Week 1 was a cool drink in the desert for thirsty college football fans who waded through months of court cases and injunctions to reach the regular season. It was a mixed bag for the 11 FBS programs from the Lone Star State that played over the weekend. TCU was idle and SMU doesn’t play until Monday night against Florida State. 

Texas, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M rolled. As did Houston. Baylor came two inches from pulling a come-from-behind upset over Auburn in D.J. Lagway’s debut. UTSA and Rice were the only G6 teams to win and both of those victories were over FCS programs. Texas State and UTEP were trounced by SEC powerhouses. North Texas played honorably against the defending national champs. And Sam Houston fell short on the road against Troy. 

Let’s look around the state of Texas and examine a few things that stood out across the college football landscape. From Houston’s impressive transfers to the Lagway experience to special teams struggles at UTEP and everywhere in between. 

The Big Three roll 

There is a clear separation at the top of the state in the FBS ranks with Texas, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M ranked in the top 12 of the preseason AP Poll. The Aggies and the Red Raiders made the CFP last year. The Horns reached the semifinals in 2023 and 2024. And all three hold CFP expectations and conference championship aspirations heading into the season. All three looked the part in blowout wins against overmatched competition in Week 1. 

Steve Sarkisian said he hired Will Muschamp because he believes that the players that Texas possesses can go make plays. And Muschamp is a defensive coordinator who lets his dogs hunt, implying that former defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkoski’s defense wasn’t aggressive enough. Coach Boom’s defense looked the part in the 59-7 win over Texas State. Sure, the unit allowed 349 yards, but it also forced three turnovers, scored a defensive touchdown, and recorded eight sacks. 

Texas Tech put in a workmanlike shift in a 33-10 win over Abilene Christian. QB Will Hammond is still clearly knocking off some rust after a long rehab on his knee but he was efficient through the air with 298 yards and a touchdown on 26-of-33 passing. The Red Raiders were purposeful about not using his legs. The formula in Lubbock this year might be boring. Run the ball behind the backfield law firm of Dickey, Williams, & Joyner. Lean on Shiel Wood’s reloaded defense. Dominate on special teams (can’t allow kick returns for touchdowns). And hope Hammond and the passing attack improves with each week. That might be enough to win the Big 12. 

The Aggies outgained Missouri State 505-67 in the 50-0 win. A dominant performance on the scoreboard, even if it didn’t always look that way in the first half. Texas A&M squandered red zone chances and left points on the board in the second quarter because of a fumble and a field goal. The offense did score on its final seven possessions, including five touchdown drives in a row at one point. The defense forced six three-and-outs and the average Missouri State drive was for six yards.  

Baylor bounced by Auburn 

Baylor fans lived the entire D.J. Lagway experience during his first game as a Bear. Arm talent. Turnovers. Injury. Grit. The Florida transfer lived up to his reputation – good and bad – in the 17-16 loss to Auburn in Atlanta. His first Baylor start began with a fumble on the first drive and an interception on the next. It ended with two scoring drives of 13 and 14 plays, respectively, before his completion on a two-point conversion ended two inches shy of the end zone and a win. 

Lagway, who was on one leg for much of the game, finished 27-of-54 for 333 yards and two touchdowns to that one interception. Baylor’s inability to block Auburn put Lagway under duress and limited the Bears in the run game. They averaged just 2.3 yards a carry on 45 attempts and didn’t record a run over 10 yards. 

And while Lagway impressed at times, the most impressive debut for a new Bear was by defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman. His defense kept Baylor in the game while a hobbled Lagway found his footing. The unit registered 11 tackles for loss, including five sacks, while holding Auburn to 3.2 yards a rush. 

The good news for Baylor is that the next two opponents are Prairie View A&M and Louisiana Tech. Maybe Lagway can rest up for Big 12 play, which starts Sept. 26 at home against Colorado. The bad news is that he finds himself in a familiar situation – hampered. 

Houston’s transfers hit in win 

Ball knowers understand that Willie Fritz is one of the best head coaches in football over the last 30 years. More and more are starting to realize that his son, Wes, is one of the best general managers in the game, even if he doesn’t want the title. The Fritz Family is all about football, all the time. That helps when it comes to the transfer portal. And the early returns from the 2026 haul were impressive. 

Running back Makhi Hughes, who starred for Fritz and OC Slade Nagle at Tulane, averaged 5.8 yards and led the Coogs with 98 yards on the ground. He ran through holes opened by transfer offensive linemen Anthony Boswell and Shadre Hurst. Tight end Patrick Overmyer was second on the team with six catches for 84 yards. Jaden Yates and Jalen Mayo – both transfers – were the team’s top tacklers. Javion White led the defense with two sacks from his safety position. 

That’s seven instant impact transfers making noise in Week 1. Oregon State made it interesting late, but Houston looked in control throughout and did nothing to persuade us from believing this is a Top 20 team in the country with a real chance to reach the Big 12 Championship game.  

Mean Green impress in loss 

Neal Brown’s reward for taking the North Texas job was retooling a roster in 10 days over winter break and then starting his tenure on the road against defending national champion Indiana and Curt Cignetti. The Mean Green entered Memoria Stadium as 40.5-point underdogs. They left Bloomington with their heads held high after an impressive performance, especially on offense. 

North Texas’ first four possessions lasted at least nine plays. The offense didn’t go 3-and-out until the fourth quarter. Four of their first five drives ended in scoring opportunities and the other was a turnover on downs after a 12-play drive. The Mean Green only punted twice in the loss. Tayven Jackson, who came back from an apparent injury in the second half, was 22-of-28 through the air. The rushing attack averaged four yards a carry. The wide receivers accounted for 114 yards after the catch. 

The North Texas defense allowed Indiana to score on eight of its nine drives but that might be more about Josh Hoover and the Hoosier offense than any indicator about the Mean Green. We’ll find out more about that side of the ball in the next two weeks in games against UNLV and Texas State. 

Indiana is known for embarrassing opponents. But Brown and his Mean Green looked like a competent, feisty G6 team with a chance to be a surprise in the American Conference. He was a slam dunk hire back in December. He proved why in the first game at the helm. It might not happen in 2026, but the Mean Green will be back in conference championship games sooner rather than later. 

UTEP’s special problem 

The Miner faithful didn’t expect their team to emerge from a Week 1 trip to Norman with a win over the nationally ranked Sooners. But there was hope that the small details would be ironed out on special teams after two years of frustrations. If the 51-0 loss to Oklahoma is any indication, special teams will continue to be a problem for UTEP. 

The Miners missed two field goals, including one after a delay of game made it become a 50-yard attempt, allowed a punt return for a touchdown, and shanked a punt that set up an Oklahoma scoring drive. All in the first half. Carlos Arreola missed three field goals in the loss. He was 3-of-6 last season. Punter Brady Braun averaged 36 yards a boot. There was nothing to speak of in the return game. 

Scotty Walden’s group entered as a 40.5-point underdog against an SEC team that returns its starting quarterback and boasts one of the top defenses in the country, so it is not necessary to be overly harsh. We’ll have plenty of upcoming data points to judge the Miners once Mountain West play starts. 

But in a crucial Year 3 for Walden, this performance didn’t provide any optimism that the program is turning a corner. Up next is a must-win game over FCS Texas Southern and then another brutal road trip to Michigan. AD Jim Senter says that the games against Oklahoma and Michigan will bring in over $3 million, but the cost could outweigh those dollars if the Miners are beaten to a pulp by the time conference play starts. 

Texas State, UTSA enter Week 2 clash after different experiences 

Would you rather be a Roadrunner squad coming off a confidence-building win over UTRGV at home or a Texas State program that will feel like they’re swinging a bat without a donut weighing it down when they host UTSA in Week 2? The Bobcats were blitzed by a Texas team that might be the most talented in the country. UTSA rolled against an FCS program, but Jeff Traylor’s squad will see a much better team in San Marcos. 

Get me to Week 2. I’m not sure we learned much about either team in Week 1. We’ll know everything about both teams by 5 p.m. on Saturday. 

Owls ground Houston Christian 

Rice ran the ball 70 times for 465 yards and four touchdowns in the 31-3 win over Houston Christian. You read that right. The Owls only attempted 10 passes, completing only four for 28 yards. Four different Rice players ran the ball at least 10 times. Eleven different Owls rushed the ball at least once. Incredible. 

Star running back Quinton Jackson did stay on the ground holding his left knee after a touchdown run in the second half and that’s something to monitor on South Main. Rice wants to spread the ball around and the young duo of Tyvonn Byars and D’Andre Hardeman was impressive – as was new starting QB Jacurri Brown’s legs – but Jackson is the team’s best weapon and the Owls need him healthy to make noise. 

Sam Houston loses slugfest 

The Bearkats looked lost at times in Year 1 under Phil Longo. They looked much improved in a 24-21 loss to a solid Troy team on Saturday night. Landyn Locke completed 30-of-46 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns to just one interception. He had four receivers catch at least four passes, including seven by Grady O’Neill. 

The bad on offense was a run game that only averaged 3.5 yards an attempt even when sack adjusted. Sam Houston scored touchdowns on two of its first four possessions and then didn’t score again until there was 1:03 left in the game. 

Defensively, Sam Houston looked much more talented than last season. The unit recorded eight tackles for loss, including four sacks. They forced a three-and-out on four of Troy’s 13 drives. 

Moral wins over Sun Belt teams aren’t real so this loss will sting in Huntsville because it was there for the taking. But that performance provided more positives than negatives and gives Longo’s team something to build on, which was rare in his first season. 

Tarleton State takes another scalp 

The next FCS program in the state of Texas to make the move to FBS will be Tarleton State and the Texans continue to prove they belong. They knocked off Bowling Green on the road, 20-13, to improve to 2-0 on the season. It was the second straight year that Todd Whitten’s program has knocked off an FBS program after beating Army in 2025. 

And it wasn’t a fluke. Tarleton looked like the FBS program while Bowling Green looked like the team hoping to pull the upset late. The Texans outrushed BG, 258-103. They gained 464 yards and averaged 8.14 yards per game. Kaden Anderson was 16-of-24 for 206 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Tylan Hines was the star, rushing for 250 yards and adding 47 more on the ground. 

Tarleton entered the game ranked No. 5 in the FCS polls and started the year in Week 0 with a win over Prairie View A&M. A 12-0 regular season is now a realistic expectation in Stephenville. The rest of the non-conference slate includes McNeese, Merrimack, and Chicago State. The big UAC game circled on everyone’s calendar is on Nov. 7 at home against Abilene Christian. 

The question for the Texans is if they can make noise deep into the FCS playoffs. And, for how long they’ll stay at this level. Conference USA lost a Texas team when UTEP bolted for the Mountain West. The Sun Belt is without a Texas presence now that Texas State is in the Pac-12. Tarleton will be an attractive option the next time musical chairs get played in conference realignment.  dd

FBS Scores 

Oklahoma 51, UTEP 0 (Friday) 
Texas 59, Texas State 7
Indiana 52, North Texas 16
Houston 33, Oregon State 20
Auburn 17, Baylor 16
UTSA 45, UTRGV 16 
Texas A&M 50, Missouri State 0
Texas Tech 33, Abilene Christian 10
Troy 24, Sam Houston 21
Rice 31, Houston Christian 3

Note: SMU plays Monday against Florida State; TCU was idle after losing to North Carolina in Week 0.