Welcome to the ABCs of college football in the state of Texas.

Every Monday, Mike Craven from Dave Campbell’s Texas Football will walk you through quick-hitters from an action-packed weekend of football. 

Week 1 featured Texas taking care of business and UTSA winning its second ever game against Power Five competition, as well as a few herculean individual performances in wins and losses. 

Awatt – UTEP became the first 2-0 squad in Texas for the 2021 regular season with a 38-28 victory over Bethune-Cookman, which sounds more like a funeral home than a college. In the win, junior running back Ronald Awatt, a Lubbock native, rushed for 126 yards on 19 carries. Awatt has 200 yards rushing through two games.  

Bijan – Expectations are high for the sophomore running back at Texas. The former five-star recruit expects a heavier load under Steve Sarkisian, and that trend started Saturday in the 20-point win over Louisiana. He ran the ball 20 times for 103 yards and a touchdown. Robinson added 73 yards and a score on four catches.  

Cuero, stand up! – Fans of high school football know that Texas wide receiver Jordan Whittington is capable of heroic performances when healthy. He hasn’t stayed healthy in college, but he showed his potential in the opener on Saturday with a career-high seven catches for 113 yards and a score. If he can stay healthy, Whittington is the X-Factor for the Texas offense.  

Deandre – North Texas rolled past Northwestern State on Saturday, winning 44-14 in large part because of the 244 yards and three touchdowns on 25 attempts by running back Deandre Torrey. That’s nearly 10 yards a carry for the senior.  

Eric the Great – Sam Houston State won a championship in May and were back on the field to start its second season of 2021 on Thursday in a 42-16 victory over Northern Arizona. Quarterback Eric Schmid looked ready with 268 yards passing and three touchdowns. He also added 29 yards rushing. 

Frogs – It’s hard to derive any opinions from a 45-3 victory over Duquesne, but TCU looked like the dominant squad and that’s what matters in lopsided matchups early in the season.  

Grit – That’s normally not a word associated with Texas Tech football, but it is appropriate following the 38-21 victory over Houston. Texas Tech was down 14-0 before it even touched the football. In the second half, the Red Raiders outscored Houston 31-0.  

Hudson and Haynes – Quarterbacks Hudson Card (Texas) and Haynes King (Texas A&M) made their first college starts over the weekend. The two gunslingers will forever be linked and might be the two starters the first time Texas and Texas A&M meet as SEC opponents. Card was more consistent in his start against Louisiana, throwing zero interceptions compared to three by King.  

Interceptions - Houston was up 14-0 against Texas Tech after the first quarter, but only managed seven points the rest of the game. The big reason for the offensive struggles were the four interceptions thrown by Cougar quarterback Clayton Tune.  

James – Lamar cruised to a Week 1 victory with a 47-3 win over North American. Lamar running back James Jones scored twice on his 10 carries. Twelve different Lamar players registered a rushing attempt in the victory. As a group, they averaged 4.7 yards per carry.   

King – Houston Baptist covered the spread in a 10-point loss to New Mexico. The star of the game for Houston Baptist was wide receiver Charles King, who caught seven balls for 64 yards and a touchdown. 

Leon – Leon O’Neal never lacked confidence and his play at safety for Texas A&M is starting to measure up to his passion for football. In the win over Kent State, O’Neal intercepted two passes and recorded a tackle for loss. He returned one of those interceptions 85 yards for a touchdown. 

Mordecai – Oklahoma transfer Tanner Mordecai set a school record with seven touchdown passes in his debut at SMU in a 56-9 route over Abilene Christian. It was Mordecai’s first start since 2017 at Waco Midway. 

Nathaniel – It was a forgettable performance by Houston following the first quarter in the 38-21 loss to Texas Tech. Houston wide receiver Nathaniel Dell caught seven passes for 80 yards and a score in the defeat.  

Ochaun – TCU needs an improved pass rush to make waves in the Big 12. The best pass rusher on the team is Ochaun Mathis. The junior from Manor recorded the Horned Frogs’ only sack in the win on Saturday.  

Pitre – Talks about the Baylor defense often begin Terrel Bernard or Raleigh Texada, and for good reason, but senior safety Jalen Pitre deserves more attention. He posted five tackles and a team-high two for loss in the win over Texas State.  

Quarterback rotation - Wiley Green became the seventh different opening day starter at quarterback for the Owls in the last seven seasons. Transfer Luke McCaffrey also played multiple series throughout the game at quarterback. Rice needs to find a true No. 1 starter at quarterback and let him build rhythm. My pick is McCaffrey.  

Ready to roll – The 12 FBS schools in Texas went a combined 9-3 in Week 1 and two of those losses came against in-state competition with Houston falling to Texas Tech and Texas State losing to Baylor.  

Sneed – Baylor is historically at its best with elite wide receivers drawing double teams and R.J. Sneed is the most likely candidate to demand extra attention for the Bears. He caught six passes for 92 yards in the win over Texas State.  

Two-headed monsters – The state of Texas is stacked with two-headed rushing attacks. Texas featured Robinson and Roschon Johnson in the win over Louisiana. The combination of Devon Achane and Isaiah Spiller paced Texas A&M, while Sincere McCormick and Brenden Brady led UTSA to a win over a Big Ten program.  

Underrated? – Texas Tech might be better than anyone imagined heading into the season. Head coach Matt Wells needs a good year to stay off of the hot seat, and outscoring Houston 31-0 in the second half in a virtual road game is a great start.  

Variety – Texas State provided a scare to Baylor in the 29-20 loss and quarterback Brady McBride used a variety of receivers to keep the game close. He found nine different receivers in his 20 completions.  

Ward – Incarnate Word quarterback Cameron Ward through for 352 yards and four touchdowns in the overtime loss at Youngstown State. Ward completed passes to seven different receivers and completed 28 of his 47 attempts.  

X-Factor – Texas Tech passed for 231 yards in the win over Houston. Wide receiver Eri Ezukanma was responsible for 179 of those yards.   

Youth movement – Week 1 of every college football season features new faces popping up across the state, but less so in 2021 thanks to the NCAA decision to grant an extra year of eligibility to any player who wanted it following the pandemic-altered 2020 season. Many of the new faces were transfers rather than freshman.  

Zakhari Franklin – Franklin might be a mainstay in this column because the Z is hard to fill. The Cedar Hill product is also the best wide receiver in the 10-year history of UTSA football. He posted his sixth 100-yard receiving game of his career in the 37-30 win over Illinois. The junior caught 10 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown.