College Football Week Report — 6 September 2026

Prepared for: Aryeh Toren_Thorne
Date / cutoff: Sunday, 6 September 2026, 09:09 Asia/Jerusalem (IDT)
Week: Week 1 of the 2026 FBS season (the next Saturday, 12 September, is Week 2)
Status: Draft — results are frozen at the cutoff; Sunday daytime games and Monday’s Florida State–SMU game were still upcoming.

TL;DR

The first full Saturday was mostly chalk: every preseason AP-ranked team with a completed game won.
No. 1 Ohio State beat Ball State 56–3; No. 5 Texas beat Texas State 59–7, setting up the weekend’s marquee Week 2 rematch.
No. 2 Oregon survived Boise State 34–27; No. 16 Michigan escaped Western Michigan 13–12 on a last-play Hail Mary after a replay restored one second.
LSU’s Lane Kiffin era began with a 51–10 demolition of Clemson; the Tigers immediately look like a serious SEC/CFP storyline.
Miami’s Darian Mensah threw five TDs and Malachi Toney set a school receiving record (234 yards) in a 45–6 win at Stanford — very early Heisman buzz.
Pittsburgh note: Pitt beat Miami (OH) 59–14 behind Mason Heintschel’s seven TD passes; UCF visits Acrisure Stadium next Saturday.

Top storylines

Ohio State and Texas looked ready for the main event. The No. 1 Buckeyes rolled up 671 yards in a 56–3 win, while No. 5 Texas won 59–7 behind Arch Manning’s 305 passing yards and four TDs. They meet in Austin next Saturday in a rematch of Ohio State’s 2025 season-opening win.
Oregon survived its first real test. No. 2 Oregon rallied past Boise State 34–27. Dante Moore threw for 388 yards and three scores, but Boise’s pressure and offensive balance exposed enough vulnerability to make the Ducks’ CFP path less automatic than the ranking suggests.
Michigan’s escape was the weekend’s strangest finish. Western Michigan led 12–7 with the clock apparently expired, but replay restored one second; Bryce Underwood’s second Hail Mary found JJ Buchanan for a 13–12 win. The result is a win, but the three Michigan turnovers and stagnant offense are major concerns before Oklahoma arrives.
Lane Kiffin’s LSU debut could not have been louder. No. 11 LSU beat Clemson 51–10 in Baton Rouge. LSU’s new-look roster and Sam Leavitt-led offense immediately enter the SEC/CFP conversation; Clemson, unranked in the preseason AP poll, starts 0–1 with a steep climb.
Miami produced the clearest skill-position Heisman flash. Transfer QB Darian Mensah went 27-for-30 for 401 yards and five TDs; sophomore WR Malachi Toney caught 12 passes for a Miami-record 234 yards and three TDs. It is a compelling opening argument, not a race verdict after one game.
New quarterbacks made strong first impressions. Defending champion Indiana’s Josh Hoover threw four TDs in a 52–16 win over North Texas; Tennessee freshman Faizon Brandon accounted for five TDs in a 56–9 win over Furman; Texas Tech’s Will Hammond threw for 298 yards in a 33–10 win over Abilene Christian.
The SEC supplied both statement wins and drama. Georgia (63–3), Texas A&M (50–0), Alabama (48–10), Tennessee (56–9), and Missouri (54–14) all won comfortably, while Auburn needed a goal-line stop on Baylor’s late two-point try to survive 17–16.

Ranked results

Preseason AP ranks are used because the first 2026 regular-season AP poll was scheduled for Tuesday, 8 September; these are not new post-Week-1 rankings.

| Preseason AP | Result | Takeaway | |---:|---|---| | 1 | Ohio State 56, Ball State 3 | Julian Sayin: 320 yards, 3 TD; Jeremiah Smith: 151 yards, 2 TD. | | 2 | Oregon 34, Boise State 27 | Dante Moore: 388 yards, 3 TD; Ducks needed a late 62-yard TD. | | 3 | Georgia 63, Tennessee State 3 | Georgia led 28–0 after one quarter and allowed only one field goal. | | 5 | Texas 59, Texas State 7 | Arch Manning: 305 yards, 4 TD; three forced turnovers. | | 6 | Indiana 52, North Texas 16 | Josh Hoover: 231 yards, 4 TD; Hoosiers extend their active win streak to 17. | | 7 | Miami 45, Stanford 6 | Mensah/Toney connection produced five passing TDs and a receiving record. | | 8 | Texas A&M 50, Missouri State 0 | Aggie defense held Missouri State to 67 total yards. | | 10 | Oklahoma 51, UTEP 0 (Friday, 4 Sep) | John Mateer threw 3 TDs; OU scored on its first eight possessions. | | 11 | LSU 51, Clemson 10 | Kiffin’s debut was a one-sided CFP-relevant statement. | | 12 | Texas Tech 33, Abilene Christian 10 | Will Hammond returned from injury with 298 passing yards and 1 TD. | | 13 | Alabama 48, East Carolina 10 | Alabama produced 487 yards and five rushing TDs. | | 14 | BYU 63, Utah Tech 7 | Four forced turnovers; Bear Bachmeier threw 3 first-half TDs. | | 14T | USC 39, Fresno State 0 (Friday, 4 Sep) | Jayden Maiava threw 3 TDs; USC defense allowed 116 yards. | | 16 | Michigan 13, Western Michigan 12 | Last-play Hail Mary; Michigan survived despite three turnovers. | | 18 | Penn State 45, Marshall 0 | Rocco Becht threw 4 TDs in Matt Campbell’s Penn State debut. | | 20 | Tennessee 56, Furman 9 | Freshman Faizon Brandon accounted for 5 TDs in his debut. | | 21 | Utah 66, Idaho 14 (Thursday, 3 Sep) | Wayshawn Parker scored 3 TDs; 633 total yards. | | 22 | Iowa 40, Northern Illinois 0 | Kamari Moulton ran for 183 yards and 2 TDs; defense held NIU to 120 yards. | | 23 | Houston 33, Oregon State 20 | Conner Weigman threw for 305 yards and rushed for a TD; OSU cut a 26–7 deficit to 26–20. | | 25 | Missouri 54, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 14 (Thursday, 3 Sep) | Austin Simmons threw 4 TDs in his Missouri debut. |

Not yet final at the cutoff: No. 4 Notre Dame–Wisconsin, No. 9 Ole Miss–No. 24 Louisville, and No. 17 Washington–Washington State were scheduled for Sunday, 6 September. Monday’s No. 19 SMU–Florida State game was also upcoming.

Upsets / close calls

Closest ranked-team call: Michigan 13–12 Western Michigan. It was not an upset because Michigan won, but it was a major near-upset: the Wolverines trailed late and needed a controversial clock/replay sequence plus a Hail Mary.
Oregon tested: Boise State tied Oregon 27–27 in the fourth quarter before Dakorien Moore’s 62-yard TD put the Ducks ahead for good.
Auburn survives Baylor: Auburn won 17–16 when Baylor’s Matthew Klopfenstein was stopped inches short on a two-point try with nine seconds left. Baylor’s DJ Lagway threw for 333 yards in his first game for the Bears; Auburn’s Byrum Brown threw three interceptions but ran for the go-ahead TD.
Nebraska had to rally: Nebraska trailed Ohio 13–14 at halftime before winning 49–21. Freshman Jamal Rule scored three times and Anthony Colandrea accounted for four TDs.
No verified preseason AP-ranked team lost by the cutoff. The Sunday ranked matchups could still change that assessment after this draft was prepared.

Heisman / CFP watch

Heisman early board: Arch Manning’s four-TD opener, Miami’s Mensah–Toney explosion, and Indiana’s Hoover-led title defense are the most notable first-week narratives. Toney’s 234-yard receiving game is the standout individual record, but one-game momentum should not be treated as a projection.
CFP résumé builders: LSU’s win over Clemson is the best résumé-style result so far; Oregon’s Boise escape is valuable but less convincing; Texas and Ohio State now have an immediate head-to-head résumé game next week.
Defending champion Indiana remains the standard to chase. The Hoosiers won again, but North Texas moved the ball and Indiana’s run game was not dominant — useful context before stronger opponents arrive.
Michigan’s next test is diagnostic. Oklahoma visits Ann Arbor next Saturday; the Wolverines cannot rely on another miracle against an SEC-caliber opponent.

Next Saturday preview — 12 September (Week 2)

Times below are U.S. Eastern Time unless noted. Jerusalem viewers should generally add seven hours; late games therefore begin early Sunday, 13 September, in Israel.

1. No. 1 Ohio State at No. 5 Texas — 7:30 p.m., ABC. The headline game: Julian Sayin vs. Arch Manning and a direct CFP/seeding test in Austin. 2. No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 16 Michigan — noon, FOX. A major rebound-or-warning game for Michigan after its Western Michigan escape. 3. Oregon at Oklahoma State — noon, ESPN. The Ducks must reset quickly after Boise State exposed their margin for error. 4. No. 8 Texas A&M vs. Arizona State — noon, ABC. A&M’s shutout defense gets a more meaningful test after holding Missouri State to 67 yards. 5. UCF at Pitt — 3:30 p.m., ESPN2, Acrisure Stadium. Pitt’s first real follow-up after the 59–14 opener and Heintschel’s record-tying seven TD passes. 6. No. 20 Tennessee at Georgia Tech — 7 p.m. A road test for freshman QB Faizon Brandon after his five-TD debut. 7. Iowa State at No. 22 Iowa — 7:30 p.m., NBC/Peacock. In-state rivalry with early Big Ten/Big 12 résumé value. 8. Arkansas at No. 21 Utah — 10:15 p.m., ESPN. Utah’s new era gets its first substantial test after the 66–14 opener.

Pittsburgh angle

Pitt opened at Acrisure Stadium with a 59–14 win over Miami (OH). QB Mason Heintschel completed 31 of 41 passes for 453 yards and seven TDs, tying a Pitt record and setting an ACC record; the seven scores went to seven different receivers. Pitt hosts UCF at 3:30 p.m. ET next Saturday. This is an unusually strong local storyline even though Pitt was not in the preseason AP Top 25.