College Football Week 1 Winners and Losers: The Saturday the Earth Stood Still

They’ll be howling about that one in Kalamazoo, Mich., until the Last Judgment.

Lance Taylor and Western Michigan appeared to have played the 60 minutes they needed to beat Michigan Saturday ... but fate had other ideas. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Do you know what a second is, actually? Scientifically?

Michigan’s army of researchers no doubt know: “The second [...] is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the cesium (Cs) frequency, ΔνCs, the unperturbed ground-state hyperfine transition frequency of the Cs-133 atom, to be 9,192,631,770 when expressed in the unit hertz, which is equal to s^−1.”

Duh. So why was it so hard to divine Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich.—and why did Western Michigan suffer one of the most heartbreaking rug pulls in college football history?

Time appeared to expire with Coach Lance Taylor’s Broncos 12–7 victors, but the game’s officiating crew convened and awarded the Wolverines one last shot at the end zone. They didn’t miss—quarterback Bryce Underwood’s throw to tight end JJ Buchanan was true, and Michigan walked out 13–12 winners. The only winners, in fact, of a travesty destined for an eternity of Mitten litigation.

My sincere wish this humid day across America is that you are not a Western Michigan fan, and if you are, you find a way to carry on. Welcome to this week’s edition of winners and losers.

Winner: Dante Moore

No. 2 Oregon’s 34–27 win over Boise State was an opener Ducks fans would like to forget, but the game provided a crucial value add to Oregon’s CFP hopes: it was a game where the Ducks asked their quarterback to put the team on his back and he did it. As Brad Nessler and Charles Davis pointed out on CBS’s broadcast, Moore caught fire as the game went on, and finished with a stellar 378 yards and three touchdowns on 28 for 37 passing. Winning a game without anyone noticing is the mark of a great quarterback, and Moore appears headed in that general direction. The unit that should thank him most profusely: the Ducks’ defensive line, pushed around by their Bronco counterparts the entire afternoon.

Loser: Michigan, all around

The Wolverines’ win over the Broncos is the first in college football in a number of years to violate the laws of God and men. Count one: the aforementioned apparent violation of the laws of physics. Count two: an offensive horror show until the literal 3,601st second (the Hail Mary bought Underwood more than a quarter of his total passing yardage). Count three: storming the field after defeating Western Michigan—a problem that seems likely to take care of itself, as no one will be left to storm it after Oklahoma’s coming demolition.

Michigan fans stormed the field after their second Hail Mary attempt gave them a win over Western Michigan. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Winner: Malachi Toney

Returning to ethical football—Miami. Toney was absolutely outstanding against Stanford in a 45–6 win over Stanford Friday, posting this filthy statline: 12 catches, 234 yards, three touchdowns. Hurricanes quarterback Darian Mensah (27 for 30, 401 yards, five touchdowns) was sensational as well. But it’s Toney, College Football 27 cover star and mere 18-year-old, who has the look of the sport’s next superstar.

Loser: Oklahoma State

When Buchanan cradled the ball on Main Street, the Cowboys officially became the day’s most surprising losers. Working from the scraps of North Texas’s 12-win 2025 team, Oklahoma State gathered modest offseason hype—only to fall on its face for the second straight year to Tulsa, 24–10. The Cowboys lost despite outgaining the Golden Hurricane and amassing 43 fewer penalty yards; four turnovers, including two picks by quarterback Drew Mestemaker, did them in. While armadillos celebrate their revenge, coach Eric Morris has to take a deep breath and prepare for Oregon.

Winner: Mason Heintschel

Few statistical performances against mid-majors merit “winner” status—this is one of them. Pittsburgh’s Heintschel lit up Miami (Ohio)—one of the MAC’s better-funded teams year-over-year—with seven touchdown passes on 31 for 41 passing (every one of the touchdown passes went to a different receiver). The Oregon (Ohio) Clay High School product—go Eagles—showed flashes in his 16-touchdown, eight-interception freshman season. These weren’t flashes—this was an air attack, and the Panthers’ schedule shapes up for Heintschel to generate Heisman buzz.

Loser: Josh Hoover’s nose

The case of Hoover’s mangled nose—jolted askew by North Texas’s pass rush in a 52–16 Indiana victory—was covered at length by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde, with a cover photo that resembles a creepypasta. Beyond the gory imagery, though, Hoover showed Hoosiers fans something—that, like Moore, he can carry the day when the defense is struggling (the Mean Green actually outgained Indiana). The TCU transfer finished with 231 yards through the air, four touchdowns and—this is crucial—he didn’t turn the ball over. Indiana’s long runway to meaningful games continues with Howard next week, last spotted losing to Richmond.

Nothing stopping Josh Hoover from being on the field 😤

(via @CFBONFOX) pic.twitter.com/wLPNjbjp2H

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 5, 2026

Winner: Army being Army

Heintschel and Toney had the gaudiest individual numbers of the week; the gaudiest team number belonged to the Black Knights. In a 59–3 blowout against Bryant, Army ran for 569—569!—yards, the most in FBS in four years. Fourteen different Black Knights rushed for double-digit yards, led by slotback (only in service academies) Zach Mundell’s 105. No Power 4 teams on the schedule for Army, a team that bears watching.

Loser: Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights’ comic loss to Massachusetts is old news now, but bears revisiting. Rutgers allowed the Minutemen (winless in ’25) to outgain them, outrush them 200–30, out-first-down them, and take the ball away four times. Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano’s seat is in flames, and his team’s forthcoming schedule is difficult. How bad is the situation when Rutgers fans are taking their complaints directly to WFAN?

NEXT: College Football Week 1 Takeaways: No. 16 Michigan Stuns Western Michigan on Hail Mary

Winners: Matt Campbell’s old team and Matt Campbell’s new team

O happy day for both Penn State coach Campbell and his old stomping grounds at Iowa State, the two parties to one of college football’s more amicable recent divorces. The Nittany Lions made quick work of Marshall, with quarterback Rocco Becht leaning on wide receiver Koby Howard (a holdover from also-victorious new Virginia Tech coach James Franklin’s tenure) to the tune of six catches and 161 yards. The Cyclones, led by new coach Jimmy Rogers, played solid defense in a 38–10 win over Southeast Missouri State. Iowa State has a test looming: a prime-time showdown with No. 22 Iowa in Iowa City.

Loser: Conference USA

The two FBS leagues with the lowest margin of error in the College Football Playoff race are Conference USA and the MAC; a Group of 6 representative from those conferences would almost certainly have to be undefeated with banner wins (plural) to make the field. Amid the MAC’s weekend-long psychodrama (Bowling Green losing to FCS Tarleton State! Buffalo going to the wire with Albany! Ohio leading Nebraska early! Toledo threatening Michigan State), Conference USA had a golden opportunity for a résumé boost with Liberty visiting James Madison. The Flames couldn’t get the job done, as Dukes coach Billy Napier won his Sun Belt return 20–13. The once-proud (and still exciting) league’s last hopes are probably Kennesaw State beating Tennessee or Delaware picking off Vanderbilt and Virginia—daunting asks to say the least.

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