The 5 Best Season Openers in College Football History
Openers are supposed to be tune-ups — cupcakes, shakeout runs, 45-point spreads. These five were anything but: a 1-vs-2 collision, the greatest upset ever played, a walk-off in double overtime, and a tie that helped decide a national title.
Openers are supposed to be tune-ups — cupcakes, shakeout runs, 45-point spreads. These five were anything but: a 1-vs-2 collision, the greatest upset ever played, a walk-off in double overtime, and a tie that helped decide a national title.
5. 2013: No. 8 Clemson 38, No. 5 Georgia 35 — Haymakers in Death Valley
The only top-10 matchup of that opening weekend, on a humid Death Valley night, and it played like a December classic: Tajh Boyd accounted for 5 touchdowns (including a 77-yarder to Sammy Watkins), Aaron Murray dragged Georgia back to within 3 with 1:19 left — and Clemson's onside-kick recovery ended a 5-game series losing streak to the Dawgs. The modern template for what an opener can be.
4. 1990: No. 5 Colorado 31, No. 8 Tennessee 31 — The Tie That Counted
The inaugural Pigskin Classic in Anaheim, and the rarest of birds: a great tie. Colorado rushed for 368 yards despite five turnovers; Andy Kelly threw for 262 second-half yards to erase a 2-touchdown 4th-quarter deficit; Chuck Webb's TD with 2:25 left knotted it — and with no overtime in 1990, that was that. The kicker: Colorado carried that 31-31 all season to an 11-1-1 record… and a share of the national championship. An opener that literally shaped the title.
3. 2016: Texas 50, No. 10 Notre Dame 47 (2OT) — "Texas Is Back, Folks!"
Ninety-seven combined points on a Sunday night in Austin. A freshman named Shane Buechele — the first frosh QB to start a Texas opener since Bobby Layne in 1944 — threw for 280; DeShone Kizer threw 5 touchdowns in defeat; and Tyrone Swoopes ended it in double overtime, breaking a tackle and stretching the ball across the line as Joe Tessitore bellowed the most famous premature proclamation in broadcasting history: "Texas is back, folks!" (Texas went 5-7. The game remains perfect.)
2. 1989: No. 1 Notre Dame 24, No. 2 Michigan 19 — The Rocket Game
The closest thing to a 1-vs-2 season opener ever played — with one honest asterisk: it was Michigan's opener, while the top-ranked Irish had already handled Virginia in the Kickoff Classic. On a wet Michigan Stadium field, Raghib "Rocket" Ismail returned kickoffs 88 and 92 yards for touchdowns — the first kick-return score allowed by Michigan since 1957, and the first time the Wolverines had ever given up two in one game. Notre Dame touched greatness exactly twice, and twice was enough.
1. 2007: Appalachian State 34, No. 5 Michigan 32 — The Upset
The greatest opener — and arguably the greatest upset — in the sport's history. A I-AA team walked into the Big House against the No. 5 team in America and led most of the day. Julian Rauch's field goal put App State up with 26 seconds left; Michigan raced into range for the win; and Corey Lynch blocked the kick as time expired, meeting the ball with his palms and sending it ricocheting backward into legend. The first AP-ranked team ever to lose to a I-AA opponent. App State, incidentally, went on to win its third straight FCS title — they were never a fluke. Michigan has never scheduled its September the same way since. Nobody has.
Honorable Mentions
2016 Wisconsin 16, No. 5 LSU 14 at Lambeau Field — a top-5 upset in a pro football cathedral, sealed by an interception with 57 seconds left. 2022 Florida 29, No. 7 Utah 26 — Anthony Richardson's legs and a goal-line interception with 17 seconds on the clock. 1983 Kickoff Classic (No. 1 Nebraska 44, Penn State 6) — a blowout, but the game that invented the mega-opener: the first regular-season college football ever played in August.
What's the best opener you've ever watched live? And be honest: did you believe Texas was back?
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