The 2024 season could hardly have started worse for Florida.

The Gators were outclassed at home in a 41-17 blowout loss 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.

Outside of a 71-yard touchdown run by Montrell Johnson in the second quarter that gave Florida fans some hope, the Gators’ offense couldn’t move the ball effectively against Miami. QB Graham Mertz, entering his second season as Florida’s starter, was just 11 of 20 for 91 yards and had to leave the game in the second half after being hit for an interception.

All in all, the Gators ran for just 139 yards. If you take away Johnson’s big run, that’s 28 carries for 68 yards.

Florida and coach Billy Napier entered 2024 with a dilemma. The Gators were looking to make a jump after back-to-back seven-loss seasons in Napier’s first two years in Gainesville. But it’s hard to see how a jump will happen, even if Mertz is able to return in a week.

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

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

Things were so bad on Saturday that Napier found himself on the receiving end of a not-so-subtle retweet from former coach Dan Mullen. The current ESPN analyst was fired by Florida with one game remaining in the 2021 season, as Florida was 5-6. Florida was a combined 21-5 in Mullen’s first two years at the school before going 8-4 in his third season and falling to six losses in his final season.

Napier is now the first Florida coach to have two consecutive losing seasons since Raymond Wolf in 1946 and 1947. The patience of many Florida fans was already running out, and it became even thinner on Saturday.

But moving on from Napier when things really get bad isn’t financially feasible. 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 bounce back. And if the Gators do, Napier should get a lot of credit. It would be impressive to come through that tough schedule with a winning record. It also seems unlikely at this point.

These are the winners and losers from the first full weekend of the 2024 American football season.

Winners

Iowa: The Hawkeyes were going to blow Illinois State away. And they did, in a 40-0 victory. But it’s worth noting that Iowa rolled up 492 total yards against the Redbirds. That’s the most yardage for an Iowa offense since 2019. Iowa started slow on Saturday, but hit its stride in the second half, scoring 34 points in the final 30 minutes. The Hawkeyes are going to be dangerous in 2024 if the defense is still excellent and the offense is merely average.

Ohio State player Jeremiah Smith: The true freshman is already arguably 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 stepped right into the starting lineup and will immediately be a regular receiver for the Buckeyes. Just check out this amazing one-handed catch he made against the Zips.

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

Raiola looked comfortable in his first start and is well-positioned for a breakout 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 match up against Shedeur Sanders, the Patrick Mahomes lookalike will be an even bigger name. Even Mahomes had his eye on him on Saturday.

Utah quarterback Cameron Rising: It was great to see Rising back on the field Thursday night after missing the entire 2023 season with the knee injury he suffered in the 2022 Rose Bowl. 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 with a knee injury.

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

Bobby Petrino from Arkansas: OK, Arkansas didn’t exactly have a tough opponent scheduled for Week 1 in FCS Arkansas-Pine Bluff. But it’s still incredibly difficult to score 10 TDs in 10 possessions, and that’s exactly what Petrino’s offense did on Thursday night. The Razorbacks won 70-0 and didn’t shoot a field goal, didn’t punt, and didn’t give the ball away at all. It was a great return to Fayetteville for the former Arkansas head coach, as the Razorbacks racked up 687 total yards.

Losers

Clemson: The Tigers have come a long way since their days of playing for national titles. And it’s been a while since Clemson scored a TD against Georgia. The No. 14 Tigers lost 34-3 to the No. 1 Bulldogs on Saturday, going their second straight game without reaching the end zone against Georgia. You have to go all the way back to 2014 to find the last time Clemson scored a TD against the Dawgs.

It was hard not to notice how Georgia also tore Clemson apart through the air with transfers. Two of Carson Beck’s three touchdown passes were caught by receivers coach Kirby Smart, who was added via the transfer portal. Clemson, meanwhile, has withdrawn from the portal under coach Dabo Swinney and has been out of national title contention 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 their 2023 team back and looked poised to compete for the ACC title. That’s still very much in play, but Saturday was a disappointment. The Hokies fell to Vanderbilt 17-0 before losing 34-27 in overtime. Yes, VT gets credit for coming back to take the lead in the second half, but the Hokies shouldn’t have. QB Kyron Drones’ late-game cramp was also detrimental. Drones appeared in just one play during the Hokies’ possession in overtime.

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 Mountaineer fans for going into Saturday’s game with some optimism after a 9-4 season heading into 2023. Instead, that optimism was dashed, and WVU fans who were in attendance had to wait 2.5 hours because of a thunderstorm.

WVU had just 246 total yards in their 34-12 loss to the Nittany Lions. West Virginia’s powerful rushing offense finished with 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 potential 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, however, wasn’t much better. The Gophers rushed for just 78 yards on 33 attempts, but had the lead with less than four minutes remaining. But Minnesota’s defense gave up 51 yards on the first two plays of North Carolina’s final drive when the Tar Heels’ Noah Burnette scored a go-ahead field goal with 1:44 left.