College football winners and losers from Week 0: Belichick vs. Dykes, Norvell vs. the hot seat

It really didn't matter what the action looked like on the first day of (FBS) college football in 2026. The important thing is that college football was back. The action wasn't half bad either.

In Ireland, North Carolina and TCU didn't exactly play attractive football, but they did play a tight battle that wasn't decided until the very end. After blowouts by USC over San Jose State and Virginia over NC State, the evening slate brought some drama as New Mexico State made things nervy for Florida State and Hawai'i launched a furious comeback effort vs. Stanford. Neither underdog was ultimately successful, but the fact that they made things interesting was noticed and appreciated.

Football is back, y'all. Football is back.

Loser: Sonny Dykes

Sonny Dykes made headlines a little while ago downplaying the loss of quarterback Josh Hoover, who transferred to Indiana. It turns out, for all his turnovers, he had a more positive effect on the Horned Frogs than the TCU head coach might have realized. Without him, that offense was woeful against North Carolina. New quarterback Jaden Craig went 20-of-32 for 175 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. However, he fumbled twice and lost one of them. Oh, and he took three sacks.

Running back Jeremy Payne was the only positive force on offense with 25 carries for 142 yards. He couldn't carry his team far enough to avoid the 15-10 loss.

It's worth noting TCU was a 7.5-point favorite in this one. They didn't look like a favorite. They committed 11 penalties for 89 yards and generally looked poorly coached throughout. That's on Dykes, whose reputation was taking hits even before his team laid an egg overseas. There was an assault in his locker room that landed one of his players in the hospital and another kicked off the team. He banned the local paper because of their coverage of said assault.

Since making it to the national title game with Gary Patterson's players, Dykes is 23-16 with the Horned Frogs. He hasn't finished better than fifth in the Big 12. This could turn into a hot seat watch before long.

Winner: Bill Belichick

Sonny Dykes is the best thing that's happened to Bill Belichick all year. Belichick had his own reputational troubles, but the most shocking thing about North Carolina in 2025 was how bad at football they looked. If nothing else, Belichick was supposed to be a stellar football coach. On Saturday, it finally looked like some of that magic was still present under the hoodie.

The Tar Heels struggled on the ground (3.1 yards per carry) but they were the better-coached team and that ultimately carried them to victory. Defensively, the team looked much more closely aligned with what you'd expect from the six-time Super Bowl champion. Xavier Lewis looked unstoppable with seven tackles, two sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss.

Loser: Mike Norvell

Well, the good news for Mike Norvell is that his team is 1-0. That's ultimately what matters, but he'll be spending much of the next month trying to get the bad taste of that victory out of the mouths of Florida State fans.

The scoreline of 34-17 doesn't seem that bad until you remember that this was Florida State vs. New Mexico State. FSU was a 30.5-point favorite. With just a couple minutes left in the third quarter, they led 17-10. Samuel Singleton Jr's two-yard touchdown run gave them more cushion, but NMSU didn't quite go away, keeping it slightly interesting with a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to pull back within 10.

Remember when Florida State pantsed Alabama on Aug. 30 last year? This was the opposite kind of performance against a completely outmatched opponent. I don't know how Norvell survives this season after watching his team let New Mexico State convert 10-of-17 third downs while multiple coverage breakdowns let them into the endzone.

Winner: Beau Pribula

Virginia looks good on Beau Pribula. He was a bit of a dud for Missouri in 2025, especially considering the lucrative NIL deal he reportedly signed. He landed in the transfer portal and it seems he made the exact right decision. In his debut with the Cavaliers was spectacular. He was 9-of-11 for 155 yards and two touchdowns through the air while doing serious damage with his legs: 15 carries for 110 yards.

Virginia now looks like a contender in the ACC after throttling NC State 34-8. And Pribula sure made Missouri look silly for letting him go.

Loser: Lincoln Riley's fourth quarter

The 42-26 scoreline for USC against San Jose State will have some people tilting their head. Typical Lincoln Riley, right? Good offense. Godawful defense.

That's not exactly how it played out, of course. New DC Gary Patterson actually had USC's defense playing very well through three quarters. The Trojans led 35-3 going into the fourth quarter. That's when Riley and Patterson cleared the benches. And that's when the trouble started.

USC's third stringers gave up 23 points to the Spartans in the fourth quarter, turning a routine blowout into another reason for opposing fans to point and laugh at the Trojans. Does it matter that a bunch of scrubs gave up three touchdowns? No. Will that change the narrative? Of course not.

Riley had already lost the narrative before kickoff when it became clear the Coliseum was far from full.

Granted, Los Angeles is in the middle of the worst heatwave in decades. So maybe the real losers are the USC fans who turned up to show their support and got baked by the sun and unusual levels of humidity, only to get home and see other fanbases clowning them on social media for a sparse crowd.

Winner: Hawai'i vs. Stanford's fourth quarter

The fourth quarter showing may have been miserable for USC fans, but for neutral college football fans, the fourth quarter of Stanford's home opener against Hawai'i was a joy to watch.

Stanford led 23-7 in Tavita Prichard's coaching debut, but Hawai'i flipped the script in the fourth quarter with three unanswered touchdowns in eight minutes of play. They took the lead, 27-23, with just over four minutes to play on DeVon Rice's 29-yard touchdown catch, outpacing Stanford defenders across the middle and then up the sideline.

The comeback was fun while it lasted, but former Michigan quarterback Davis Warren came through for the Cardinal by guiding his team down the field for a go-ahead score of their own.

There weren't any stakes in this one for the neutrals, just pure football drama on both sides.

Loser: Sacramento State's FBS debut

Sacramento State's FBS debut started in an inauspicious way when their official football account accidently tweeted: "THE FCS ERA STARTS NOW." That was the sign that this wouldn't go especially well for the Hornets against Eastern Michigan.

Sac State found themselves trailing 21-3 in the second quarter and they couldn't quite climb back from that deficit, losing 28-17.

Winner: North Dakota State's FBS debut

We did see a successful FBS debut on Saturday: North Dakota State opener their ledger with a 33-7 win over Jacksonville State. The Bison took control in the second quarter and didn't give an inch. They had 23 unanswered points after Jax State tied things up at 7-7.

The former FCS powerhouse could be as competitive as any team we've seen make the step up to FBS. They should be fun to watch.

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