Week 0 gave us a few clear signals before the full college football grind gets going, and a handful of teams left a very different impression after their opening weekend.
North Carolina was one of the biggest winners. The Tar Heels opened with a 15-10 victory over TCU in Ireland, and for a team coming off four wins under Bill Belichick in 2025, that was a real statement.
Billy Edwards Jr., the former Maryland and Wisconsin transfer, didn’t have to light up the stat sheet to make it work at quarterback. He played the role North Carolina needed, kept things steady, and did enough for the Tar Heels to leave with the win.
The real eye-opener was the defense. Even without defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, North Carolina held TCU QB Jaden Craig to 175 yards through the air.
Edge rusher Melkart Abou Jaoude was disruptive all day and lived in the backfield. It’s still early, but North Carolina looked far better in Week 0 than plenty of people expected.
Virginia also made a loud early-season statement in the ACC. Entering Saturday shorthanded against NC State and having dropped the previous four meetings with the Wolfpack, the Cavaliers answered with a 34-8 rout. Former Penn State and Missouri transfer Beau Pribula was sharp in a very specific way: he only threw 11 passes, but completed nine for 155 yards and two touchdowns while adding 110 rushing yards.
That was Virginia in a nutshell - controlled, physical, and relentless. The Cavaliers ran the ball effectively, defended at a high level, and looked like a team that knows exactly how it wants to win. They won the ACC regular season a year ago, and while Miami and others are part of the picture again, Virginia came out of Week 0 looking every bit like a serious contender.
North Dakota State, meanwhile, made its own kind of first impression. In its first season at the FBS level in 2026, the Bison rolled past Jacksonville State 33-7 and looked like they belong at this level right away.
Nathan Hayes may be the next quarterback in a line that includes Carson Wentz. He threw for 160 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and North Dakota State’s defense smothered a Jacksonville State offense that managed only 170 total yards.
The Bison’s schedule still has some tests ahead, and games against UNLV and Hawaii could end up shaping their 2026 story. But after one game, they’ve already looked like a force in the Group of Six.
Not everyone got the kind of start they wanted. Florida State beat New Mexico State 34-17, but the result didn’t exactly settle anything in Tallahassee. Mike Norvell is under plenty of pressure heading into the 2026 season, and this was not the kind of performance that quiets the noise.
Ashton Daniels, the former Stanford and Auburn transfer expected to stabilize the quarterback spot, came out looking uneven. He finished with 202 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception.
For a game that was supposed to build confidence around the Seminoles’ new QB situation, it did the opposite. Florida State still looks like it has a quarterback problem, and Norvell’s clock keeps ticking.
TCU had its own quarterback questions after the opener. The Horned Frogs went into the transfer portal and landed Harvard standout Jaden Craig after losing Josh Hoover to Indiana, and there was at least some belief TCU could keep humming on offense in 2026. Craig is known as a pass-first quarterback with dual-threat ability, but his debut against North Carolina was rough.
Playing in steady rain and without star receiver Jordan Dwyer, Craig completed 20 of 32 passes for 175 yards. He had a few chances late to swing the game, but the accuracy just wasn’t there, and North Carolina closed the door. He may need a game or two to settle into FBS football, but this was not the start TCU was hoping for.
In Other News...
TCU Player Assault Case Turns More Serious Than Fans Realized
Dozie Ezukanmas injury from the Aug. 13 altercation with former TCU wide receiver Jacob Fields turned out to be far more serious than many around the program initially realized. Ezukanma was hospitalized after the incident and went through multiple CT scans, with medical staff confirming both a brain bleed and a concussion, along with a growing hematoma that underscored how severe the situation had become.
Fields has since been charged with aggravated assault causing bodily harm, and the case now sits well beyond the kind of off-field dispute fans usually file away as routine summer noise. For TCU, the focus has shifted from the incident itself to Ezukanmas recovery and the broader fallout of a matter that clearly carried more medical and legal weight than first appeared. [Read more 🡒]
TCUs New Quarterback Has A Chance To Become A Real Draft Name
For TCU fans, the conversation around the 2025 quarterback class is bigger than just one national list of names. Jaden Craig is part of a group of passers drawing early attention because of what they could become this fall, joining a mix that includes CJ Bailey, Drake Lindsey, DJ Lagway and Cutter Boley. The common thread is potential: each has traits that can translate into a breakout season if the production catches up with the hype.
Craig fits into that same lane as a quarterback whose profile could grow quickly once the season starts and the spotlight gets brighter. The idea for the Horned Frogs is simple enough, even if the path is not: if he delivers the kind of leap evaluators are watching for, he could move from being just another name on a preseason watch list to someone with real draft buzz before long. [Read more 🡒]