A thrilling opening week of college football in 2026 unfolded with not at whole lot of marquee matchups but an SEC/ACC thriller filled TV sets on Sunday night and was worth the exclusive timeslot. Top ten, National Semifinal participant Ole Miss took on number 24 Louisville in the only Top 25 matchup of the weekend. While there were other interesting scares (looking at you Oregon and Michigan), the Ole Miss and Louisville game fitted the bill. The neutral site game in Nashville (actually a good geographical compromise) lit up on offense. Both teams notched over 450 yards, 300 yard through the air, and scored what was the same final score of the classic 2006 Rose Bowl where Texas beat USC. 41-38. In this game, it was a last second field goal after Louisville stormed back in the last 5 minutes with two touchdowns to tie. But Ole Miss won and while the end was somewhat anticlimactic, it was a wide receiver that was the man of the match. Ole Miss Deuce Alexander hauled in 5 passes for 159 yards and two TDs, both 62 yards in the first half. Big players in big games, he wears number one and was the star player in Week 1 and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!
