The 2024 season could hardly have started worse for Florida.

The Gators were outclassed at home, losing 41-17 to Miami on Saturday. The Hurricanes were simply better everywhere, setting a record for most points scored against the Gators in a Week 1 game in Gainesville.

Aside from a 71-yard touchdown run by Montrell Johnson Jr. in the second quarter that briefly gave Florida fans hope, the Gators’ offense failed to move the ball efficiently against Miami. Quarterback Graham Mertz, who is entering his second season as Florida’s starter, completed just 11 of 20 passes for 91 yards and was forced to leave the game in the second half after being hit following an interception.

In total, the Gators only ran 139 yards. If you subtract Johnson’s big run, that’s 28 runs for 68 yards.

Florida and head coach Billy Napier entered 2024 in a bind. The Gators were looking to make a leap forward after back-to-back seven-loss seasons in Napier’s first two years in Gainesville. But it’s hard to imagine a leap happening, even if Mertz returns in a week.

Florida started the season with the toughest schedule in the country. After a game against FCS opponent Samford in Week 2, No. 20 Texas A&M visits in Week 3. And the second half of the season gets really tough. After a midseason game at No. 15 Tennessee on Oct. 12, Florida plays a four-game November series against No. 1 Georgia, No. 4 Texas, No. 13 LSU and No. 6 Ole Miss before the season-ending game at Florida State.

Simply put, a win over Miami would have gone a long way toward bowl berths, and Florida didn’t even come close.

On Saturday, it was so bad that Napier himself was the target of a not-so-subtle retweet from former head coach Dan Mullen. The current ESPN analyst was fired at Florida with one game left in the 2021 season as Florida was 5-6. Florida had a combined record of 21-5 in Mullen’s first two years at the school before reaching 8-4 in his third season and suffering six losses in his final season.

Napier, meanwhile, is the first Florida coach to struggle through two consecutive losing seasons since Raymond Wolf in 1946 and 1947. The patience of many Florida fans was already exhausted, and on Saturday it was further stretched.

However, moving Napier isn’t exactly financially feasible if things go particularly badly. He’s entitled to $26 million – the guaranteed money left on his contract – if Florida wants to make a move at any point during the season.

Of course, Florida still has plenty of time to get back on its feet, and if the Gators can do that, Napier deserves a lot of credit. It would be impressive to come out of this difficult schedule with a win, but at this point, it also seems unlikely.

Here are the winners and losers from the first full weekend of the 2024 college football season.

winner

Iowa: The Hawkeyes were supposed to beat Illinois State. And they did, with a 40-0 victory. It’s worth noting, however, that Iowa totaled 492 yards against the Redbirds. That’s the most yardage for an Iowa offense since 2019. Iowa got off to a slow start on Saturday but got going in the second half, scoring 34 points in the final 30 minutes. The Hawkeyes will be dangerous in 2024 if the defense is still excellent and the offense is just average.

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith: The true freshman may already be one of the best wide receivers in college football. The five-star recruit caught six passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes’ 52-6 win over Akron on Saturday. Smith was an immediate starter and will be a must-have receiver for the Buckeyes right away. Just look at this amazing one-handed catch he made against the Zips.

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola: Smith wasn’t the only true freshman to have a big game Saturday. Raiola, a five-star quarterback, made his first start for his father’s alma mater and was 19 of 28 passing for 238 yards and two touchdowns in the Huskers’ 40-7 win over UTEP.

Raiola looked very confident in his first start and has a good chance of breaking out in Week 2 when Colorado visits Nebraska. The game will be one of the most watched of the weekend thanks to the attention surrounding the Buffaloes. If Raiola can hold his own against Shedeur Sanders, the Patrick Mahomes lookalike will become an even bigger name. Heck, even Mahomes paid attention to him on Saturday.

Utah’s QB Cameron on the rise: It was great to see Rising back on the field Thursday night after missing the entire 2023 season due to the knee injury he suffered in the Rose Bowl at the end of the 2022 season. Rising was also incredibly efficient against FCS Southern Utah. Rising threw for five touchdowns and 254 yards on just 15 attempts. TE Brant Kuithe caught three of those TDs. He also missed the entire 2023 season due to a knee injury.

Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan: Arizona’s star wide receiver set a school record with 304 yards on 10 catches in the Wildcats’ 61-39 win over New Mexico. McMillan was simply unstoppable, scoring three touchdowns in the first half, including a 78-yard touchdown. He then caught a 40-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter as Arizona began to pull away from the Lobos.

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer: It was quite a debut for Alabama in the first game of the post-Nick Saban era. The Crimson Tide beat Western Kentucky 63-0 on Saturday as Jalen Milroe completed an incredible 7 of 9 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those scores went to freshman WR Ryan Williams. He had two catches for 139 yards in his debut. Alabama ran 65 plays for 600 yards against the Hilltoppers at 9.23 yards per play.

Arkansas OC Bobby Petrino: OK, Arkansas wasn’t exactly planning on playing a tough opponent in Week 1 in FCS Arkansas-Pine Bluff. But it’s still incredibly difficult to score 10 touchdowns in 10 possessions, and that’s exactly what Petrino’s offense did on Thursday night. The Razorbacks won 70-0 and didn’t score a field goal, punt or lose the ball. It was an incredible return to Fayetteville for the former Arkansas head coach, as the Razorbacks managed 687 yards.

loser

Clemson: The Tigers have come a long way since the days when they played for national titles. And it’s been a while since Clemson scored a touchdown against Georgia. The No. 14 Tigers lost 34-3 to the No. 1 Bulldogs on Saturday and failed to reach the end zone against Georgia for the second straight game. You have to go back to 2014 to find the last time Clemson scored a touchdown against the Dawgs.

It was hard to miss how Georgia outran Clemson with transfers in the air, too. Two of Carson Beck’s three touchdown passes were caught by receivers that head coach Kirby Smart added through the transfer portal. Clemson, on the other hand, has avoided the portal under head coach Dabo Swinney and has disappeared from the national title race since the portal was introduced.

Virginia Tech: Oh, what a bad start to the season for the Hokies. Virginia Tech entered 2024 with most of its 2023 team and seemed ready to compete for the ACC title. That’s still very likely, but Saturday was a disappointment. The Hokies lost 17-0 to Vanderbilt before losing 34-27 in overtime. Yes, VT deserves credit for coming back in the second half and taking the lead, but the Hokies shouldn’t have been forced to do that. QB Kyron Drones’ cramping late in the game was also detrimental. Drones only appeared on one play during the Hokies’ OT possession.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers entered their season opener against Penn State as underdogs. It was unrealistic to expect West Virginia to win. But you can’t blame Mountaineers fans for going into Saturday’s game with some optimism after a 9-4 season in 2023. Instead, that optimism was dashed and WVU fans attending the game also had to wait out a 2.5-hour thunderstorm delay.

WVU managed just 246 yards in its 34-12 loss to the Nittany Lions. West Virginia’s potent offense managed just 85 yards on 37 attempts and the Mountaineers lost the ball three times.

Minnesota: The Gophers lost a very winnable game to North Carolina on Thursday night. Minnesota lost 19-17 after Dragan Kesich missed a game-winning field goal as time expired. The Gophers held North Carolina to just 252 total yards and limited Tar Heels QBs Max Johnson and Conner Harrell to just 105 passing yards on 23 attempts.

Minnesota’s offense wasn’t much better, however. The Gophers managed just 78 yards on 33 attempts but were ahead with less than four minutes left. But Minnesota’s defense allowed 51 yards on the first two plays of North Carolina’s final drive, as the Tar Heels’ Noah Burnette kicked a field goal to take the lead with 1:44 left.

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders walked away with a 52-51 overtime win over Abilene Christian on Saturday night. But the game shouldn’t have been nearly that close. A sack on a 2-point conversion kept Tech from losing outright as Abilene Christian QB Maverick McIvor – a transfer from Texas Tech – posted 506 passing yards and the Wildcats had 615 total yards.