College football Week 9 takeaways: Boise State’s CFP chances, Miami’s state title and more
As we say goodbye to October and enter the final full month of the regular season, some teams made a big push to stay in College Football Playoff conversations this past week.
No. 15 Boise State continued its storybook run with a 29-24 win over UNLV. In what was set to be its most challenging remaining matchup, the Broncos pulled off the win. With their only loss coming to No. 1 Oregon — and by only three points — could we see a rematch between these opponents in the playoff?
After trailing in the last four minutes, No. 16 Kansas State beat Kansas on a field goal, keeping its title and playoff hopes alive. The Wildcats are 4-1 in conference play but have a big hurdle ahead with matchup against No. 11 Iowa State on Nov. 30.
Our college football experts break down key storylines and takeaways from Week 9.
The Group of 5 playoff spot is Boise State’s to lose
On Friday night at UNLV, Boise State won its most difficult remaining game, adding to its playoff resumé and cementing the Broncos as the clubhouse leader for a guaranteed spot in the CFP as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions. Boise State shouldn’t have to displace the No. 12-ranked team for a seat at the table, either — the Broncos are good enough that they can be ranked in the committee’s top 12 on their own merit.
Boise State’s resumé includes a win against a 7-1 Washington State team and a 6-2 UNLV team. Those alone are better wins than some other contenders have stockpiled (see: Clemson, Indiana.) The Broncos have a Heisman Trophy contender in running back Ashton Jeanty. They have a defense that has given opposing quarterbacks nightmares. And they have the best loss in the country — by a field goal at Oregon, which should be the committee’s No. 1 team. If Boise State runs the table and finishes as a one-loss Mountain West Conference champion, the Broncos will almost certainly have a chance to compete for the national title — and maybe meet Oregon again along the way. — Heather Dinich
Notre Dame continuing to benefit from Texas A&M’s success
As Texas A&M jumped ahead of LSU and began to distance itself, sending Kyle Field into a frenzy Saturday night, another group of college football fans cheered along with great interest. Notre Dame supporters weren’t merely taking pleasure in a loss for former coach Brian Kelly, they recognized that a schedule that has dragged down the Fighting Irish profile is starting to become more of a selling point. A season-opening win against Texas A&M in College Station, against what is now the only undefeated team in SEC play, is looking better and better for Notre Dame. The Irish will be rooting for the Aggies the rest of the way.
Notre Dame also helped itself with a definitive win against previously undefeated Navy, which could still win the AAC. The Irish also have Army, currently undefeated, later in the season. Although opponents such as Florida State and perhaps even USC won’t help Notre Dame’s profile, an 11-1 mark shouldn’t keep the Irish out of the CFP, as some thought it would after a Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois. That defeat continues to look worse — NIU fell to Ball State on Saturday — but good wins should outweigh bad losses, and Notre Dame has one that keeps getting better. The Irish also are stacking drama-free wins, as their past three have come by an average of 32.3 points. — Adam Rittenberg
Miami proudly proclaims state championship
Miami might not have thrown for 300 yards or scored 40 points, but what the Hurricanes did in a 36-14 win over Florida State was statement enough for coach Mario Cristobal.
So much so that he ended his news conference with a mic-drop moment.
“Critically important to go out there and beat this program and to be undefeated in the state of Florida,” Cristobal said. “I think it sends a strong message. I think all recruits, in-state and out-of-state, can now clearly see the trajectory of this program versus the trajectory of the other programs.”
He slammed his fist on the podium to further underscore his point, then left.
While those rival schools will no doubt keep what Cristobal said in the back of their minds, it is important to understand why Cristobal said what he said. When he arrived at Miami in 2022, the Seminoles were on the rise under Mike Norvell and Florida had made it to multiple New Year’s Six games under Dan Mullen.
In his first game against Florida State as head coach that season, the Seminoles won 45-3. The sting from that game provided endless motivation. Even without that result, Cristobal knew what his program needed to do in facing such a “monumental task” to get back to competing for championships.
“We knew when we came here that we were going to get our teeth kicked in early,” Cristobal said. “It’s a great example of working your butt off and keeping your head down and not worrying about all that crap that comes with rebuilds.”
Miami opened the season with an emphatic 41-17 win over Florida that served notice things would be different this year. Next came a 50-15 win over USF. Finally Saturday night, the first win over Florida State for Cristobal as a head coach. Miami is 8-0. Florida State dropped to 1-7 and is out of bowl contention, a year after winning the ACC title. Florida is 4-3, facing an end-of-season gauntlet against four top-25 teams that will make it challenging to get to six wins.
For further proof of how much Miami values being state champ, linebacker Francisco Mauigoa showed up to the postgame news conference wearing a black T-shirt that said, “We run FL,” featuring a broken spear and the mounted heads of a bull and a gator. — Andrea Adelson
Most disappointing in Big 12?
In the preseason media poll, Utah (20), Oklahoma State (14), Kansas (5) and Arizona (3) were four of the fives teams that received first-place votes (Kansas State was the other with 19). As such, they were all dreaming about the College Football Playoff. A few months later, those same four schools are a combined 3-17 in the Big 12 in what has turned into a competitive race to be considered the most disappointing team in the conference.
Preseason polls are wrong all the time, but there has rarely ever — maybe never? — been such a miscalculation of conference strength.
Conversely, BYU is 8-0 after being picked to come in 13th, while Colorado (6-2, 4-1) and Arizona State (5-2, 2-2) have taken significant steps forward after being slotted at No. 11 and last place, respectively.
There are obviously several factors in play here, but perhaps it is best a reflection of how different teams can be year over year now in college football with the lax transfer restrictions. It’s too early to know if this is instructive about what things will be like in the future, but it has made for an interesting year in the new-look Big 12. — Kyle Bonagura
Oregon looks comfortable at the top
There was no doubt that the Ducks would get up for their matchup against Ohio State a few weeks ago. But after outlasting the Buckeyes in a thriller, the comedown could have caught them off guard and led to a debilitating loss against an inferior opponent. Instead, Dan Lanning and Oregon have not let up — on a short-week trip to Purdue, the Ducks shut out the Boilermakers, and this week, they made Illinois, the 20th ranked team in the country, look helpless on both sides of the ball.
Lanning has said he doesn’t care about the Ducks being ranked No. 1, and that mindset seems to have trickled down to the rest of his team.
“Everybody wants to be at the top of the food chain. Every day we know we got a target on our back, but we don’t really care who’s coming after us,” wide receiver Tez Johnson said. “We don’t care about the number one spot. We just care about going one-and-oh at the end of the week. I mean, it is good, but we don’t really care … we just want to win football games.”
Oregon is 8-0 for the first time since 2013 and ranked No. 1 for the first time since 2012. With an offense that looks far more in sync than it did at the beginning of the year and a defense that continues to improve, it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
Next week, the Ducks head to Michigan for what is arguably the toughest matchup remaining on their schedule, but nothing suggests they won’t be ready for any game that’s left between them and an undefeated regular season.
“I think just the way Coach Lanning has done it from the top down, everyone’s focused on a week at a time,” quarterback Dillon Gabriel said. “We’re just so focused on being team oriented because the rest will take care of itself.” — Paolo Uggetti
Farmageddon looming large
Kansas State escaped the Sunflower Showdown with a 29-27 victory Saturday night over Kansas. The Wildcats trailed with 4 minutes to go. But K-State linebacker Austin Romaine upended scrambling Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels and Brendan Mott recovered the fumble. Chris Tennant then tied a career high with a 51-yard field goal to lift the Wildcats to their 16th straight victory in the series.
The dramatic win kept K-State alive in the Big 12 title and playoff races. Going forward, the Wildcats should be considerable favorites in their next three games leading into a Nov. 30 showdown at Iowa State.
The Cyclones, who had a bye over the weekend, are undefeated and in the thick of the playoff conversation as well. If Iowa State can also take care of business, the Cyclones and Wildcats could square off in the most meaningful Farmageddon tilt in the history of college football’s longest uninterrupted rivalry (108 games). — Jake Trotter
Alabama isn’t done
During a Saturday morning chat with Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, less than five hours before hosting his homecoming matchup against fellow scrambling top-25 SEC foe Missouri, anyone seeking a sense of panic, worry or fear for his future would’ve been disappointed. Instead, he talked very matter of fact about a pregame routine of media, a team walkthrough at the hotel and “taking care of what we can control, and that’s football. Specifically, taking care of the football.”
That is exactly what Alabama did, taking advantage of Missouri’s wounded offense to snatch three interceptions. Meanwhile, Jalen Milroe‘s first game this season without a touchdown pass (he did run for a score) was also his first game in a month without at least one pass picked off. DeBoer reminded Saturday morning before kickoff and Saturday evening after the win that Milroe “has been thrown so much change” between a new offensive playbook and the absence of so many teammates from last season’s CFP team. But he also admitted that his staff was doing a better job in more recent days of “adjusting what we do to the personnel we have, especially a quarterback that in our opinion is the best in the nation from a football and leadership standpoint.”
Even with the two losses that everyone in Nick Saban-spoiled Tuscaloosa has had to make their own adjustments to, ESPN analytics say the Tide still have a 53% chance to return to the CFP. No one is more aware of that than the head coach and team that appears to be emerging from a roller-coaster October with the most stability it has enjoyed in quite a while. — Ryan McGee
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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.”
0:35
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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