Seven Takeaways From the first Saturday of College Football

1.Alabama simply plays the sport on another level. Nick Saban’s squad absolutely pummeled the third-ranked Florida State Seminoles by a score of 24-7, and to be frank, it wasn’t even that close. The Crimson Tide thoroughly dominated every phase of the game. After losing ten starters to the NFL from last year’s team that played for a National Title, Alabama didn’t miss a beat. But then again, when do they ever?

2. Saquon Barkley is college football’s most explosive running back since Reggie Bush. People really forget just how special Reggie Bush was at USC. He did absolutely everything for the Trojans. Bush ran inside and out, was a receiving threat out of the backfield, and was vehemently feared as a return man. Saturday afternoon, Barkley a junior tailback for Penn State, had 174 yards on the ground and 54 yards through the air as he accounted for two Nittany Lion touchdowns. Yes, they were playing against Akron, but Barkley will get an opportunity to play both Michigan and Ohio State this year. If he can indeed channel his inner-Reggie Bush, I would not be the least bit surprised if the Nittany Lions not only beat both Big Ten blue bloods, but ultimately wind up in the four-team playoff.

3. Ed Orgeron has a good thing brewing in Baton Rouge. LSU annihilated BYU. The score was 27-0, but that does not even begin to explain the beat down that took place Saturday night in New Orleans. The Tigers held a typically potent BYU offense to just 97 total yards. Yes you read that right, 97. LSU has the athletes to contend every year, it is just a matter of getting the most out of them, and it appears as though their new coaching staff led by Ed Orgeron is doing just that.

4. Lamar Jackson is still the most dynamic quarterback in college football. In a 35-28 victory over Purdue, Jackson accounted for 485 total yards and two touchdowns. This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the Louisville quarterback won the coveted Heisman trophy last season. But, it seems as though with all of the discussion centered around the triumvirate of quarterbacks with limitless NFL potential (Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, and Sam Rosen) that Lamar Jackson has fallen by the wayside. That’s a shame because there’s a real possibility that Jackson could become the only player other than Archie Griffin to have multiple Heisman trophies to his name.

5. Oklahoma’s offense has a chance to be historic. Led by Baker Mayfield and first year head coach Lincoln Riley, the Sooners looked stout against UTEP, demolishing them by a count of 56-7. Mayfield, who didn’t even play in the second half, had just one incomplete pass on a day in which he threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns. The Sooner quarterback is as close to Johnny Manziel as they come; from his punitive stature and gun-slinging mentality to his charisma, Mayfield and former Aggie seem to be carbon-copies. So long as he can remain on the straight and narrow, the Big 12 appears to be Oklahoma’s for the taking.

6. Clemson appears to be fine after losing so much fire power on offense. Yes, it was just Week 1 and their opponent was Kent State, but the Tigers poured 56 points onto the board. That’s quite a feat considering it was their first game after winning the National Championship and after losing their top three offensive players in Deshaun Watson, Wayne Gallman, and Mike Williams. Dabo Swinney has transformed the program in a matter of years into a perennial contender and this year seems as though it will be no different.

7. One reason there’s nothing better than college football. You probably weren’t watching, but Howard beat UNLV 43-40. So what? Well it was the largest upset, in terms of the point-spread in the history of college football. The Bison were 45-point underdogs and not only did they avoid embarrassment, they won. True freshman quarterback Caylin Newton, the younger brother of Cam, accounted for 330 total yards and 3 touchdowns. This wild upset came nearly 10 years to the day of when Appalachian State stunned Michigan in The Big House, reminding us all that in college football anything is possible.