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The most ‘college football’ things that happened in Week 1

Robert Melton

College football is back with remixed conferences and a revamped postseason structure, but a packed long weekend of games to open the season proved the sport remains delightfully unpredictable, on and off the field.

Wacky moments, silly memes and shocked surrender cobras emerged from matchups all across the country, and we’ve rounded up the best of the week. From wild highlights to cow helmets, here are the very college football moments of Week 1:

Legception

It’s not uncommon for a team to get a lucky bounce now and then, but North Dakota State got an unusual bit of good fortune in the form of a bizarre interception during its season opener against Colorado on Thursday.

Early in the third quarter, Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw a pass from around the 14-yard line toward the end zone on third-and-goal. Multiple Colorado receivers and NDSU defenders swarmed to the corner of the end zone, and in the process, Bison cornerback Anthony Chideme-Alfaro fell forward onto the turf. The ball bounced off Chideme-Alfaro’s calf and right into the hands of NDSU linebacker Nick Kubitz for a wacky interception.

Later in the game, Colorado star wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter had his own highlight-worthy catch for his third touchdown reception of the night. With eight minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Buffaloes holding a four-point lead, Hunter made an unbelievable catch around Bison cornerback Jailen Duffie’s arm to increase Colorado’s lead.

The Buffaloes won the game 31-26.

He’s got hops

If you focused on Wisconsin quarterback Tyler Van Dyke hitting Trech Kekahuna for a successful two-point conversion during the fourth quarter of the Badgers’ win over Western Michigan on Friday, you might have missed another display of athleticism just a few feet away.

After Kekahuna caught the pass, the back judge bent down to get a closer look at where the receiver’s feet landed. While he was down, Western Michigan cornerback Nyquann Washington put his hands on the referee’s shoulders and leapfrogged over him. The ref then stood up and raised his arms to signal the conversion was good without acknowledging that he was briefly a vault table for Washington’s hop.

It wasn’t a celebration, given Washington plays for the Broncos and the Badgers had just scored, but it was a display of the goofy antics that make CFB so entertaining.

Celebrating two icons

Tubby, the anthropomorphic mayonnaise jar that is the mascot of the Duke’s Mayo Classic, made his debut on Aug. 27, 2022, and the crew behind the annual regular-season game took to X to wish him a happy birthday last week.

Fans posted celebratory messages in response and pointed out that UNC coach Mack Brown was born on the same day in 1951. Brown turned 73 on Tuesday and then led the Tar Heels to a season-opening victory over Minnesota on Thursday.

The next iteration of the Duke’s Mayo Classic is slated for Saturday when Tennessee will take on NC State at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

Intorpedo

One-hand catches? Been there, done that.

One-hand, spinning, flying interception? Yeah, that’s more Rob Carter Jr.’s speed.

The Robert Morris defensive back made his case for interception of the year in the second quarter of the Colonials’ Week 1 game against the Utah State Aggies when he defied gravity to snipe the ball out of the air with one hand while rotating. The play allowed Robert Morris to get out of the first half with a 14-10 lead.

Carter’s interception was one of three for the team on the night, with cornerback Tyris Harvey coming away with two. But the Colonials lost 36-14. (UNLV had its own dynamic interception on Saturday night against Houston).

The longest yard

Some teams don’t complete seven third downs in a game. North Dakota completed them in one drive.

In its only scoring drive against Iowa State in Week 1, North Dakota had 23 plays between the end of the first quarter and the end of the second on one drive. It resulted in a field goal in a 21-3 loss.

The drive lasted 12 minutes and 23 seconds, but it was not the longest ever. Navy has North Dakota beat with a 14-minute, 26-second drive in  2004. Then, the Midshipmen used up nearly 15 minutes in the fourth quarter of the Emerald Bowl (now known as the Kraft Fights Hunger Bowl), limiting New Mexico to six plays in the final quarter to take home a 34-19 win.

That nearly full-quarter drive helped Navy earn its first 10-win season in 99 years.

Welcome to the Big Ten … Simpson College?

It wasn’t Southern California, but it was So Close!

The Minnesota marching band appeared to use a Simpson College flag instead of a USC one when performing with the flags of every school in the Big Ten in 2024. The letters on the USC flag are typically boxier than that of Simpson College, with the “S” and “C” having no curvature.

Perhaps it was a teasing moment for the conference newcomer Trojans, who joined the Big Ten from the Pac-12 along with UCLA, Oregon and Washington to make up the now-18-team conference.

Texas Tech’s ties to Abilene Christian

FCS program Abilene Christian took its FBS counterpart Texas Tech to overtime Saturday night, dropping the game after failing to convert on the winning two-point attempt. While there were plenty of points (Texas Tech won 52-51) and hold-your-breath moments, there were many invisible strings tying the programs together, too.

Keith Patterson, the coach of Abilene Christian, was hired as the defensive coordinator at Texas Tech in 2019 under then-coach Matt Wells.

Abilene Christian’s quarterback, Maverick McIvor, spent the first three years of his college career at Texas Tech. He exploded for 506 yards and three touchdowns against his former team.

Cow helmets!

Utah State leaned into its agricultural roots with its helmet pattern on Saturday. That’s fitting, given its quarterback is also a dedicated pig farmer.

Missed it by … that much

Riley Leonard appeared to have a first down during Notre Dame’s win over Texas A&M, but the play was reviewed, and it was ruled that Leonard came up just short.


Screenshot of ABC broadcast.

Is that even possible? Remember the NFL ref placing a card between the yard marker and the ball several years ago? For the Irish’s sake, it didn’t cost them too much in a 23-13 win.

Awesome … unique … ours

Northwestern is playing this season in a temporary on-campus stadium as its stadium (Ryan Field) undergoes an $800 million rebuild. Our Jayna Bardahl wrote about it all in August.

Northwestern fans got a look at the stadium on Saturday, and coach David Braun certainly enjoyed it:

The Wildcats pulled out a 13-6 win over Miami, Ohio.

Big Ben

The country’s most popular jet-setting golden retriever is back.

Ben Herbstreit, the 10-year-old furry companion of ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, crashed the LSU-USC pregame broadcast while Kirk Herbstreit was breaking down the new 12-team college football playoff format.

“Oh Ben’s down here, sorry about that,” Kirk Herbstreit said live on air as he and co-analyst Rece Davis bent down to give Ben his rightful pats.

Ben first joined Herbstreit at “College GameDay” in November 2021, when the show traveled to the University of Cincinnati for the Bearcats’ game against Tulsa. The Herbstreits live in Cincinnati, so Ben went to work with Dad that day and has continued to do so since.

Ben is a certified emotional support animal for Herbstreit. He got his ESA license and official red vest in early November, which allows him to join Herbstreit in more places like hotels that may not typically permit pets.

On Sunday, Ben was allowed to roam the broadcast booth, and he found himself stealing the show yet again.

Required reading

(Photo of Travis Hunter: Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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