One day, these upsets will have real significance. Hopefully soon, they will really matter.

Maybe not too many years down the road, Boise State knocking off Florida State or Georgia State upending Tennessee or Memphis toppling Ole Miss or Wyoming defeating Missouri will give these Group of Five programs real hope they can be this year’s Cinderella, a mythical figure that doesn’t exist in this sport.

For now, until we get a real playoff system that includes the little guy — like March Madness so smartly does — those schools will have to settle for lesser prizes.

A shot at a New Year’s Six bowl and being the story of college football’s opening weekend, along with Auburn’s last-second victory over Oregon, will have to do.

The only ranked team to lose were the Ducks. Of the others, there were only a few close calls, No. 8 Florida surviving Miami and No. 21 Iowa State nipping Northern Iowa in triple-overtime. It was as lopsided as suggested on paper. Besides the Oregon-Auburn prime-time showdown, the Group of Five schools made it a memorable Saturday. They gave you a reason to rush to your television set or stream on your smart phone.

There was Boise State and freshman quarterback Hank Bachmeier rallying from 18 points down to stun Florida State in Tallahassee. There was Georgia State, coming off a two-win campaign, outclassing Tennessee in Knoxville, beating a Power Five program for the first time since launching its program nine years ago. There was Memphis’ defense looking like Alabama, holding Ole Miss to 173 yards of offense, and Wyoming giving the Mountain West another win over a power conference opponent by taking down Missouri on the road, holding off a late rally.

Those games delivered excitement on Saturday — the kind of upsets college football never gives us when everything is on the line — because the underdog doesn’t get an invite to the party. It’s reserved for the big-money schools. Maybe one day, when the playoff is rightfully expanded, that won’t be the case.

Hopefully, the playoff committee was paying attention to the games that had everyone talking this weekend.

True Blue

There was a time, not so long ago, when coaches stayed away from true freshman quarterbacks. They mostly redshirted or watched. That has changed in recent years, as more enroll in school early. Tua Tagovailoa came off the bench as a true freshman to rally Alabama to a national title. Trevor Lawrence led Clemson to the crown last year in his first year on campus. And on Saturday, three true freshmen didn’t just win in their debuts, they rallied their teams from double-digit deficits.

Bachmeier of Boise State was the first. Then came North Carolina’s Sam Howell, leading the Tar Heels to a come-from-behind 24-20 win over South Carolina, completing 15-of-24 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns. And then there was Auburn’s Bo Nix bringing the Tigers back from a 15-point hole at Jerry World in Arlington, Texas, beating Oregon by taking Auburn 80 yards in 11 plays in 2:05 in the final seconds and capping the drive with a 26-yard touchdown pass.

Pac It In

The weekend was going so well for the Pac-12. USC was on its way to knocking off Fresno State. The four other ranked teams had either won or were comfortably on their way. Oregon, the league’s preseason favorite with highly rated NFL draft prospect Justin Herbert at quarterback, was up big on Auburn, on its way to a signature Week 1 victory. Then the wheels came off. The Ducks blew a 21-6, third-quarter lead, and watched Nix work his late magic.

There were other hiccups — Arizona lost to Hawaii and UCLA was beaten up by Cincinnati — but Oregon was the team the league needed to step forward, to give it that win that could stick. It didn’t happen. You can’t make the playoff now, but you can certainly hurt your chances.

Top 10

1. Clemson (1-0)

Week 2 against Texas A&M may be all that stands between the Tigers and a perfect regular season. The ACC is that underwhelming.

2. Alabama (1-0)

Wake us up in five weeks when Alabama visits Texas A&M. Until then, it will be more unwatchable blowouts like Saturday’s 42-3 annihilation of Duke.

3. Georgia (1-0)

Kirby Smart didn’t show much, opting for a vanilla offensive game plan. He thought that highly of Vanderbilt, who still couldn’t stop Georgia, allowing 323 rushing yards and a whopping 8.1 per carry.

4. Ohio State (1-0)

We’ll learn a lot more about the Buckeyes and quarterback Justin Fields next Saturday when they host Cincinnati and coach Luke Fickell, a rising star. Fickell, of course, was an assistant at Ohio State for 14 years.

5. LSU (1-0)

Yes, the opponent, Georgia Southern, was vastly inferior, but LSU didn’t score 50 points once all last season, so the opening-week offensive outburst was significant. Perform like that against Texas next week and the country will really be talking about the Tigers.

6. Oklahoma (1-0)

The quarterback changes, but the production doesn’t. Same old prolific Oklahoma, amassing 686 yards of offense in a 49-31 rout of Houston led by new QB Jalen Hurts’ six touchdowns.

7. Texas (1-0)

It’s right there for the Longhorns. Beat LSU on Saturday in Austin, and they really might be back, with the kind of non-conference win that travels when the playoff committee convenes.

8. Auburn (1-0)

Bo Nix couldn’t have dreamed of a better start to his college career, leading Auburn back from a 15-point third-quarter deficit and throwing for the game-winning score with nine seconds remaining in a dramatic victory over Oregon.

9. Michigan (1-0)

A slow start didn’t matter, not against Middle Tennessee State, but there’s a lot to clean up for Jim Harbaugh with Army and a trip to Wisconsin looming.

10. Washington (1-0)

All the Oregon hype overshadowed the best team in the Pac-12, the league champion two of the last three years.

Heisman Watch (in alphabetical order)

RB Travis Etienne, Clemson

The junior running back, not quarterback Trevor Lawrence, stole the show in Clemson’s opener, running for a career-high 205 yards and three touchdowns in the emasculation of Georgia Tech.

QB Justin Fields, Ohio State

So that was what all the hype was about? Fields showed his superhuman gifts, throwing for 234 yards and four touchdowns and running for 61 yards and another score as Ohio State dominated Florida Atlantic.

see also Jalen Hurts makes loud Heisman statement in Oklahoma debut NORMAN, Okla. — New Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts passed for... QB Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma

Is it too early to book Hurts a trip to Manhattan in December? In his Oklahoma debut, the former Alabama quarterback scored six touchdowns — three in the air and three on the ground — and accounted for 508 all-purpose yards.

QB Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama

This felt a lot like last year, a brilliant performance — 26-of-31 passing for 336 yards and four touchdowns in a rout of Duke — and no fourth-quarter snaps.

QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson

The co-favorite along with Tagovailoa, Lawrence started slowly, throwing two interceptions — two fewer than he threw all of last year — just one touchdown and completing 13-of-23 passes for 168 yards.