In 38 years of College GameDay stardom, ex-coach Lee Corso left college football fans with many nuggets of wisdom.
On how to handle defeat (sometimes also attributed to Paul Brown): "When you lose you say little, when you win, you say less."
On gambling (paraphrased): "Somebody knows something. Always go with the somebodies."
Kirk Herbstreit is fond of recalling a pivotal instance early in his tenure on the show when Corso simplified a Michigan-Arkansas matchup by comparing one team to "pickup trucks" and another to "Cadillacs." As the college football world says farewell to Corso, this column will accordingly aim to separate the pickup trucks from the Cadillacs.
Let's get to Week One's winners and losers.
Winner: Ohio State's masterful, opportunistic defense
Ohio State's Feb. 20 hire of Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator may have left the football world snickering—remember his disastrous stint with the Lions?—but no one was laughing after what happened Saturday in Columbus. For the better part of 60 minutes, the No. 3 Buckeyes completely neutralized No. 1 Texas's offense; only in the closing minutes did Patricia's unit begin to crack.
The game's pivotal play came early in the third quarter, when the Longhorns enjoyed first-and-goal on the Ohio State 9-yard line down 7–0. Texas ran the ball on four consecutive plays, pushing to the Buckeyes' 1—but getting no closer as Ohio State stacked up quarterback Arch Manning. It marked the climax of a poor day in the red zone for the Longhorns, long mediocre in that part of the field under coach Steve Sarkisian.
Loser: Uncritical Arch Manning hype
Notice that Manning himself is not being pegged as a loser this week—that's because he did show off his formidable skillset late in the game. In the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, Manning steered a four-play, 60-yard drive in just 42 seconds that cut the Buckeyes' lead in half—which he capped with a thrilling 32-yard touchdown throw to wide receiver Parker Livingstone. That drive was a major factor in Texas outgaining Ohio State in the end.
However, certain truths must be acknowledged. Yardage does not win football games. Manning, for all his gifts, was making his third career start. A 17-for-30 performance with one touchdown and one interception will not play in the SEC crucible. He will rebound next Saturday against San Jose State, which lost to Central Michigan Friday. Austin, remain calm—surely pundits everywhere will.
Winner: Georgia Tech Quarterback Haynes King
Now in his sixth year, King has long trafficked in intrigue—if not always stellar play. In 2023, his first year at Georgia Tech after coming over from Texas A&M, he led the ACC in passing touchdowns and interceptions. In 2024, he shaved his interception percentage from 4.4% to 0.7% and ran for 11 scores. That was enough to render sportswriters Yellow Jacket-curious; Georgia Tech received 63 votes in 2025's preseason AP Poll.
On Friday against Colorado, fans were treated to the King experience in brief. Weathering three early turnovers, King broke a 20–20 tie by ripping off a 45-yard touchdown run with 1:07 left. His 156 rushing yards were a career-high and recalled the Yellow Jackets' quarterbacks of old—Josh Nesbitt, Justin Thomas. He has considerable star potential, and a Sept. 13 date with Clemson is must-see TV.
Loser: Cincinnati coaches past and present
Wisconsin hired coach Luke Fickell away from Cincinnati with the best of intentions in 2022, but results have been severely lacking so far. The Badgers went 7-6 in 2023 despite opening the year No. 19, and in 2024 they missed a bowl game for the first time since 2001. On paper, Wisconsin downed Miami-Ohio 17–0 Thursday, but the Badgers didn't pull away until late and lost quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. to injury.
And what of Fickell's Bearcats replacement, Scott Satterfield? Cincinnati held its own at times in an odd neutral-site game against Nebraska, but fell 20–17 in Kansas City while passing for 69 yards and going 3-for-10 on third down. The best course of action for the Bearcats is to take a cue from their soon-to-be fan-in-law (is that a thing?) and shake it off. Keep an eye on next Saturday's date with Bowling Green, the first meeting between the two teams since 1994.
Winner: Mike Norvell and a rapidly cooling hot seat
In most cases, a 2-10 season would get you fired as the head football coach at Florida State. But that wasn't the case for Mike Norvell, who survived 2024's 2-10 campaign thanks in large part to his 13-1 record and ACC title in 2023.
Entering the 2025 season on the hot seat with an opener against No. 8 Alabama at home didn't provide too much time to get comfortable. But the Seminoles dominated the point of attack and looked like the tougher, more physical team on Saturday in a 31-17 home upset of the Crimson Tide.
It's stock up for Norvell and Florida State heading into Week 2 (and beyond). As for Alabama ... more on the Crimson Tide in a moment.
Loser: Alabama Head Coach Kalen DeBoer and a rapidly warming hot seat
It's not easy being "the guy" after "THE guy." For Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, things have not gone as smoothly as he and the school hoped when he took the job to replace Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa. After an up-and-down year one that concluded with a 9-4 record, no SEC title or College Football Playoff, and a loss in the ReliaQuest Bowl, expectations for a bounce back were high entering 2025.
But much like 2024, Alabama looked sloppy in Saturday's road loss as a two-touchdown favorite in Tallahassee to Florida State. It was DeBoer's fourth loss to an unranked opponent in 14 games as Alabama's head coach. For comparison - Nick Saban only had four losses to unranked opponents in Saban's 17 years leading the Crimson Tide.
Times have certainly changed in Tuscaloosa.
Winner: LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly
LSU head coach Brian Kelly entered 2025 on the hot seat since after an impressive year one, his teams have failed to live up to the school's lofty expectations.
After losing primetime non-conference openers in each of his first three seasons, Kelly and Co. finally got off the schneid in a 17-10 road victory at No. 4 Clemson on Saturday night.
The Tigers overcame a controversial overturned catch in what appeared to be a touchdown in the third quarter, and rode a stout defensive effort in the second half to earn a hard fought win to open the season.
Kelly and the Tigers will look to ride the momentum through a tough 2025 schedule to come.
Almost Loser: Kansas State
After losing its season opener in Week Zero to Iowa State in Ireland, Kansas State returned home to take on FCS North Dakota. The Wildcats entered the contest as a four touchdown favorite, but needed an Avery Johnson touchdown pass to Joe Jackson with less than a minute to play to escape a valiant effort from North Dakota with a 38-35 win.
Kansas State is now 1-1 on the season with Army coming to town in Week 2. They'll be a heavy favorite once again, and will hopefully give their fans less heartburn than the first two games have provided.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Football Week 1 Winners and Losers: Meet the New Boss, Same As the Old Boss.
