The first weekend of the college football season didn’t wait long to show off the backs who could shape the year ahead.
Week 0 delivered a little bit of everything: a junior at TCU piling up yards in a loss, a Florida State sophomore flashing star potential, a Virginia quarterback putting together the best game of his career, and several transfers making instant noise in new uniforms. If this was just the opening act, the rushing leaderboard could get crowded fast.
Jeremy Payne may have been on the rise late last season, but he looked fully arrived Saturday night. In TCU’s 15-10 loss to North Carolina, the junior running back carried 25 times for 142 yards and added 5 catches for 27 more.
More than half of the Horned Frogs’ offense ran through him, and TCU still managed only 281 total yards. Payne closed 2025 with 350 rushing yards, 109 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns over the final three games, and he picked up right where he left off.
Florida State got a cleaner result and a clear front-runner in its backfield. Sophomore Micahi Danzy Kromah handled 14 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown in the Seminoles’ 34-17 win over New Mexico State, averaging 8.2 yards per rush.
Florida State does have depth there, including Texas transfer Quintrevion Wisner, but Kromah looked like the obvious No. 1.
As a true freshman, he logged 408 rushing yards on 72 carries and now looks set up for a breakout.
Virginia’s offense got a major lift from Chandler Pribula, who produced the kind of all-around performance that turns heads early. After three years on the bench at Penn State, a starter’s role at Missouri last season, and a return to the transfer portal, he delivered a career night in the Cavaliers’ 34-8 win over NC State.
Pribula completed 9 of 11 passes for 155 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions, then added 110 yards on 15 carries. His previous high for rushing yards was 78.
Stanford also opened with something to build on under first-year head coach Tavita Pritchard, beating Hawaii 37-27. Junior Micah Ford was central to that win, carrying 25 times for 99 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Memphis grabbed one of the more eye-catching wins of the weekend, going on the road and beating UNLV 27-21 in Charles Huff’s first game as head coach. Jaylin Carter, one of the players who followed Huff from Southern Miss, made an immediate impression with 97 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
His 36-yard score in the third quarter tied the game at 21-21 before Memphis pulled away late. Carter had 166 yards and 2 touchdowns on 38 carries as a freshman last year, and this opener pointed to a much bigger role.
North Dakota State’s move to the FBS level came with the same old Bison punch. In their Mountain West debut, they rolled past Jacksonville State 33-7.
Two backs helped drive the run game, with redshirt-freshman Mitchell leading the team with 74 yards on 11 carries and senior transfer Punni adding 60 yards on just 8 attempts. Punni rushed for 415 yards and 3 touchdowns last season at Holy Cross.
Virginia also got production from another new face in its backfield. Middlebrook, who transferred after three seasons at Middle Tennessee State, won the starting job over higher-profile Tennessee transfer Peyton Lewis and ran for 64 yards on 15 carries in the Cavaliers’ win over NC State.
USC, meanwhile, kept its running back rotation rolling in a 42-26 season-opening win over San Jose State. King Miller, who emerged last year as a former walk-on after Waymond Jordan was injured, rushed for a team-high 63 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. With Jordan healthy again, the Trojans are splitting the work, but Miller still made his presence felt.
Eastern Michigan rounded out the list with Amareon Blue, a 5-foot-6, 195-pound sophomore who led the Eagles with 55 rushing yards on 12 carries and added 22 receiving yards in a 28-17 win over Sacramento State.
In Other News...
Virginia Win Over NC State Just Brought Early Validation For Tony Elliott
The opener against NC State gave Virginia a needed early jolt, and it also handed Tony Elliott a little national recognition to go with it. After the Cavaliers rolled to a 34-8 win in their season and conference opener, Elliott was named the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week, a nod that lands with extra weight after Virginia finally broke through against an opponent that had been a thorn for the program.
There was more than one coach in the spotlight, too. Offensive line coach Joey Orck earned the Shriners Childrens East-West Bowl Coach of the Week award for the way his unit helped set the tone up front, underscoring how much of Virginias encouraging start came from control at the line of scrimmage. For a team looking to turn one big win into something sturdier, those acknowledgments only add to the sense that the Cavaliers may have found an early formula worth building on. [Read more 🡒]
Tony Elliott Just Created Two New Virginia Questions
Virginia opened the season with a win over NC State, and Tony Elliott came away with more to think about than just the result. The defense held up even without Kam Robinson, with backup Myles Brown leading the team in tackles and showing the Cavaliers they may have more depth at linebacker than expected.
The bigger questions now sit with Robinsons return and how Elliott wants to use Beau Pribula moving forward. Robinson was held out as the staff stayed cautious about his comeback from a torn ACL, while Pribula was a major part of the offense as a runner and in the passing game, creating a fresh balance that gave Virginia something to build on and something else to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Already Has A Few Early Role Changes Fans Should Notice
Virginias season opener offered an early glimpse at how the Cavaliers may sort out their depth chart, and Pro Football Focus snap counts and grades made a few of those changes hard to miss. Linebacker Myles Brown, cornerback Jacobie Henderson and quarterback Beau Pribula all drew strong reviews, while several other players, including offensive lineman Ben York and receiver Ty'Lyric Coleman, logged more time and came away with solid marks as the staff starts to learn who can be trusted in different situations.
The encouraging part for Virginia is that the better grades were spread across key areas rather than coming from one isolated spot. The defensive backs and offensive line both stood out compared with other units, which should give the Cavaliers something to build on as they settle into the season, even if the exact pecking order at a few spots still appears to be in flux. [Read more 🡒]