McNeese State was about to play a bigger team from a bigger division in a bigger stadium, but Coach Matt Viator wanted to make sure that his players were not overwhelmed by the stage. So on Friday, the day before McNeese State opened its season against South Florida, Viator had his team tour Raymond James Stadium.

South Florida shares the stadium with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and some players had their photographs taken aboard the enormous replica pirate ship that sits near one of the end zones. Others were transfixed by the visitors’ locker room, which had been used that week by the Washington Redskins. Their name cards were still affixed to the stalls.

Yet any concerns that Viator might have had evaporated early in McNeese State’s 53-21 victory over South Florida, an evisceration so thorough that it was hailed as one of the most notable upsets of the weekend, though perhaps not the most surprising. In that regard, the Cowboys had plenty of competition.

McNeese State, a member of the Football Championship Subdivision, was part of a much larger trend on college football’s opening weekend. Eight teams from the F.C.S., formerly known as Division I-AA, posted victories over well-known opponents from the Football Bowl Subdivision, the sport’s top tier.