The first results of Week 1 in college football came on Thursday night with an entertaining schedule that included a national title contender on the road in conference play, two conference championship contenders facing off in an non-conference game that was delayed for hours because of lightning and a 2020 conference runner-up get knocked off by its FCS foe at home.
UCF and Boise State shared some haymakers in a matchup of teams that could easily enter the conversation for a New Years Six bowl bid at the end of the year, but the first blow came from Mother Nature with hours of lightning delays before the game kicked off. UCF got off to the worst start imaginable, throwing a pick-six in the end zone on the first possession and falling 21 points behind late in the second quarter.
However, new UCF coach Gus Malzahn and the Knights offense got things together before halftime and eventually took their own one-score lead with a touchdown and a safety on back-to-back possessions and rallied for a 36-31 win. UCF's victory was not without some concern, including a hard hit on starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel on a failed two-point try in the fourth quarter. Gabriel, thankfully did return to action after sitting out a couple of plays. The 21-point rally tied the biggest comeback victory in school history.
Earlier No. 4 Ohio State found itself down 14-10 at halftime against Minnesota, with the Golden Gophers having all the momentum and a tough home environment with plenty of noise from the crowd all decked in black to match the team's alternate jerseys. The rain didn't help either C.J. Stroud, but the final stat line (294 yards, four touchdowns, one interception) was productive enough to stack up adequately against his predecessor quarterbacks in their first starts as the Buckeyes QB1.
The veterans on Ohio State's offense also happen to be the team's wide receivers, which meant Stroud got his lift from the pass catchers as Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson took over in the second half. The Buckeyes hit a handful of plays throughout the entire game that went for 30-plus yards, and three of them were touchdowns Olave and Wilson. After Haskell Garrett returned a Tanner Morgan fumble for a touchdown and Minnesota star running back Mo Ibrahim left the game with a leg injury the eventual result (a 45-31 Ohio State win) was not a huge surprise.
Other highlights from Thursday's Week 1 college football action included Tulsa getting beat by UC-Davis, a slow start for Tennessee in what became a 38-6 win against Bowling Green in Josh Heupel's debut, NC State's dominant 45-0 win against USF and much, much more. There were a couple of FBS vs. FCS matchups that went a little more according to plan and others that didn't (UNLV), and it was not lost on anyone that Tennessee and the team it's new head coach just left, UCF, were both in the spotlight at the same time. Especially with Malzahn's own SEC history that includes an SEC title, two division crowns and a national championship as a coordinator at Auburn.
CBS Sports was with you every step of the way to update you with the latest scores, highlights and storylines throughout the night. All times Eastern
College football scores, schedule: Thursday
No. 22 Coastal Carolina 52, The Citadel 14 -- Recap
No. 4 Ohio State 45, Minnesota 31 -- Takeaways, highlights
Tennessee 38, Bowling Green 6 -- Recap
No. 24 Utah 40, Weber State 17 -- Recap
UCF 36, Boise State 31 -- Recap
No. 25 Arizona State 41, Southern Utah 14 -- Recap
Check out all 15 games on Thursday's Week 1 scoreboard
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College football scores, schedule, games Thursday: Ohio State, UCF rally to post wins in openers - CBSSports.com
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