The Morning After — Week 1: Michigan’s Magical Second, Rocky Mountain Highs & LSU’s Warning Shot

College football fans have never had a problem forming an opinion.

The final whistle blows and within seconds the internet has decided your quarterback is a Heisman winner, your coach needs to be fired, the officials are corrupt, and whatever happened over the previous four hours has permanently altered the direction of the sport.

Instead of immediately shouting into that void, I wanted to try something different with my 2026 college football Week 1 reactions.

Welcome to The Morning After.

Each week, I’m going back and watching the games that created the biggest conversations, controversies and reactions from the college football weekend. Once we actually watch what happened and inform ourselves, then we can jump headfirst into the CFB madness.

Because there is nothing rational about the passion people have for their college football team.

That’s why this blog and podcast are needed.

Someone has to “educate” you on why you're wrong and why your school has absolutely no shot.

Week 1 gave us a magical extra second in Michigan, Rocky Mountain High amounts of joy in Boulder and Fort Collins, and Lane Kiffin pantsing Dabo Swinney in primetime.

College football is back.

And apparently so is complete chaos.

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Western Michigan 12, Michigan 13: Did Michigan Get Gifted One More Second?

Nobody said transforming a college football program was easy.

Doing it at Michigan makes the challenge slightly more complicated.

The Wolverines opened the Kyle Whittingham era with a Bryce Underwood rushing touchdown against Western Michigan.

Then they basically stopped scoring.

Michigan would not reach the end zone again until the officials found them an extra second at the end of the game.

We'll get there.

First, we have to acknowledge just how well Western Michigan executed the classic upset formula.

The Broncos continually made Michigan uncomfortable. The Wolverines would make a mistake, Western Michigan would capitalize. Michigan would look like it was finally ready to pull away, and the Broncos would drag them right back into an ugly football game.

Michigan finished with only 276 total yards, committed three turnovers and was flagged nine times for 80 yards.

Maybe the most ridiculous number of all?

Michigan possessed the football for just 19:52.

Western Michigan had it for 40:08.

Against Western Michigan.

That is not supposed to happen to the Wolverines in Ann Arbor.

There was only one thing keeping the Broncos from completely finishing the job.

Western Michigan Never Scored a Touchdown

That matters.

Western Michigan continually moved itself into position to make Michigan uncomfortable, but every time the Broncos approached the finish line, they settled for three.

Four field goals eventually created a 12-7 Western Michigan lead with 38 seconds remaining.

Then came the sequence that turned a weird football game into one of the biggest controversies of Week 1.

Michigan got the football back.

JJ Buchanan ripped off a big reception to move the Wolverines across midfield. Bryce Underwood eventually launched what appeared to be Michigan's final Hail Mary into the end zone.

Incomplete.

The television clock showed:

0:00.

Western Michigan had beaten Michigan.

Except apparently they hadn't.

Replay determined that a Western Michigan player had established himself out of bounds and touched the football while there was still time remaining.

Officials restored one second.

Michigan got another Hail Mary.

This time Underwood connected with Buchanan for a 47-yard touchdown.

Michigan 13.

Western Michigan 12.

Good night.

Was Western Michigan Robbed?

If you're a Western Michigan fan, I understand the anger.

When everybody watching the national television broadcast sees the clock hit zero and then gets told that the game actually isn't over, you're going to have questions.

You probably should have questions.

But here's where I'm going to ruin part of the outrage.

Western Michigan never scored a touchdown.

The Broncos had four quarters to complete the upset. They repeatedly exposed Michigan's flaws. They controlled possession. They forced turnovers. They had the Wolverines on the ropes.

They never delivered the knockout blow.

The controversial second may have given Michigan one final opportunity, but Western Michigan had plenty of opportunities to make that second irrelevant.

The Bigger Problem Is Michigan

The officiating debate is going to get the clicks.

Michigan's actual performance should scare Wolverines fans more.

Underwood finished 12-of-22 for 170 yards, one passing touchdown and one interception while adding 47 rushing yards and another score.

There were flashes.

There were also plenty of reminders that this is still a young quarterback operating an offense that is nowhere close to finished.

Michigan was sloppy, inconsistent and unable to control a game against an opponent it should have physically overwhelmed.

The Wolverines survived.

I'm not convinced they solved anything.

And everyone in Norman, Oklahoma watched the exact same game.

John Mateer and the Sooners aren't Western Michigan.

If Michigan plays like this again, no magical second is saving them.

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Colorado 14, Georgia Tech 13: Wait…Colorado Can Run the Ball?

Colorado went 327 days without winning a football game.

Maybe the most surprising part of finally ending that streak was how the Buffaloes did it.

The Colorado team I watched against Georgia Tech looked almost 180 degrees different from what we've come to expect during the Deion Sanders era.

They ran the football.

Then they ran it again.

Then they kept running it until I started wondering whether somebody had stolen Deion's headset.

Colorado finished with 49 rushing attempts for 183 yards.

At one point, the Buffaloes called 15 consecutive running plays.

Fifteen.

Meanwhile, Georgia Tech finished with roughly 50 yards on the ground.

For a program that has spent much of the Deion era associated with quarterbacks, receivers, explosiveness and chaos, Colorado suddenly looked willing to win a fistfight.

I loved it.

Julian Lewis Wasn't Great — Until Colorado Needed Him to Be

Nobody needs to pretend Julian Lewis dominated this game.

He didn't.

Lewis finished 14-of-27 for 124 yards and one touchdown.

For most of the afternoon, he was inconsistent.

But quarterback evaluation can't completely live inside a box score.

Colorado trailed 13-7 late in the fourth quarter.

That's when Lewis finally delivered.

The freshman quarterback led an eight-play, 75-yard drive and found Charlie Williams for a 20-yard touchdown with 42 seconds remaining.

That's the possession I care about.

You don't have to tell me Lewis was brilliant for four quarters. He wasn't.

But when Colorado needed 75 yards to win a road football game, its young quarterback delivered 75 yards.

You learn something from that.

And Then Boo Carter Finished It

Because apparently Colorado football remains contractually obligated to make everything dramatic, Georgia Tech immediately came back down the field.

The Yellow Jackets worked themselves into position for a potential 45-yard game-winning field goal.

Three seconds remained.

Boo Carter blocked it.

Ballgame.

Colorado had its first road victory in seven tries.

And Buffs fans suddenly had something they hadn't been given much of over the previous year:

Hope.

There is plenty worth liking.

Colorado looked more physical.

The Buffaloes committed to running the football.

The defense made plays when it absolutely had to.

And Lewis responded when the game finally landed on his shoulders.

That doesn't mean I'm ready to declare Colorado "back."

Colorado Fans: Enjoy It, But Keep the Emergency Brake Handy

CU gets Weber State next and then Northwestern.

That's a nice runway for this team to prove that Atlanta wasn't a one-off.

Show me the running game again.

Show me the physicality again.

Show me Lewis continuing to grow.

Give me a couple more weeks before I decide exactly what this version of Colorado is.

For now?

Winning ugly beats losing pretty every single time.

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Wyoming 13, Colorado State 35: Jim Mora Has My Attention

This might have been my favorite result of Week 1.

Partially because I genuinely like what Colorado State is building.

And partially because Wyoming fans have spent time in our comments attempting to convince me that Laramie is somehow less of a shit hole than Fort Collins.

You can say a lot of things.

You will not disrespect my state like that.

Jim Mora Jr. walked into his first game as Colorado State's head coach with about as much pressure as you can possibly cram into one Saturday.

Season opener.

Border War.

First game of CSU's new Pac-12 era.

More than 40,000 people inside Canvas Stadium, including roughly 17,000 students.

And the Rams didn't squeak past Wyoming.

They kicked their ass.

Colorado State won 35-13, reclaiming the Bronze Boot and earning its first season-opening victory since 2017.

More importantly, Fort Collins looked like a place that desperately wants meaningful college football again.

Hauss Hejny Looked Like Vintage Bradley Van Pelt

Then there is Hauss Hejny.

This dude looked like somebody found an old Bradley Van Pelt VHS tape, shoved it into the CSU football facility and said:

"Do this."

Hejny finished:

• 23-of-33 passing
• 214 yards
• Five touchdown passes
• 39 rushing yards
• Zero interceptions

And the performance was better than just reading the numbers.

He looked comfortable.

He moved well.

He made decisions.

The offense had creativity.

Most importantly, the offense looked like it had a plan.

For a quarterback making only his second collegiate start, that's encouraging as hell.

Colorado State Got Punched — Then Punched Back Harder

This is the sequence that mattered most to me.

CSU led 14-3.

Wyoming responded and cut the deficit to 14-13 coming out of halftime.

That's when rivalry games get weird.

The crowd gets nervous.

Momentum shifts.

A new coaching staff suddenly has to deal with adversity.

So what did Colorado State do?

The Rams scored 21 unanswered points.

That's what impressed me.

CSU didn't panic.

They didn't allow the Border War to turn into complete chaos.

They took control of the game and finished Wyoming.

So Who Was More Impressive: CSU or CU?

This is the argument I want in the comments.

What impressed you more?

Colorado State dominating a weaker rival?

Or:

Colorado pulling magic out of its ass on the road against Georgia Tech?

There is a legitimate argument for both.

Colorado beat the better opponent away from home and showed a completely different physical identity.

Colorado State played the more complete football game and looked significantly more polished.

If you're asking which Colorado team I came out of Week 1 feeling best about, though?

I'm going with CSU.

We'll come back to that.

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Clemson 10, LSU 51: Hide the Children

Before we talk about our final Week 1 game, please check your surroundings.

Make sure there are no innocent children reading over your shoulder.

What LSU did to Clemson was not PG.

Hell, I'm not sure it was PG-13.

This was an ass kicking.

And somehow the 51-10 final score doesn't fully explain how lopsided the football game actually was.

LSU finished with:

644 total yards.

94 offensive plays.

51 points.

Clemson?

145 yards.

48 offensive plays.

10 points.

At halftime LSU led 31-3.

LSU had accumulated 336 yards.

Clemson had 54.

LSU had 21 first downs.

Clemson had one.

One.

At that point you're not losing a football game.

You're being introduced to another weight class.

Lane Kiffin Unleashed Sam Leavitt

Sam Leavitt threw an early interception.

Then LSU essentially spent the rest of the night committing football crimes.

Leavitt finished with 230 passing yards and a touchdown, but his legs were what should terrify future LSU opponents.

He added 113 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Now put that ability inside a Lane Kiffin offense.

Good luck.

LSU looked fast.

LSU looked physical.

LSU looked deep.

LSU looked like a team capable of becoming a serious national championship problem.

One game doesn't crown anybody.

But you couldn't possibly ask for a louder opening statement.

Dabo Swinney vs. Modern College Football

This game also felt like something bigger than one score.

Look at the two sidelines.

On one stood Dabo Swinney.

Continuity.

Traditional roster building.

Culture.

A philosophy that helped create one of the defining college football programs of the previous era.

Across from him stood Lane Kiffin.

Aggressive transfer-portal use.

Roster turnover.

Adaptation.

Embracing basically every uncomfortable reality that modern college football has created.

Then Kiffin's LSU team beat Clemson 51-10.

It was the worst loss of Swinney's Clemson tenure.

That doesn't erase Dabo's championships.

It doesn't mean everything he built suddenly means nothing.

But it does raise a question Clemson fans can no longer dismiss:

Has college football changed faster than Clemson has?

Because old college football isn't coming back.

The transfer portal isn't going away.

Player movement isn't going away.

Roster churn isn't going away.

The sport has changed.

You either adapt with it, or eventually somebody who has adapted is going to show up and make you look ancient.

Saturday night, Clemson looked ancient.

LSU has my attention.

Clemson has my concern.

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My Biggest Week 1 Takeaway: Colorado State Might Be Legit

Yes.

After watching LSU score 51 points against Clemson, I'm choosing Colorado State as the team I feel best about coming out of this exercise.

Context matters.

We already knew LSU had enormous talent.

What exactly Colorado State would look like under Jim Mora Jr. was much harder to predict.

We've spent the offseason asking whether the Rams could actually become something under Mora.

After one week?

I want to see more.

Let's be extremely clear before CSU fans start planning trips to championship games:

I am not crowning Colorado State after beating Wyoming.

Relax.

But look at what's coming.

Southern Utah.

BYU.

UTSA.

If the Rams navigate that stretch and reach Pac-12 play at 3-1, suddenly we're having a very different conversation about this season.

That's significant.

And that's exactly what I want The Morning After to become.

Not a recap of every college football score.

Not 15 generic takeaways because 15 makes a good headline.

I want to find the games everybody is arguing about, actually watch them, and figure out what mattered.

Week 1 delivered.

Michigan won and somehow made me feel worse about Michigan.

Colorado survived and may have discovered an entirely new identity.

Colorado State dominated and gave Fort Collins a reason to dream again.

LSU walked into primetime and absolutely annihilated one of the defining programs of the last decade.

And somewhere in Ann Arbor, apparently, there is still one second left on the clock.

College football is unbelievably stupid.

God, I missed it.

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The Morning After Week 1 Questions

Who impressed you more: Colorado State dominating Wyoming or Colorado pulling magic out of its ass against Georgia Tech?

Did Michigan actually deserve that final second?

And after LSU's 51-10 destruction of Clemson, is Dabo Swinney officially in trouble—or are we overreacting after one week?

Let me know.

We'll do it all again next Sunday.