College football winners, losers in Week 0: Bill Belichick's biggest college win, NC State barely shows up

It sure was nice to sit back and enjoy a Saturday of college football again without having to worry about pro-to-college eligibility rules, temporary restraining orders or other lawsuits.

Just football, all day, with actual games to consume.

Granted, Week 0 wasn't exactly a full slate, but three of Saturday's eight FBS games were within one score in the fourth quarter, providing enough drama for the opening weekend.

Bill Belichick got his first big win at North Carolina , beating TCU in Dublin in a game that said as much about the Tar Heels' underrated defense as it did about Sonny Dykes' new-look offense and the Horned Frogs being overrated.

Unlike TCU, Virginia got a big debut from its new transfer quarterback in Beau Pribula , who had a career game in a blowout win that crushed NC State's hopes of emerging as an ACC dark horse. Meanwhile, Mike Norvell's seat in Tallahassee didn't get any cooler after Florida State needed four quarters to put away New Mexico State .

Those weren't the only Power Four teams in action. No. 14 USC got an early look at how impactful its top-ranked freshman class could be in a win against San Jose State .

There were also early College Football Playoff implications in the race for the Group of Six bid. North Dakota State made its FBS debut by rolling Jacksonville State , while Memphis picked up an important win on the road against UNLV and former five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold .

Week 0 gave us plenty of first impressions, surprises and warning signs. Here are the winners and losers from the opening Saturday.

Perhaps a fitting outcome for the way TCU treated the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this week.

The Horned Frogs flew to Ireland with a revamped offensive philosophy, a new scheme under offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis and Harvard transfer Jaden Craig replacing Josh Hoover , only to produce one of the most lifeless offensive performances of the Sonny Dykes era.

TCU managed just 10 points, the fewest scored in 31 games, while Craig's 175 yards passing were their fewest since the national championship game blowout loss to Georgia at the end of the 2022 season. TCU's 27% offensive success rate was its lowest since Dykes took over in 2022.

Winning the Ireland game hasn't exactly been a springboard over the past four years, but losing it certainly has been a bad omen. Scott Frost was fired 12 days after Nebraska lost to Northwestern in 2022. Navy finished 5-7 in 2023. Florida State collapsed to 2-10 in 2024 after winning 13 games the year prior. And Kansas State started 1-3 in 2025 before Chris Klieman retired and the Wildcats skipped their bowl game.

This was about as bad of a first impression as Dykes and the Horned Frogs could have made.

It wasn't pretty, but Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels got the payback they wanted for last year's embarrassing loss to TCU in the opener. There is plenty to clean up if UNC wants to improve in 2026, but there's reason for optimism after a defense that held TCU to 286 yards and 10 points.

The Bobby Petrino influence on the offense wasn't as noticeable as expected, though sloppy conditions in Dublin played a role. Transfer quarterback Billy Edwards had his share of misfires, but tight end Jelani Thurman's emergence was a major positive with four catches for 94 yards. UNC also held a halftime lead against a Power Four opponent for the first time of the Belichick era.

This also might be the most emotion we've ever seen from Belichick on the sideline. The Tar Heels got TCU to jump offside on fourth-and-1 to clinch the win, and Belichick couldn't contain himself.

UNC gets TCU to jump on 4th & 1 to seal the deal 😤 pic.twitter.com/gaUKbiI37Y

Now comes a bye to recover from the trip to Ireland before a matchup with FCS East Tennessee State. Then the schedule gets significantly tougher: at Clemson , another bye, then Notre Dame .

A lot was made about USC's No. 1 recruiting class and how many of those freshmen could play right away. That group wasted little time making an impact in the opener.

Obviously, the opponent was San Jose State, so there were going to be opportunities for USC's young players to get on the field, but this was more than simply throwing freshmen into the mix against an overmatched team on the other side.

Receiver Trent Mosley led the way with seven catches for 118 yards and a touchdown, while fellow wideout Kayden Dixon-Wyatt added four catches for 36 yards and a score. Running back Shahn Alston also found the end zone on the ground.

USC's Trent Mosley is the first P4 freshman with 7+ receptions, 100+ yards and a TD in his debut since Purdue's Rondale Moore in 2018. pic.twitter.com/ce8MSql0ZJ

On defense, five-star edge rusher Luke Wafle also made his presence felt with a half-tackle for loss and a pass breakup.

For a program counting on its top-ranked recruiting class to help push it toward its first CFP appearance in 2026, this was an encouraging start.

There wasn't a more disappointing Week 0 showing than whatever NC State did in its 34-8 loss at Virginia. Dave Doeren had won eight consecutive season openers and was 4-0 against the Cavaliers. But this one was over by halftime.

The Wolfpack punted five times and turned the ball over twice in the first half, while Beau Pribula and the Cavaliers gashed the defense for six explosive plays.

It's only one game, and NC State can still turn this around, especially with one of the easiest schedules in the Power Four. But this has been the story of the Doeren era as he enters his 14th season.

The Wolfpack have won at least eight games eight times under Doeren and have missed a bowl just twice. Yet they have never reached 10 wins, with nine victories remaining the program's peak. They have consistently been good enough to matter in the ACC, but never quite good enough to break through.

Doeren and the Wolfpack believed this could finally be the year to change that. After Saturday, that goal already feels much more difficult to reach.

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