Week 1 of the college football season is just about wrapped up, with SMU and Florida State set to close things out on Monday night. The first week of a full slate featured several lopsided matchups, which led to some players putting up eye-popping numbers. We also saw some great individual performances in the biggest games of the week.
It’s way too early in the season to have any serious discussions about the Heisman race, but Week 1 gave us plenty of noteworthy performances from players worth keeping an eye on. Let’s take a look at the top individual player performances from Week 1 of college football.
Pitt’s sophomore quarterback was firing on all cylinders on Saturday, putting together a historic performance in which he became the first FBS quarterback since Joe Burrow to throw for 450+ yards, 7+ touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Kade Bell’s offense looked unstoppable, and it showed just how important it was for Pitt to get Heintschel back this offseason after he burst onto the scene in the second half of last year as a true freshman. With Heintschel under center and how explosive this offense looked in their opener, albeit against a MAC opponent, Pitt is a team to keep an eye on in the ACC.
Malachi Toney may have put on the most impressive showing from a wide receiver that we will see all season on Friday night. The returning ACC offensive rookie of the year surpassed 200 yards in a game for the first time in his career and made three trips to the end zone. He showed why he is one of the top players in the sport with his insane route-running ability and speed. Along with his performance came an incredible Miami debut for their transfer QB Darian Mensah, who threw for 401 yards and five touchdowns on 27-of-30 passing. This Miami offense is absolutely loaded and has the chance to be one of the historically great offenses we have ever seen in college football, and Toney and the Canes showed why in their opener at Stanford.
Sam Leavitt proved that he is the guy to lead LSU and Lane Kiffin’s offense in their rout of Clemson in the opener. Leavitt looked cool, calm, and collected and showed why he is one of the best dual-threat QBs in the sport, tying Tigers running back Dilin Jones for the team lead in rushing with the same number of yards and touchdowns, but doing so on 11 fewer carries. With the blowout, Leavitt did it all in just three quarters and let the college football world know that all the hype surrounding this LSU team heading into the season was warranted.
With two games already under Memphis’ belt, running back Jaylin Carter currently sits atop the FBS in rushing yards. That is in large part thanks to his 183 yard and four touchdown performance against Arkansas State, where he averaged 9.6 yards per carry. The Southern Miss transfer looked elusive and showed great patience as a running back. He got stronger as the game went on, and the Tigers heavily leaned on him in the second half to put away Arkansas State and move to 2-0.
Trinidad Chambliss picked up right where he left off last season in an impressive second half, making several high-level throws and leading Ole Miss to 41 points in a win over a top-25 Louisville team. Chambliss showed on Sunday night why it was so important for Ole Miss to get him back for this extra year. This was the ninth time the Heisman hopeful threw for over 300 yards as a Rebel, and he utilized his legs as well, adding 60 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown on the ground. When your team has the ball late in a game and needs points, I’m not sure there is anyone else in college football you’d rather have at QB than Trinidad Chambliss.
Duke’s Nate Sheppard was one of just two players (Braxton Woodson, Navy) to rush for 200+ yards in Week 1. The returning second-team All-ACC back, who had over 1,000 yards on the ground last season, was basically Duke’s entire offense accounting for 65% of their total yards and scoring both of their touchdowns. The Blue Devils leaned heavily on their run game, giving Sheppard the ball 35 times, and a dominant defensive performance to control the game and pick up a solid win against Tulane.
Lincoln Riley’s QB had a near-perfect performance in the Trojans second game of the season. Maiava threw for 349 yards and three touchdowns while recording only two incompletions, and he did that in just two and a half quarters. He has been taken out of both of the Trojans’ games early, and if not for that, he could have some crazy numbers right now. The Trojans’ offense and quarterback have looked very good through two games, but as always with them, it will be about how they perform in the big games later in the season.
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