College football takeaways: Week 1's big moments - ESPN

Whew! Week 1's five straight days of football are in the books and provided plenty of insight about the 2024 college football season.

The freshman wide receivers? Worth the hype. Utah QB Cam Rising's return from injury? He looks as good as ever. Clemson? The Tigers could be in trouble.

ESPN's college football reporters reflect on big takeaways from Week 1.

It was a tough opening week for the ACC. With FSU already losing to Georgia Tech and now the shocking loss to Boston College, plus Clemson's lopsided loss to Georgia, the ACC champion might be the league's lone representative in a 12-team field. Winning the ACC is Florida State's only chance, as the five highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed a bid. Even that's going to be difficult after an 0-2 start to conference play. The College Football Playoff selection committee will compare teams for the seven at-large bids in the same way it did for the four-team field. Who you beat matters, along with how you look while doing it. So far, nobody in the ACC besides Miami has looked the part of a CFP contender. The gap between Clemson and Georgia is as wide as the score indicated. — Heather Dinich

In the middle of a raucous sea of cardinal and gold Sunday night in Las Vegas, Lincoln Riley and D'Anton Lynn embraced.

It was just one game and one result — a 27-20 win over No. 13 LSU Tigers in the Trojans' season opener — but the moment between USC's head coach and his chosen defensive coordinator spoke volumes.

After two seasons riddled with defensive shortcomings, a defensive coordinator firing and an offseason that included a complete overhaul of USC's defensive scheme and personnel, holding the Tigers to 20 points and coming up with a handful of key third-down stops