College football is officially back. Week 0 didn’t give us the massive slate we’ll get once Week 1 kicks off, but it gave us more than enough to talk about. We got questionable coaching decisions, late-game chaos, multiple overtime thrillers and an intriguing quarterback performance that caught my attention immediately.
Here are my biggest takeaways from Week 0.
TCU Has Some Serious Cleaning Up to Do
There’s losing a football game, and then there’s finding ways to lose one. TCU fell firmly into the second category against North Carolina. The Horned Frogs had opportunities to put themselves in position to win, but poor discipline and questionable decision-making ultimately proved costly.
The biggest coaching decision came while trailing by five. TCU had an opportunity to take the points and cut the deficit to two, but instead elected to keep the offense on the field. The gamble didn’t pay off, and that decision became even more painful considering how the game eventually played out.
Then came the mistake you simply cannot make: jumping offsides late and giving North Carolina the opportunity it needed to close the door. Those are the details that separate winning and losing in close college football games. Talent can get you into position, but discipline and situational football finish the job. TCU failed in both areas.
For North Carolina, it means something much different. Bill Belichick has his first signature win at UNC. There will be plenty of discussion throughout the season about what Belichick’s college experiment ultimately looks like, but winning a game like this is an important early step. UNC survived a close game, capitalized on its opponent’s mistakes and walked away with a win that gives the program some early momentum.
FCS Football Delivered Absolute Chaos
If you ignored the FCS games during Week 0, you missed some of the best football of the weekend. Multiple games turned into complete chaos late, with overtimes, dramatic comebacks and teams completely flipping games with less than a minute remaining.
It was the perfect reminder of what makes college football different from almost every other sport. There doesn’t need to be a playoff contender on the field for a game to become must-watch television. Week 0 was especially fun because of that unpredictability. One possession could completely change the game, and several teams that looked finished suddenly found themselves with another opportunity.
The bigger programs will dominate the conversation once the full schedule arrives, but the FCS gave us an incredible opening act. College football is back, and apparently it decided to skip the warm-up.
North Dakota State Makes Its First FBS Statement
North Dakota State spent years dominating the FCS, and apparently the jump to the FBS isn’t going to intimidate the Bison. In their first game since moving up to college football’s highest level, NDSU immediately looked like a program that belongs.
That’s what makes North Dakota State such an interesting team to follow this season. This isn’t a traditional FCS call-up trying to slowly build toward competing at the next level. The Bison arrived with one of the strongest winning cultures in college football after winning 10 FCS national championships since 2011, and there was always a legitimate question of how quickly that success would translate against a full FBS schedule.
Week 0 gave us our first answer: don’t expect North Dakota State to act like the new kid.
There will obviously be much tougher tests once Mountain West play begins, but making a statement immediately in your FBS debut is exactly how you want to start this new era. NDSU spent years proving it was too good to be viewed as just another FCS program. Now it finally gets the opportunity to prove it every Saturday at the FBS level.
Is Beau Pribula This Year’s Haynes King?
One of the players I’m most interested in watching going forward is Beau Pribula, and there’s a comparison that immediately came to mind: Haynes King.
Not necessarily because the two quarterbacks are identical players, but because of what Pribula can add to an offense with his legs. The designed quarterback run game stood out. We saw multiple power reads and option concepts that forced the defense to account for Pribula as a legitimate rushing threat rather than simply a quarterback capable of scrambling when a play breaks down.
There’s a major difference between those two things. When the quarterback becomes a designed part of the rushing attack, the numbers change for the defense. Defensive ends have to hesitate, linebackers have another assignment to process and one bad read can create an explosive play.
Pribula also showed something Haynes King has made a major part of his game: he isn’t afraid of contact. He’ll lower his shoulder and take a hit if that’s what it takes to move the chains. There’s obviously a balance that has to be found there because your quarterback needs to survive an entire season, but that toughness becomes incredibly valuable in short-yardage situations and late in games.
King has shown how difficult a quarterback with that mentality and rushing ability can be to defend. If Pribula continues developing as a passer while remaining this dangerous in the designed quarterback run game, he could become one of the most interesting quarterbacks to follow this season.
How Much More of Mike Norvell Can Florida State Take?
Florida State survived Week 0 with a win, but that might be about the nicest thing you can say about its performance. Against a New Mexico State team that FSU should have handled comfortably, the Seminoles instead found themselves in a fight that raised even more questions about the direction of Mike Norvell’s program.
That’s the problem for Norvell at this point. Florida State shouldn’t need to celebrate simply escaping games like this. The Seminoles have significantly more resources, talent and expectations than New Mexico State, yet there was never the sense that FSU was completely in control the way a program of its caliber should be against this level of opponent.
It also comes at a point where patience in Tallahassee has already been tested. Norvell proved he could build a contender during Florida State’s undefeated 2023 regular season, but the program has struggled to maintain that trajectory. At some point, the conversation has to move beyond what Florida State accomplished three years ago and toward what the program looks like right now.
One ugly win in Week 0 isn’t enough to decide Norvell’s future, but performances like this only make the pressure heavier. Florida State escaped with the result it needed. The bigger question is how many more performances like this the Seminoles can have before simply winning isn’t enough.
How much more of the Mike Norvell era can Florida State take?
Week 0 Final Thoughts
Week 0 was only the appetizer. TCU showed exactly how quickly poor discipline and questionable situational decisions can turn a winnable game into a loss. Bill Belichick picked up an important early win at North Carolina, while the FCS reminded everyone that some of the craziest games on Saturdays aren’t always happening between ranked teams.
And Beau Pribula may have introduced himself as one of this season’s quarterbacks worth keeping an eye on. Now the real slate arrives.
Week 1 is next.