College football Week 1: LSU rolls, Michigan escapes, and SMU gets the last word

Five days of football, one second Michigan desperately needed, and a three-point finish in Tallahassee to close the book. College football's Labor Day weekend is complete, and there is finally something more useful than preseason expectations to argue about.

This is the Week 1 recap for September 3-7, 2026, through Monday's SMU-Florida State finale. All scores below are final, checked September 8. If you used our Labor Day viewing guide, here's how the weekend turned out.

Monday's last word: SMU 27, Florida State 24

SMU went to Tallahassee and left with a 27-24 win. That gives the Mustangs an opening victory and an immediate ACC result to build on; Florida State comes out of the holiday weekend 1-1 overall. The final game on the long weekend's schedule delivered a much tighter finish than several of Saturday's headliners. SMU's official recap confirms the result.

A road conference win is a useful thing to bank in September. There will be plenty of time to decide what it says about SMU's ceiling. For now, the Mustangs head home with the result everyone else in the ACC would have wanted from that trip.

LSU turns the marquee game into a rout

Clemson at LSU was the Saturday night game circled in our preview. It ended LSU 51, Clemson 10, with very little suspense left by halftime. Clemson actually scored first after an interception, but LSU led 31-3 at the break and stretched that advantage to 44-3 through three quarters.

Sam Leavitt ran for two second-quarter touchdowns, and Jordan Ross added an interception return for a score. Those details, documented in Clemson's game recap, explain how quickly the night got away from the visitors. One game cannot settle a season, but a 41-point margin in this matchup earns LSU a lot of attention going into the next weekend.

Michigan needed every last second

The score alone undersells this one: Michigan 13, Western Michigan 12. After an unsuccessful Hail Mary, officials restored one second to the clock. Bryce Underwood used the extra play to find JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard touchdown and the win. The Associated Press recounts the disputed finish.

Michigan gets to move forward with a win, but an offense that needed that ending against Western Michigan has work to do. Oklahoma visits next Saturday, September 12, at noon Eastern on FOX, according to Michigan's official recap and next-game listing. That's an easy early-window pick.

Oregon survives a real test; Sunday keeps things interesting

Oregon beat Boise State 34-27, and the Broncos had the game tied in the fourth quarter. Dante Moore's 62-yard touchdown pass to Dakorien Moore with 7:51 remaining supplied the winning margin, per Oregon's official box score. A seven-point win leaves more to examine than a routine opening blowout, and Boise State made the Ducks earn it.

Sunday's three showcases produced three very different margins:

• Washington 24, Washington State 10: the Huskies took the Apple Cup at home.
• Notre Dame 41, Wisconsin 13: the Irish finished with a comfortable win at Lambeau Field.
• Ole Miss 41, Louisville 38: the Nashville matchup was the closest of the three, with 79 combined points.

Those finals, along with the selected results below, were checked against our dated college scoreboard.

Other finals worth catching up on

• UMass 37, Rutgers 21 and Colorado 14, Georgia Tech 13 on Thursday.
• Miami 45, Stanford 6, Oklahoma 51, UTEP 0, and USC 39, Fresno State 0 on Friday.
• Auburn 17, Baylor 16 and Tulsa 24, Oklahoma State 10 on Saturday.
• Ohio State 56, Ball State 3; Georgia 63, Tennessee State 3; Texas 59, Texas State 7.
• Indiana 52, North Texas 16; Alabama 48, East Carolina 10; Texas A&M 50, Missouri State 0.

Turn the page to next weekend

Oklahoma-Michigan is already on my list. Clemson gets its chance to respond at home against Georgia Southern on September 12 at 7:30 PM Eastern, as confirmed in its recap linked above. Check the College page for the rest of the slate and updated TV listings.

With the NFL joining the weekly routine, this is also a good time to build your season. Put your college and NFL teams together, then use the combined schedule to find the overlaps before Saturday morning. Week 1 gave us enough reminders that the game worth staying with isn't always the one we circled first.