College football Week 1 takeaways: Time to stop the Arch Manning hype

Even though there were college football games a week ago, things really got rolling on Saturday with what felt like the first true week of the season. It is officially Week 1, and here are some of the biggest takeaways from Saturday's action.

1. Stop making declarations on Arch Manning

Coming into this season, Texas quarterback Arch Manning was being heralded as the next quarterback megastar. He was a Heisman Trophy contender. He was the presumed No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. He was the best quarterback college football has seen since Tim Tebow. 

And after one bad game against the reigning national champions, in their house, in a wildly tough environment, everything has completely changed and the hot takes are flowing in the opposite direction.

Here's the thing about Arch Manning — we don't know what he is. Nobody does. Everybody thinks they know, and everybody has an expectation, but his story has not been written yet. He has started three games in his college career, and only one of them has come against top competition. 

Making any sort of bold claim on what he is at this point is just hot-takery for the sake of hot-takery. He still might be the best quarterback in college football. He might go No. 1 overall. Or he might stink. Nobody knows. It's up to him to show us. He has not had the chance to do that yet. 

2. Early soft scheduling hurts fans

It's understandable why teams schedule soft opponents early in the season. Nobody wants to risk playing a game they might lose, especially given how much a bad loss can hurt their playoff chances. It's also a good tune-up for teams without a preseason. But it's also insulting to fans paying money to see games that everybody knows are not going to be competitive. The most egregious example of this came with Pitt playing Duquesne and Penn State playing Nevada. Pitt and Penn State renewing their Keystone state rivalry would have been a great opening for both fan bases and brought real national attention to a great rivalry. Instead, both teams rolled over teams that did not belong on the same field as them. Who benefits from any of that?

3. Lee Corso got a perfect send-off

Lee Corso's final appearance on "College Gameday" was everything it should have been and the perfect send-off to an unmatched broadcasting career.