with one of those “new car smell” air fresheners to hang above Brown’s seat.
Trending up: Short road trips
UConn packed the house at Rentschler Field with its largest crowd since 2013.
A total of 37,594 in attendance today at The Rent!
The largest crowd since 2013 🫡 pic.twitter.com/FTGYFP1Spa
— UConn Huskies (@UConnHuskies) August 30, 2025
This could certainly be in response to fans getting excited after last year’s 9-4 campaign. Or it could be that the opponent, Central Connecticut State, drove up attendance. CCSU is actually closer to Rentschler Field (12 miles) than is UConn (24 miles).
Trending down: The Group of 5
On Thursday, the Group of 5’s playoff picture was upended when No. 25 Boise State — the lone ranked team outside the Power 4 — was stomped by USF Bulls 34-7. Then on Friday, the defending American champion, Army, fell in embarrassing fashion to FCS Tarleton State.
This could leave the door wide open for a surprise team from the Group of 5 to make a playoff run, but unfortunately Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti already called dibs on the spot and invoked the “no take backs” clause of his proposed playoff plan, so … congratulations Maryland. You’re in now.
Trending up: Upstaging celebrities
Much was made of the engagement of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift earlier this week, but the Kansas City Chiefs tight end didn’t manage the most romantic proposal of Week 1. That honor goes to this guy, who popped the question in the only truly romantic way possible: with mayonnaise.
LOVE HAPPENS IN MAYO LAND 💍 pic.twitter.com/WBLqschvhb
— Duke’s Mayo Classic (@DukesMayoBowl) August 30, 2025
We assume the wedding will be officiated by an anthropomorphic Pop-Tart, they’ll exit the reception by riding on the back of the Wake Forest Demon Deacon’s motorcycle, and they’ll honeymoon at the Bahamas Bowl which, this season, is probably being played in Little Rock, Arkansas for some reason.
Trending up: Lincoln Riley’s job security
USC thumped Missouri State 73-13, racking up nearly 600 yards of total offense and rushing for six touchdowns.
Riley would like to remind everyone that even if they get shut out against Georgia Southern next week, he would still be averaging 36.5 points per game, and that’s pretty good.
Trending down: Life expectancy for K-State fans
One week after seeing their team fall to rival Iowa State in the verdant hills of Ireland, Kansas State fans nearly suffered an even bigger indignity at the hands of a school mostly surrounded by cornfields, as North Dakota took a 35-31 lead into the final minute of the game.
Avery Johnson rode to the rescue this time, however, engineering a 10-play touchdown drive capped by a 6-yard completion to Joe Jackson to escape with a 38-35 win. Johnson threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns in the game and is now listed as the emergency contact on 86% of Kansas residents’ medical forms.
Trending up: The First State
Delaware toppled Delaware State 35-17 on Thursday, the Blue Hens’ first game as an FBS member.
With fellow newcomer Missouri State getting blown out by USC, that means that Delaware alone has the best winning percentage in FBS history (minimum one game). It’s the most exciting thing to happen in to the state since the new Hot Topic opened at the Concord Mall.
Under-the-radar game of the week
Entering Saturday’s action, Kent State had lost 21 straight games. The program was in shambles, and its last head coach, Kenni Burns, had been fired and (possibly) replaced by an AI program developed by some MIT dropouts who thought they were playing Minesweeper and accidentally coded a football algorithm.
And yet, the football gods smiled upon the Golden Flashes in Week 1, delivering a win in truly epic style.
Trailing 17-14 to Merrimack, a school that exists only in a child’s imagination, a player named — this is true — Da’Realyst Clark ran back a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, putting Kent State up 21-17 with 5:28 to play.
1:17
Merrimack Warriors vs. Kent State Golden Flashes: Full Highlights
Merrimack Warriors vs. Kent State Golden Flashes: Full Highlights
Sure, Kent State has Texas Tech, Florida State and Oklahoma — all on the road — in its next four games, but that’s of little importance today because, for the first time in nearly two full calendar years, the Golden Flashes are victorious. Turns out, that AI that thinks the Greek god of wisdom is Toyotathon knows a little something about football after all.
Under-the-radar play of the week
During pregame celebrations in Eugene on Saturday, the famed Oregon Duck took a nasty spill and lost his duck head, exposing the human underneath. While that was good for a laugh, the mascot’s reaction was truly impressive, as he sprinted a solid 25 yards at full speed wearing feet made out of felt, all while (we assume) screaming, “Look away! Look away! I’m hideous!” before returning to his secluded lair beneath an opera house.
0:16
Oregon Duck loses his head and scampers off
Oregon Duck loses his head and scampers off
Heisman five
On one hand, Arch Manning saw his Heisman odds tumble after struggling in a 14-7 loss to Ohio State. On the other hand, at least he’s unlikely to have the Heisman stolen from him by Charles Woodson now, so he has got that going for him. Which is nice.
1. Oklahoma QB John Mateer
The Washington State transfer completed 30 of 37 passes for 392 yards and accounted for four touchdowns in a 35-3 win over Illinois State, a performance so impressive his friend sent him $50 bucks with the note: “Definitely not because of sports gambling.”
2. Florida State QB Tommy Castellanos
Some would call it ego. Some would call it cockiness. Castellanos would call his offseason commentary facts. After talking smack on Alabama in June, Castellanos backed it up with 230 total yards and a touchdown to take down the Tide 34-17. Given that head coach Mike Norvell is superstitious, we recommend Castellanos keep this up by insisting the Noles will hang 300 on East Texas A&M next week.
3. Georgia QB Gunner Stockton
Stockton threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in a 45-7 win over Marshall on Saturday, then we assume he drove his F-150 over to the Burger King parking lot, sat in the back and listened to John Mellencamp cassettes while wearing a denim jacket and promising he’ll never waste his life working in the factory like his old man.
4. LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier
After throwing for 230 yards and a touchdown in a win over Clemson, Nussmeier now looks like the odds-on favorite to be the No. 1 pick in next year’s NFL draft. His dad, Doug Nussmeier, just so happens to be the offensive coordinator of the Saints, and he was in attendance for Saturday’s win. After the game, the younger Nussmeier responded to his dad’s enthusiasm that he could be drafted by the Saints by saying, “Oh, wow, yeah. That sounds great, but really, it’s OK. You don’t need to go to all that trouble. Really. I’m sure there are lots of other quarterbacks who need a good home and, honestly, just focus on them. I’ll go to the Rams. It’s fine. That’ll be fine.”
5. Iowa State QB Rocco Becht
One week after upending Kansas State in Ireland, Becht delivered the Cyclones a dominant victory over FCS power South Dakota, throwing for 278 yards and three touchdowns in a 55-7 win. By federal law, South Dakota now needs to add Becht’s image to Mt. Rushmore in place of Thomas Jefferson.
Notes from the road
How FSU pulled the upset
Florida State coach Mike Norvell talked for months about wanting his team to play with an edge, with desperation, with heart — three key intangibles missing last year during a miserable 2-10 season.
The college football world saw all of that on display in a 31-17 win over Alabama. But perhaps most jaw-dropping was the physical way in which the Seminoles dominated the Crimson Tide up front. After allowing an opening 75-yard drive, the Florida State defense clamped down from there — and allowed just 3 yards per rush for the game.
The revamped offensive line, with four veteran transfers, dominated in its own right — not only opening up holes, but pushing defenders backward at nearly every turn. Florida State rushed for 230 yards, a year after averaging 89.9 yards per game — ranking No. 128 in the country.
“We wanted to be the aggressor, and we were,” Norvell said. “Our players, they rose to the challenge. We talked all year, and I’ve used the buzzwords of edge and desperation. That goes to the heart, and you saw heart tonight. We saw a team that absolutely loves playing this game together and were physically dominant, emotionally together, and they responded. This is a first step, but it’s a big step.”
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Florida State fans storm field after Noles upset Alabama
Florida State fans storm the field after opening the season with a 31-17 win over No. 8 Alabama.
It is a big step because of what happened a year ago. Florida State came off a 13-1 ACC championship season with one of the worst performances in school history. Those outside the program questioned Norvell, questioned the program’s direction. He needed a win like this to remind the general public the Florida State is not what it showed a year ago.
On the flip side is Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, who already went into the season with Crimson Tide fans skeptical about him and the direction of the program after a 9-4 debut that ended with a bowl loss to Michigan.
You will remember DeBoer got the Alabama job over Norvell, and now the pressure is rising as the successor to Saban. Alabama lost a season opener by two touchdowns for the first time since 1970.
“There’s no excuses about what happened,” DeBoer said. “Last year isn’t this year, and it’s going to be an uphill climb for us, but you can’t think of it in the big scope of things. You’ve got to focus on the moment. And the next moment is, ‘What happens tomorrow?’ And we’ll find out. We’ll find out.” — Andrea Adelson
Ohio State’s defense came ready
Ohio State opened its national championship defense with a dominating defensive effort. And for the second straight season against Texas, the Buckeyes produced a game-clinching stop.
Despite eight new defensive starters, the Buckeyes flew around all afternoon and flustered hyped Texas quarterback Arch Manning into a stunningly erratic performance.
The Buckeyes did not surrender a play longer than 15 yards until late in the fourth quarter. They also came up huge in the red zone.
In the first half, the Buckeyes stuffed a Manning quarterback sneak on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Then in the fourth quarter, cornerback Davison Igbinosun swatted away a Manning fourth-down pass to the corner of the end zone.
“Every time you get a fourth-down stop, it’s like a turnover,” Day said after the game.
After a Texas touchdown with 3:28 to play, the Longhorns got the ball back again with a chance to tie.
But just like last season — when Jack Sawyer’s strip sack and score propelled Ohio State to victory over Texas in the CFP semifinals and to the national championship game — the Buckeyes got the key final stop — as Caleb Downs tackled Jack Endries short of the marker on fourth down.
The Buckeyes’ defensive performance allowed them to ease quarterback Julian Sayin into his first start. Sayin was 13-for-20 for 126 yards and a score in his first start. Unlike Manning, however, Sayin avoided turnovers.
“We were fairly conservative [offensively] because we felt like our defense was playing well,” Day said. — Jake Trotter
Best moments from Texas-Ohio State
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — New quarterback Tommy Castellanos led a punishing rushing attack for Florida State with 78 yards and a touchdown as the Seminoles stunned No. 8 Alabama 31-17 on Saturday, ending the Crimson Tide’s streak of 23 straight wins in season openers.
Coming off a 2-10 season, Florida State handed a crushing setback to Alabama, which was viewed as a College Football Playoff contender under second-year coach Kalen DeBoer.
Castellanos, a transfer from Boston College, made headlines over the summer after saying legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban wasn’t there to “save” the Tide vs. Florida State in their Week 1 matchup and that he doesn’t “see them stopping me.” He backed up that jab by spearheading FSU’s dominant ground attack while staying efficient through the air, finishing 9 of 14 passing for 152 yards.
Students and fans swarmed the field at Doak Campbell Stadium to celebrate the upset by the Seminoles, who closed as 13 1/2-point underdogs at ESPN BET.
Under new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn — who spent eight seasons as Auburn’s head coach — Florida State was physical from the start, finishing with 230 rushing yards and averaging 4.7 yards per carry. The Seminoles averaged just 89.9 yards during their disastrous 2024 season.
The Crimson Tide had not dropped a season opener since losing 20-17 to UCLA in 2001 under Dennis Franchione, and this defeat will ratchet up the pressure on DeBoer from the demanding Tuscaloosa faithful. His predecessor, Nick Saban, led Alabama to six national titles.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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