The first week of the college football Saturday of the 2017 season wouldn't be compete with the corresponding, social-media driven, over-the-top over-reactions on Sunday morning.
Seriously, why else would we play the game? No. 1 Alabama scored the win of the weekend with a 24-7 victory against Florida State, and just three ranked teams lost. Of course, a few other teams are playing Sunday, and those games will get a few more.
MORE: Week 1 highlights, scores
Here were 10 big over-reactions after watching Saturday's action:
Notre Dame is back!
Prepare yourself for this one, because it's probably going to happen Tuesday. Notre Dame will be ranked in the AP Top 25 heading into the showdown at home against Georgia. The Irish drilled Temple 49-16. Brandon Wimbush, Josh Adams and Dexter Williams all rushed for more than 100 yards. Daelin Hayes and Drue Tranquill led the new defense. Brian Kelly could like a real genius with the hires of new coordinators Chip Lindsey and Mike Elko. A win against Georgia would affirm that.
Texas is toast!
Tom Herman did not have the much of a debut in a 51-41 loss to Maryland. That will knock the Longhorns out of the top 25 for a while — maybe the entire season. But there are two ways to go about it now: Either incessantly compare it to Charlie Strong, who wasn't given enough time as Texas' coach, or don't make the same mistake twice, and give Herman time to turn things around. The Longhorns will see better days soon enough.
MORE: Longhorns need to be with Herman in long haul
#Baker4Heisman!
Maybe Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield (19 of 20, 329 yards, 3 touchdowns) can share that award with Kyler Murray (10 of 11, 149 yards, touchdown). That's a virtually flawless performance in the air in a 56-7 victory against UTEP. Not bad for Lincoln Riley's debut. If Mayfield really wants to take hold of the Heisman Trophy race, it's really quite simple what needs to happen: Win at Ohio State next week. That is all.
Alabama 15-0!
We say this ever year now, right? The defense is business as usual, but the development of Jalen Hurts is worth watching. Florida State limited Hurts to 10 of 18 passing for 96 yards and a touchdown, with 53 yards coming on a single connection to Calvin Ridley. This is probably the best defense Hurts will face this season, so there's no reason to panic.
MORE: Alabama 24, FSU 7: Five things we learned
Florida is terrible!
It's certainly not the way to start the season. Ten players were suspended, and despite two pick-sixes, the Gators' string of 27 straight wins in season openers was snapped. The quarterback debate is an open-ended question with Feleipe Franks, Malik Zaire and Luke Del Rio. Florida can't play like that and win the SEC East championship again, not with Tennessee coming to The Swamp in two weeks.
Michigan is awesome!
The Wolverines' front seven is legit, and that covers up a young secondary for now. Wilton Speight bounced back after a mad few minutes where he threw back-to-back pick-sixes, but Jim Harbaugh has the talent to compete with Penn State and Ohio State in the Big Ten East. We told you that all summer. This young team needs to stay focused now through a three-game stretch with Cincinnati, Air Force and Purdue.
MORE: Michigan 33, Florida 17: Five things we learned
Clemson vs. Penn State in playoff!
That's more of a question, but those offenses looked just fine in combining to beat Kent State and Akron by a combined score of 108-3. Kelly Bryant led a balanced attack in his first start for the Tigers, and the Nittany Lions clicked on all cylinders with Trace McSorley and Saquon Barkley. We'll know more next week after cat fights between Clemson and Auburn and Penn State and Pitt. One of these two — maybe both — will jump USC in the AP Poll.
USC is overrated!
Maybe, but we're as guilty as anybody. That was a lackluster performance against Western Michigan in a 49-31 victory, and perhaps a bad case of looking ahead for the Trojans heading into next week's game against Stanford. Sam Darnold threw for 289 yards and two interceptions, but Ronald Jones II had his back with 159 yards and three scores. The Trojans still won the game with 28-fourth quarter points. A different team shows up against the Cardinal next week.
MORE: Deebo Samuels shows off speed, chemistry with Jake Bentley
Gamecocks, SEC East champs!
The winner of N.C. State-South Carolina was going to get that bump, and the Gamecocks survived with the help of the Jake Bentley-to-Deebo Samuel. Will Muschamp has a team that can compete for a SEC East championship. We believe that, but there's a long way to go.
Quack, quack, quack!
Oregon beat Southern Utah 77-21 in Willie Taggart's debut. That's a lot of push-ups for Puddles. The ageless Royce Freeman rushed for 150 yards and four touchdowns. This is what we're used to from the Ducks. Now, let's see them do it the next two weeks against Nebraska and Wyoming before we get those Pac-12 hopes up.
Targeting is the worst!
Yes it is. Nothing further.
