College Football Week 1 Winners and Losers

After nine long months, college football is back.

A lot has happened since the end of bowl season: Stanford star Andrew Luck announced he would stay for one more year, Ohio State and University of Miami faced life-altering scandals, and LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson was suspended for allegedly beating a Marine outside of a bar.

Ah, college football. It's great to have you back.

Now that the first set of games are over, it's time to recap over the week's winners and losers. Click "Begin Slideshow" to see how everyone fared. 

Winner: First Year Head Coaches

Saturday was a good day for new head coaches Brady Hoke, Luke Fickell, and Will Muschamp.

All three coaches took over well-respected programs that came with a lot of stress and uncertainty, and all three coaches put any potential concerns to bed.

Brady Hoke led his Michigan Wolverines to a 34-10 victory over Western Michigan. Coach Fickell's Buckeyes shut out Akron 42-0, and Gators coach Will Muschamp blew Florida Atlantic out of the water, 41-3.

Collectively, all three coaches outscored their opponents 117-13. They prove that these football programs don't get older; they just get better.     

Loser: Brian Kelly's Fighting Irish

In a game riddled with thunder and lightning, even Zeus couldn't save Notre Dame from getting upset by South Florida.

South Florida pulled ahead 16-0 in the first half, and handed the No. 16 ranked Fighting Irish its first loss.

After a poor first half performance, coach Brian Kelly replaced quarterback Dayne Crist with Tommy Rees.

A solid second half performance put Notre Dame within distance. With 21 seconds remaining, Notre Dame had closed the gap 23-20.

"We didn't expect to have to make this move, obviously, so it's going to require us to obviously evaluate the quarterback situation and make another decision," Coach Kelly told ESPN. 

Winner: Baylor Bears Golden Win

In 2007, Baylor was the laughingstock of the Big 12.

In 2010, Baylor earned an invitation to the Texas Bowl.

In 2011, Baylor is currently holding first place in the conference.

After almost blowing a 47-23 lead over TCU, Baylor used a last minute field goal to seal the win over the nation's best defense for the last three years.

TCU only allowed seven touchdowns in the last five games last season; on Friday, Baylor scored seven touchdowns.

Though Baylor's schedule will continue to get harder, the Bears can sit back for a moment today and relish the win.   

Loser: Oregon'S Chance of a National Championship

In the most anticipated game of the weekend, Oregon coach Chip Kelly said goodbye to an undefeated season.

LSU beat Oregon 40-27 on Saturday night. With the Ducks' electrifying punt-returner/cornerback suspended, they were unable to pull out a win.

A rushing touchdown by Spencer Ware put LSU ahead 30-13 in the third quarter, and the Tigers pulled further and further away.

"Those are self-inflicted wounds," coach Kelly told ESPN.

"The drops, the turnovers and the penalties are the things that really killed us. Against a team like that, you're not going to win the game."

Winner: Mother Nature

College football fans around the midwest surely felt Mother Nature's presence.

Several games were delayed or called early, as lightning wreaked havoc for thousands of fans.

The Michigan game vs. Western Michigan was called early with 1:27 remaining in the third quarter.

The Notre Dame game against South Florida was delayed twice due to lightning. Eastern Michigan vs. Howard University was postponed until Sunday afternoon.

If it wasn't raining, it was unbelievably warm. During the Ohio State game against Akron, temperatures reached over 100 degrees on the field. Many people were treated for mild heat exhaustion, including a referee.