College football takeaways: What we learned from Week 1 performances - ESPN

Week 1 is coming to a close, and we've seen many strong starts and some very weak ones.

A new-look Oklahoma State team under Eric Morris lost an embarrassing opener to Tulsa, and Michigan needed more than its share of good luck to scrape past Western Michigan.

Meanwhile, LSU rolled past Clemson in a statement win to begin Lane Kiffin's tenure, and Oregon got what might be a résumé-boosting victory over Boise State.

Will the Wolverines put their struggles behind them? And will the Cowboys finally win a Big 12 game?

Our college football experts break down key takeaways from Week 1 performances.

It has to be LSU. So much of the conversation before Saturday night focused on whether Lane Kiffin would play guys who spent time on NFL rosters that almost nobody talked much about what his team would look like against Clemson. Five minutes into the game, Kiffin and the Tigers had already made their statement: Forget about future additions. The roster as currently constructed seems good enough to make a College Football Playoff run.

LSU dominated Clemson so thoroughly that alums who played under Dabo Swinney called the performance «soft» in social media posts during the game. What impressed the most was LSU's reconstructed offensive line and the emergence of running back Dilin Jones, a transfer from Wisconsin who had two career touchdowns before Saturday. Against Clemson, he matched that total while rushing for 113 yards.

LSU set a program record with 38 first downs and had 644 total yards of offense, its most in a season opener since 2000. Paired with a defense that held Clemson to eight first downs and 145 total yards, while racking up four sacks and 11 tackles for loss, LSU should now be taken seriously as a contender for the