The three biggest Winners and Losers of Week One in College Football

We only have two games remaining in Week One of the College Football season and week one was electric. We saw some incredible performances around the country and the final two games of the week should only add to the storylines. In Week One, there were some massive performances while other programs should be reaching for the reset button. Here are the three biggest winners and losers in week one of the College Football season.

Winner: Travis Hunter, Jimmy Horn, and Sheduer Sanders

Regardless of what you think about Deion Sanders and whether or not the Colorado Buffaloes are any good, you have to admit they are impressive. Sheduer Sanders kicked off his campaign to be a top draft pick with a stellar performance completing 26 of 34 attempts for 445 yards and 4 touchdowns with one of the unluckiest interceptions of all time.

One of their two dynamic receivers Jimmy Horn often goes under the radar because of the talent of Travis Hunter. Horn finished the game with 7 catches for 198 yards and a touchdown as he always was seemingly wide open deep over the middle of the field.

Despite his monster stat line, Horn still goes under the radar as Travis Hunter was out of this world this week. On defense, Hunter played nearly every snap as he missed only two snaps all game recording three tackles for the Buffaloes. On offense, Hunter had a game few could replicate on EA College Football 25 catching 7 passes for 132 yards and three touchdowns. His last touchdown is one you replay 100 times if it happens in a video game swearing the game glitched.

Loser: Dabo Swinney

Oh how the mighty have fallen, Clemson's downward spiral continues into 2024 as the Tigers lose to Georgia. There's nothing wrong with losing to Georgia as no team may beat the Bulldogs this year but, Dabo clearly needs to change his approach. As transfers London Humphreys and Colbie Young scored touchdowns for the Bulldogs the Tigers were undermanned due to Dabo's refusal to take in transfers.

The offense tied the lowest number of points ever scored at Clemson under Dabo Swinney since 2008 with three points. The defense stood tall in the first half allowing just six points but, in the second half they were clearly undermanned. Clemson can still go on to make the Playoff and win the ACC but, Dabo clearly needs to change his approach if the Tigers are ever going to compete for a National Title.

Winner: Vanderbilt

Entering the season, it was very hard to find winnable games on Vanderbilt's schedule after they went 2-10 in 2023. The Commodores entered Saturday as underdogs against Virginia Tech who many considered a dark horse team in the ACC, and they considered Kyron Drones a Heisman Darkhorse. The Commodores were the better team all game but, a missed field goal attempt at the end of regulation sent this game to overtime. It was no problem for Clark Lea's team though as Vanderbilt picked up a massive win to kick off the season.

Loser: Minnesota

A few years ago, PJ Fleck was one of the hot names in coaching as his Golden Gophers teams continued to outperform expectations. Minnesota opened the season with a winnable game against the North Carolina Tarheels and fell flat. This game got even easier for Minnesota as Max Johnson suffered a season-ending injury in the first half. Instead, the Gophers lost this game after missing a second field goal.

Winners: True Freshmen

It was an action-packed Saturday and in nearly any game you turned on there were five-star freshmen making massive plays. The Nation's top recruit Jeremiah Smith electrified for the Buckeyes catching 6 passes for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns. 17-year-old Ryan Williams didn't want to be one-upped so he caught two passes for 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Teaxs' Ryan Wingo went for 70 yards on four catches while Auburn's star freshman Cam Coleman caught two passes for 62 yards and a touchdown.

It was the start of the Dylan Raiola era in Nebraska where the Freshman led the Cornhuskers to a victory passing for 238 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 19 completions. Florida Gators fans got a glimpse of the future when DJ Lagway took the field as he led the Gators on their best drive of the day.

There were five-star freshmen making contributions all over defensively including at Alabama and Georgia and we'll look forward to seeing which Freshmen continue to play as the season goes forward.

Loser: Billy Napier

When you enter the season on the hottest seat in the country, the last thing you can afford to do is get embarrassed. That is however exactly what Billy Napier did as the Gators hosted their bitter rival the Miami Hurricanes. It was a route in Florida as the Hurricanes won 41-17 and the Gators really had nothing going for them. The Canes were doing the Gator chomp all afternoon and it's more likely than not that Billy Napier is packing up his office before the end of the season.

More Stories:

Note: All stats via ESPN