The return of lopsided scoreboards is back.
Teams around the country took the football field for the first time in Week 1 over the weekend, and the grind continues when No. 9 Clemson plays at Duke on Monday night.
Perhaps no team other than Colorado stole the headlines both through its win and through statistical means as the Buffaloes totaled 565 yards.
No team racked up as many yards as Oregon as the Ducks put on 729 yards of offense against Portland State — and they scored 81 points to boot.
Here are some of the top statistical performances from Week 1.
Dillon Gabriel and Jackson Arnold, Oklahoma
The Sooners had a 73-point margin of victory over Arkansas State, and a large part of the Oklahoma offense came from the quarterbacks.
Gabriel himself had a 19-for-22 day along with 308 passing yards and a rushing touchdown. He had touchdown passes of 10 and 9 yards and had a stretch of 10-consecutive completions during the first half.
After the first two quarters, Gabriel’s day finished to make way for five-star freshman Jackson Arnold. The 6-foot-1 freshman made an impact of his own.
Arnold went a perfect 11-for-11 on his passes and had 114 passing yards.
Gabriel and Arnold’s combined 30-for-33 or 90.9% completion rate set the Oklahoma program record for a single game.
Travis Hunter, Colorado
Hunter played well enough to earn a spot on either side of the football.
The 6-foot-1 standout athlete played both cornerback and wide receiver for the Buffaloes, amassing over 110 snaps throughout Colorado’s game against No. 17 TCU.
Hunter caught 11 passes to tie for the team lead. He hauled in 119 yards to average 10.8 per catch, and he converted first downs on each of his final six receptions, each going for at least 11 yards.
He became the first Football Bowl Subdivision player in the last 20 seasons to have 8 receptions and an interception on defense in the same game, according to Heather Dinich and ESPN Stats and Info.
Hunter acknowledged that he didn’t have a touchdown, but he let his interception speak for itself. It came at the goal line in the third quarter as TCU threatened once again to take the lead trailing 24-21. He tallied three tackles and a pass break-up defensively.
Hunter’s two-way play gained the attention of many after the first full week of college football. He’ll have the chance again to flash his ability when Colorado takes on Nebraska.
J.J. McCarthy, Michigan
Michigan nearly had a shutout if not for a last-second field goal by East Carolina.
Returning after taking the starting job early in the 2022 season, McCarthy set the tone for his 2023 campaign by impressing against the Pirates in the season-opener.
McCarthy connected on a 3-yard gain with Donovan Edwards on his first pass before missing Roman Wilson on his second.
Then, McCarthy completed 15-straight throws as Michigan took a 23-0 halftime lead. He finished 26-of-30 and his 280 passing yards were the third-most of his career.
McCarthy also supported his head coach Jim Harbaugh who served the first of a three-game suspension due to alleged recruiting violations. He even sported a “Free Harbaugh” shirt as he walked into the stadium.
Kris Mitchell, FIU
Mitchell is this week’s leading receiver, hauling in 201 yards in Florida International University’s 14-12 win over Maine.
The Panthers only needed two touchdowns to secure victory over the Black Bears, and Mitchell had both of them in the first half.
Mitchell hauled in a 19-yard score on FIU’s second offensive drive to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead. His second touchdown was Mitchell’s longest of the game, taking a 62-yard heave from quarterback Keyone Jenkins and finding wide open space along the left side of the hash marks to take it back to the opposite end zone.
Mitchell’s 201-yard performance is the single highest in a game this season. He had catches of 62, 46 and 31 yards among his nine receptions, which led FIU.
Mitchell had just one reception for two yards during Week 0 play against Louisiana Tech. Suffice to say he had a big performance this week against Maine.
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
The Buffaloes quarterback played outstanding and found enough answers to help Colorado score 45 points and beat the ranked Horned Frogs in the season-opener.
Sanders threw for a program-record 510 yards against TCU. He seemingly had ease finding threads and holes in the TCU defense to complete passes over the middle and down the field.
Colorado had four receivers catch over 100 yards in the game against TCU. It never had more than two receivers do so in a game before.
Sanders found Dylan Edwards who sprung for a 46-yard touchdown to give Colorado the go-ahead score and lead it needed to seal the win. It was one of Sanders’ four touchdowns he threw, one away from tying his career high.
