College Football: 50 Things We Learned from Week 1

Now that college football is finally back, we will start to get answers to what will happen in 2011.

During the first week of the season, many of the nation's top teams faced off against opponents they outmatched and won with ease.

On the other hand, some schools took on a larger challenge in the first week and gave us more insight into their program and outlook for this season.

Here are 50 things that we have learned in college football after the opening weekend.

We Missed Football

Boy, did we all miss football. College football fans found themselves counting down the days for the season to start, and now that it is here, fans across the nation will soak up as much football as possible.

Oklahoma Raises Questions About Staying with Big 12

There was a big storyline off the field this weekend and that is with the recent announcement that Texas A&M would be leaving the Big 12. Then Oklahoma made it known that the school is looking at multiple options.

It became clear as the weekend went on that the Sooners and the Pac-12 are interested in each other and could be the first domino to fall in a transition to four super-conferences.

Russell Wilson and Wisconsin Look Good

This past Thursday, Russell Wilson debuted with Wisconsin and looked as good as advertised. Wilson ended the game going 10-of-13, 255 passing yards, two touchdowns and also rushed for a score.

If Wilson can continue to improve during the out-of-conference schedule, the Big 10 defenses will have their hands full.

Cheerleaders Look Even Better

After months and months of baseball being the only option, college football has put some spark back in our life, and we can likely thank the ladies on the sideline for the entertainment during the game and in between stops.

Boise State Does It Again

As of late, it does not matter the game or the situation, Boise State shows up and plays their best in big games.

While many will continue to argue that Boise State's schedule does not warrant consideration to play in the BCS title game, this team continues to defeat big program after big program.

Scheduling FCS Teams Is Getting Old

One problem about the opening couple of weeks of college football, especially the first week, is that most of the games are extremely boring to watch.

In Week 1, we saw big program after big program lower the hammer to a FCS or even small FBS program. It is weeks like this that fans cannot wait for conference play.

Especially for Oregon State

Seems like every year there is a FCS program that sneaks up on a big opponent and pulls out a victory. This year, Oregon State was the victim as Sacramento State went on the road and defeated the Oregon State Beavers.

Washington State Loses All Momentum

Over the past year, Washington State had been building some momentum and looked like a team that was improving and would get out of the conference basement.

During the first drive of the year, the Cougars lost Jeff Tuel to a fractured left clavicle, and while they went on to win big, this is an injury that will derail their season.

Auburn Is in Deep Trouble During Conference Play

Everyone saw the struggles that Auburn faced on Saturday in slowing down Utah State. Despite pulling off a two-touchdown comeback in the final three minutes, Auburn showed people why there is little faith in them being a major factor in conference play.

Ducks Offense Struggles in Another Big Game

Turnovers, penalties, injuries and more led to a Oregon loss this week against LSU. The Ducks again found themselves in a big national game and once again came up short as their high-powered offense failed to get off the ground against LSU.

Don't Count out Ohio State

Quietly down in Columbus, Ohio State kicked off their season and won big over Akron 42-0. While Akron is certainly not a top program that we can judge the Buckeyes from, Ohio State still looked sharp and ready to put everything that happened in the offseason behind them.

BYU's Defense Looks Good

During the opening week, BYU's offense was struggling, and Ole Miss appeared to have a win in their hands. The Cougars defense continued to keep them in the game and finally capped off a late comeback by scoring a touchdown on a fumble recovery.

Andrew Luck and Stanford Look Good

As expected, Andrew Luck came out in the first week of the season and helped Stanford take care of business against San Jose State.

Based on how Luck played in this opening week game, Stanford will not miss the coaching of Jim Harbaugh all that much.

Notre Dame Needs to Put the BCS Talk on Hold

Like most seasons, all people could talk about is this is the year that Notre Dame gets back to a BCS game. That talk is now on hold as Notre Dame dropped their first game of the season to South Florida and will need to regroup as they head to Michigan next.

South Florida Could Be a Force in the Big East

The inverse to Notre Dame putting their high hopes on hold is the fact that South Florida does look like a legitimate contender to the Big East crown.

Led by quarterback B.J. Daniels, look for the Bulls to have a strong year and challenge West Virginia to win the conference.

Viriginia Tech Came into This Season Well Prepared

It seems like Virginia Tech always struggles to get up too speed early in the season and then hits their stride. The Hokies did not wait to get off to a fast start this year as they took care of business against Appalachian State, winning 66-13.

USC Looks Average Against Minnesota

Much like last year, USC took on Minnesota during the out-of-conference schedule, and once again the Trojans failed to handle the Gophers in convincing fashion.

It will be interesting to see how USC performs next week after a less-than-impressive game this week.

Robert Woods Looked Really Good

Besides the win, the bright spot for the Trojans had to be the play of wide receiver Robert Woods. Woods had an incredible game as he pulled in 17 catches for 177 yards and three touchdowns.

Les Miles Did Not Eat the Turf at Jerry's World

Les Miles has pulled some strange moves in his career, one being eating grass during a game. With the national spotlight on the game in Dallas, Miles clearly was not hungry as he made no move to the turf but instead called a great game.

Stephen Garcia Is the True Starter

When Conner Shaw was announced as the starter for South Carolina, some jaws dropped. After a slow start against ECU, Stephen Garcia was inserted to the lineup and the Gamecocks would go on to win 56-37 with Garcia accounting for three scores.

TCU Missed Their Defense, Not Andy Dalton

Coming into the season, the talk was about how much TCU would miss Andy Dalton and would have to win games on the strength of their defense.

Things could not have played out more differently as the Horned Frogs did not struggle to put up points but did fail to slow down Baylor as they lost their opening week game.

Robert Griffin III Is Special

The reason that the TCU defense struggled so much was due to the play of Robert Griffin. Griffin had a monster of a game throwing for 359 yards and five touchdowns.

Jarrett Lee Cool and Calm for LSU

With the suspension of Jordan Jefferson, people wondered how well Jarrett Lee could handle the offense. In the first week of the season, Lee passed that test as he did a great job managing the game and making enough plays to lead the Tigers to a huge opening week game.

Michigan State Started Slow

Michigan State is coming off a season in which they shared a piece of the Big 10 title. When kicking off the 2011 season, the Spartans struggled to get the offense going early and sleepwalked to a 28-6 victory over Youngstown State.

It will be interesting to see if the Spartans get things turned up next week.

Great Coaching Debuts for Brady Hoke, Luke Fickell and Will Muschamp

All three coaches started off their coaching careers with a victory on Saturday and looked good doing it. Florida, Michigan and Ohio State all came out and performed well and appear to be in good hands with their new coaches.

Texas Takes First Step in Turning Things Around

Garrett Gilbert and the Longhorns made their first step in getting 2010 put behind them. In the opening week of the season, Texas defeated Rice 34-9 and started the season a lot better then the way they ended 2010.

We Still Love Erin Andrews

She is the first lady of college football, and we still love her, no question about it.

Utah State Ran the Gutsiest Play

With a three-point lead late in their game against Auburn, Utah State was facing a fourth down inside the Auburn 10. A field goal would force Auburn to have to score a touchdown, so Utah State lined up for a field goal and caught everyone off guard with a fake that resulted in a first down and later a touchdown.

Kellen Moore Proves to Be a Great Leader

Kellen Moore appears to be saving his best for last in his final season at Boise State. Year after year, Moore has led the Broncos to huge out-of-conference victories and bowl victories and did it once again as he helped lead Boise State past Georgia.

Notre Dame Still Has a Question at Quarterback

Notre Dame fans thought that the quarterback spot had been finalized. Dayne Crist was announced as the starter and all was well.

After a opening week loss to South Florida, Crist was taken out and Tommy Rees was put in, and now Notre Dame is right back to where they were before naming a starter.

College Gameday Is ESPN's Best Show

Forget any of the other shows on ESPN, the best show is College Gameday. Anytime you can get Desmond Howard, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Chris Fowler and Erin Andrews together, you are marked for success.

Oregon Duck Is the Nation's Best Gameday Mascot

With the increased success of the Oregon program, the Oregon Ducks mascot has become more visible and is almost becoming a part of the College Gameday show.

Lee Corso loves the Duck and anytime the crew covers a Oregon game, the Oregon Duck shows up and adds some humor to an already outstanding show.

EJ Manual Looks Good as New Leader of Florida State

Both the Florida State offense and defense looked ready to go on Saturday, and new quarterback EJ Manuel was ready to get started as well.

Manuel threw for 252 yards and two scores and led the Seminoles to a opening week victory over Louisiana-Monroe, 34-0.

Even Without Dan Persa, the Wildcats Impressed

Before Northwestern and Boston College kicked off, it was announced that starter Dan Persa would not play and that Kain Colter would lead the Wildcats.

Colter came in and managed the game extremely well as Northwestern pulled off a big road win, 24-17.

LSU Fans Make Game a Not so Neutral Site

The biggest game of the opening week saw the LSU Tigers earn a huge victory over Oregon. The game was called a neutral site game, but the LSU fans did a nice job of making that far from the truth.

With the game being played in Dallas, LSU fans had to only travel about 400 miles to Oregon's 2,000, and the Tiger fans took advantage.

Not Often You See Teams Agree Upon Calling a Game in the 3rd

I would doubt that Brady Hoke woke up on Saturday thinking he would see what he did and neither did anyone else in college football.

The Ann Arbor area saw some extreme weather that would bring the opening game to a halt in the third quarter. As a storm moved in, the game was called and Michigan was awarded the victory.

Tyler Wilson Impresses with Arkansas

Despite not having Knile Davis in the backfield with him, Tyler Wilson was sharp and efficient. Wilson came out and went 18-of-24, threw for 260 yards and two scores.

While this game was only against Missouri State, the Arkansas offense appears to be in good hands with Wilson at the controls.

DeAnthony Thomas Is the Best/worst Thing That Oregon Saw Last Night

Early in the game between Oregon and LSU it appeared that freshman DeAnthony Thomas would be a difference maker in the game. That would prove to be right, but he was the difference in LSU's favor.

In the third quarter, the Ducks were only down three points but two Thomas fumbles quickly turned the game around and put the Ducks in a hole they could not climb out of.

Case Keenum Was Ready for UCLA

Last year, UCLA ended Case Keenum's season with a knee injury. This year, Keenum was back for his final season and was ready for the Bruins as he threw for over 300 yards and two scores. Certainly a satisfying win for the Houston quarterback.

Fresno State Is Not Quite at the Level They Are Striving for

Pat Hill and Fresno State entered the season with the hopes of taking a step forward in this program's evolution. A game against Cal on the road provided the Bulldogs with an opportunity, but they failed to take advantage as they lost 36-21.

Andrew Luck Is the Heisman Front Runner

As Stanford took care of business on Saturday, it was clear that Andrew Luck is as good as advertised. Luck threw for 171 yards and two touchdowns and also added one on the ground.

While barely having to break a sweat, Luck showed the nation why he could have gone to the NFL and why he is the top candidate for the Heisman Trophy.

Oklahoma Lives Up to No. 1 Billing

Landry Jones and Oklahoma came into this season with huge expectations, and against Tulsa, they have kept those expectations intact.

The Sooners earned a 47-14 victory over Tulsa, and Jones threw for 375 yards and a score.

South Carolina Still Does Not Have the Defense to Win a SEC Title

While South Carolina can certainly score with anyone in the nation, the problem last year was their defense, and it appears not much will change this year.

Against ECU, the Gamecocks gave up 37 points and 345 total yards.

To remain competitive in the SEC title chase, South Carolina must find some way to turn their defense around.

Utah Needs to Step It Up Before Entering Conference Play

As the season begun, Utah is on a quest to prove to people that they can compete week in and week out in a BCS conference. What we learned from Utah's first game is they must be more focused and prepared when conference play does begin because their effort against Montana State will not cut it.

John Brantley Looks a Lot Better Through One Week

Last year, John Brantley struggled through the season and was a question mark for the Gators coming into this season. While it is only one week, Brantley looked much better against Florida Atlantic and could have a good season with Charlie Weis as his offensive coordinator.

Mark Richt Is One Step Closer to the Unemployement Line

With an opening season loss to Boise State, the heat is going to be turned up on Georgia head coach Mark Richt. Following this loss, Georgia will be going up against South Carolina and will desperately need a victory or Richt's time at Georgia could come to an end.

Chris Petersen Is Extremely Underrated

Many people do not want to hear it, but Chris Petersen of Boise State is the most underrated coach in the nation. Petersen consistently has his team ready to play and has never had his team show up flat in a big game.

Most of What We Learned in Week 1 Is Irrelevant

With the exception of some big games, most of these games provided us with little insight to how good or bad some teams will be. Like most season, we will have to wait for the conference schedules to kickoff before we can truly see this season take shape.

We Could Watch College Football Every Day

When the season kicked off on Thursday, we have had a game every day, and it will run through Monday night. No matter the games on the schedule, college football fans love the game so much that there could be a game every night and people would tune in.

We Cannot Wait for Week 2

As excited as fans were for the opening week of the season, now that we have received a taste of college football, fans will be even more excited for the season to continue and big games to become more frequent.