Week 1 Shocks: FSU’s Triumphant Return and Kalen DeBoer’s Uncertain Future Rock College Football

Well, Week 1 of the 2025 college football season has unfolded with a fair share of jaw-dropping moments, hasn’t it? Three top-10 clashes saw the underdogs come out on top, flipping the script in ways few saw coming. Yet, the most stunning upset took place in Tallahassee, where Florida State, fresh off a dismal 2-10 record last season, pulled off a 31-17 triumph over the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide—a result that has fans and pundits alike rethinking their preseason expectations. With the Bill Belichick era kicking off at North Carolina against TCU still on the horizon Monday night, let’s dive into the triumphs and the setbacks from college football’s explosive opening weekend.

LEARN MORE

Week 1 of the 2025 college football season is (mostly) in the books, and it certainly featured some surprises.

In a weekend with three top-10 matchups, the lower-ranked team emerged victorious in all three. Even still, none of those results were the most surprising Week 1 had to offer.

That one came in Tallahassee, Florida, where Florida State — coming off a 2-10 season in 2024 — stunned the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide 31-17 in a game that set the tone for a weekend that caused us to reexamine quite a few of our preseason priors.

There’s still one more game to be played before we completely close the book on Week 1 and move on to Week 2, as the Bill Belichick era at North Carolina is set to begin on Monday night against TCU, but with a week’s worth of data to work with, here were the winners and losers from college football’s opening weekend.

Winner: Florida State seems to be back

FSU saw an unprecedented collapse last fall. Some stellar transfer classes from coach Mike Norvell saw the program win 23 games in two years from 2022-23, but after its playoff snub at the end of the 2023 season, Norvell’s squad won just two games last year and only one over an FBS opponent.

Norvell went back into the portal this offseason after last year’s haul wasn’t successful, and it seems that, paired with an offseason staff overhaul, has changed things tremendously. New offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and mobile quarterback Tommy Castellanos look like a match made in heaven, but the real story was DC Tony White’s new-look defense.

The unit was surprisingly physical in the trenches and made things really difficult for Tide quarterback Ty Simpson in his first career start. It’s been a while since we’ve seen an Alabama team physically dominated up front the way it was on Saturday, but if that’s what Florida State is going to bring to the table on a weekly basis, this might be an ACC contender.

Loser: Kalen DeBoer could be in big trouble at Alabama

There are a lot of adjectives you could use to describe the Alabama fanbase, but “patient” is not one of them. DeBoer may be about to find out just how impatient these fans are after another unranked loss that dropped him to just 9-5 early in the second season of his tenure in Tuscaloosa.

DeBoer’s Year 1 was already a step back from the success Crimson Tide fans are used to, but there was genuine optimism heading into his second campaign. Now, that’s all been replaced by anxiety as DeBoer has suffered as many losses to unranked teams in his first 14 games as Nick Saban did in his entire 17-year tenure.

Simpson’s debut was less than spectacular, but the most concerning thing for Alabama in the loss was its defense. The Tide were frequently out of position, and Saturday’s performance was plagued with low effort, poor tackling angles and general sluggishness. Those are all traits that would be completely foreign to a Saban-coached team, but they were certainly present against FSU.

This isn’t me writing the epitaph for DeBoer’s coaching tenure. However, with a schedule that will present some real challenges this season, it’s starting to look like Alabama’s floor could be much, much lower than we previously thought possible. If DeBoer comes even close to reaching that floor in 2025, I’m not sure anything is off the table in terms of how the administration and boosters will respond.

Winner: LSU finally ends the streak

The collective sigh of relief from the LSU football team, coach Brian Kelly and the Tigers’ fan base was almost palpable on Saturday night. LSU went into the other Death Valley and scored one of the biggest wins in Week 1, taking down coach Dabo Swinney’s preseason top-five Clemson team as an underdog.

There was a lot to like from LSU in the win. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier played well and may have become the new Heisman favorite (more on that later), while the portal-heavy defense impressed with an effective pass-rush against Cade Klubnik and strong play in the secondary, particularly from Virginia Tech transfer cornerback Mansoor Delane.

Perhaps more importantly, however, the victory ended a three-game losing streak in season-openers under Kelly. It also marked LSU’s first win to begin a season since its national championship campaign in 2019.

After an 8-5 finish last year, it’s starting to feel like playoff-or-bust for Kelly in 2025. His three predecessors each won national titles, and pressure is mounting for him to do the same. There are a lot of games to be played still, but getting the monkey off their backs against a top-five team was quite a way to begin the year for the Tigers.

Loser: Rough debut to the Arch Manning era at Texas

Any Week 1 matchup between teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the preseason coaches poll was going to get a lot of attention, but the game between Texas and Ohio State in Columbus had our attention for an additional reason: Archibald Charles Manning.

Manning started two games due to injury last season, but Saturday’s game against the Buckeyes was meant to be his real coming-out party. Unfortunately, it was only Ohio State that was celebrating.

Manning’s debut was rough. There’s no other way to say it. He looked uncomfortable in the pocket, missed quite a few throws and couldn’t get much going with his legs. He finished completing 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards, a touchdown and an interception — a statline that probably looks better than it actually was.

He’s a talented player, and his best football is almost certainly ahead of him. But Texas’ title hopes rested on Manning being ready, and right now, it seems he has a ways to go.

Winner: Miami makes a major statement

The Hurricanes certainly entered the season with some hype, as their top-10 ranking would suggest, but they also faced quite a few questions. Cam Ward and most of the offensive pieces that had this team on the cusp of the CFP are gone, and a defense that struggled last fall saw quite a few portal additions under new coordinator Corey Hetherman.

All of those new pieces shone bright in Sunday night’s 27-24 win over last year’s CFP runner-up, Notre Dame. Quarterback transfer Carson Beck looked like he was back to his old self after a down year at Georgia in 2024, but the real star was the defense.

The Canes suffocated Notre Dame’s rushing attack, which is led by a Heisman candidate in Jeremiyah Love, and they made things difficult for quarterback CJ Carr in his first collegiate start. Mario Cristobal’s team looks like it’s poised to be a prime CFP contender again this fall.

Loser: Same old, same old from the Clemson Tigers

This program has struggled to find its footing under Dabo Swinney since Trevor Lawrence’s departure following the 2020 season. It salvaged what was looking to be another disappointing campaign in 2024 with an ACC title an unexpected CFP appearance, and with star quarterback Cade Klubnik returning in 2025, along with what was supposed to be Clemson’s best receiving corps in years and a potentially elite defense, expectations were high.

The Tigers’ Week 1 matchup against LSU at home was supposed to be a coronation, but instead, it left the fan base with a lot more questions than answers. Clemson’s offense was totally ineffective against LSU as the run game was shut down and Klubnik struggled against constant pressure.

Clemson’s defense played well enough to win, but its heralded defensive line did not prove to be the game-changing group it was billed as heading into the matchup.

This could still be the best team in the ACC, and the 2024 campaign also began with a rough showing against an SEC team before Clemson turned things around. But with the Tigers clearly having more issues than we anticipated and the statements made by Florida State and Miami this weekend, this may not be the cakewalk to a CFP bid we expected it would be.

Quick Hitters

Ohio State – Winner

Most of the talk has been about Manning’s poor play, but Matt Patricia and the Ohio State defense certainly deserve the lion’s share of the credit for that. Julian Sayin and the offense may still have some work to do, though.

Notre Dame – Loser

The Fighting Irish didn’t play awful against Miami on Sunday night, but the lack of a run game was a major concern — especially with Carr having some typical freshman struggles.

South Florida – Winner

The Bulls have shown signs of progress but are looking to take a leap in 2025 under Alex Golesh. They got off to a fantastic start, dominating a playoff team from a year ago in Boise State as USF looks to mount its own potential playoff campaign.

Boise State – Loser

I didn’t expect Ashton Jeanty’s loss to be felt QUITE this severely. Maddux Madsen and the offense couldn’t do much of anything in this game, and with Notre Dame still on the schedule, Boise State’s hopes of returning to the CFP are already effectively dead after Week 1.

FCS teams – Winner

It was a good weekend for FCS squads, which pulled off a pair of upsets against FBS foes in Week 1. Tarleton State stunned reigning AAC champion Army in overtime, while Austin Peay ran it up in a 34-14 win over Middle Tennessee — its first against an FBS opponent since 1987. We nearly saw a few others, as well, as UAB, Kansas State and Kent State just barely managed to escape against Alabama State, North Dakota and Merrimack, respectively.

Akron – Loser

The Zips have won just eight games in three seasons under coach Joe Moorhead, and Year 4 began with a 10-0 shutout loss at home to a Wyoming team coming off a losing season. Situations don’t get much bleaker than this.

Auburn – Winner

It remains to be seen whether Jackson Arnold can throw the football, and Auburn’s defense was more than a little bit concerning. But the Tigers won by 14 on the road against a possible Big 12 contender in Baylor, and that’s a great start to a pivotal season for coach Hugh Freeze.

Cincinnati – Loser

The Bearcats had their chances against Nebraska in Kansas City on Thursday night, but quarterback Brendan Sorsby just wasn’t good enough. He finished 13 of 25 for 69 yards and an interception, which is not what Scott Satterfield wants to see as his seat is likely starting to warm up a bit.

Georgia Tech – Winner

The Yellow Jackets didn’t play their best, but 156 yards and three touchdowns on the ground from quarterback Haynes King were enough to get a big season-opening win on the road over Colorado.

Kansas State – Loser

After losing a frustrating game to Iowa State in Ireland in Week 0, the Wildcats narrowly avoided an embarrassing home loss against FCS North Dakota with a 38-35 shootout victory. While disaster was averted, this team may have some problems.

Tulane – Winner

Jon Sumrall manufactured a little bit of adversity, and the Green Wave rolled over a power conference foe in a 23-3 win over Northwestern. Given some of the other results around the country this weekend, this now feels like the obvious CFP favorite out of the Group of Five.

Utah – Winner

It was a bizarre year for Utah last season, as it finished below .500 for the first time since 2013. But this team seems to finally have some stability at quarterback again as New Mexico transfer Devon Dampier threw for 206 yards, ran for 87 more and scored three times in a dominant 43-10 win over Utah.

Cal QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele – Winner

Fernando Mendoza, who? Sagapolutele got the start as a true freshman in Week 1 for the Golden Bears, and he was absolutely dazzling. His numbers (20 of 30 for 287 yards, three touchdowns and no picks) don’t even fully do it justice. This kid looks like an absolute stud, and there may just be some hope for Justin Wilcox and Cal.

Receivers in the state of Florida — Winners

On back-to-back nights, Florida true freshman receiver Vernell Brown III and Miami receiver CJ Daniels made perhaps the two best catches we’ll see all season long, reeling in one-handed grabs while falling back. Which catch was better? We’ll let you be the judge.