Every Kentucky fan's guide to Week 1 in the college football season

Cats Illustrated surveys the college football landscape with an eye on what it means to Kentucky or what's of interest to Wildcat fans.

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Patrick Towles' transfer was the bigger offseason story at Kentucky by far. Reese Phillips' decision to transfer to Montana went mostly unmentioned save for when it was first reported at Cats Illustrated. It appears that Phillips has landed on his feet with the Grizzlies. He threw four touchdown passes in leading Montana to a 45-23 season opening win over Valparaiso. Montana was 5/5 in red zone situations.

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Even if you say you're not interested in former Madison Southern running back Damien Harris, admit it, you're a little interested. The Commonwealth native played a huge role in Alabama's 24-7 victory over Florida State in the greatest Week 1 college football game (as some billed it) ever played. No. 1 Alabama won in large part because of Harris' nine carries, 73 yards and his touchdown but also because of his blocked punt. Alabama tackle Matt Womack struggled to block Florida State's athletic front so that makes it more likely that Jedrick Wills could start to see significant time at right tackle for the Tide. Meanwhile, Derrick Ansley's secondary played well, holding FSU quarterback Deondre Francois to 210 passing yards and a single touchdown with two picks.

RELATED: Report card grades for every Kentucky position group on Saturday

Former Kentucky quarterback target and Commonwealth native Elijah Sindelar drew his first start at Purdue on Saturday night and his Boilermaker team had a chance to pull a major upset as 25-point underdogs. Sindelar's stat line wasn't sexy (15/31, 118 yards, two touchdowns, one pick) but he showed promise. He and David Blough are likely to continue to battle for the starting position in West Lafayette.

Yes, Colorado had one of the Pac-12's better defenses last season. And, yes, they're the P5 half of the CU-CSU rivalry. But Colorado lost eight defensive starters from last year's team and most college football observers expected the Buffs defense would take a big step back this year.

On Friday night, D.J. Eliot's Colorado defense held CSU to just three points, one week removed from the Rams blowing out Oregon State and making an early case for New Year's Six consideration. That doesn't mean Eliot's defense will have smooth sailing this year, but for a maligned former UK defensive coordinator taking over a defense in transition, that's pretty impressive.

RELATED: Transcript of what Stoops and players said after UK's 24-17 win

But make no mistake about it, the Broncos knew they were in a game. BSU won 24-13 on the blue turf but the Trojans were competitive deep into the fourth quarter. The game's outcome could have been different but for the bizarre play in the GIF image below. The play was ruled a touchback.

If you're already keeping score in the battle between the conferences for recognition as the best, the SEC has made a pretty strong case thus far. No, there weren't a lot of great games. But South Carolina's 35-28 win over NC State, though not far from the pregame spread, was a huge statement. The Gamecocks are thought to be a middle of the pack East team; the Wolfpack, a middle of the pack team from the stronger half of the ACC. The SEC Network's Cole Cubelic even (unwisely) picked NC State as a College Football Playoff team.

The marquee win was Alabama over Florida State. Then again, nobody has ever really doubted the strength of Alabama's program under Nick Saban. It's the other programs that need to live up to the SEC's standard of the past decade in order for the league to pass the ACC again in terms of national perception.

Saturday was a good step forward because the only loss was suffered by Florida against Michigan, a top team from the Big Ten, and that can be explained in part by the Gators' mass suspensions leading up to that game.

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What conclusions can we draw when it comes to Kentucky's future opponents based on Week 1 play? That's perhaps the most relevant thing we'll do here.

— Vanderbilt running back Ralph Webb couldn't get much going against MTSU but the Commodores covered the 3-point spread easily in part because Kyle Shurmur (20/28, 296 yards, 3 TD) was efficient and effective. The Commodores' 28-6 win was powered by a strong defensive performance and the Blue Raiders couldn't get anything going on the ground or in the air. It's early, but Vanderbilt came out of the gate stronger than advertised and appears capable of making a little noise in the East.

— Missouri showed much of the same from last season with Drew Lock (21/34, 521 yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT) leading an offense that scored 72 points, but the defense allowing FCS program Missouri State to score 43, with 35 of those in the first half. Damarea Crockett chipped in with 202 yards on the ground and Missouri had more than 800 yards of total offense, but for a program that couldn't slow down a lot of teams last year, Missouri State's 500 yards of offense (four rushing touchdowns) have to be troubling.

— The Georgia-Appalachian State line was closer than expected (14 points) but Jacob Eason left the game early with a sprained knee after throwing just three passes. No matter against the Mountaineers, as backup Jake Fromm was a cool 10/15 for 143 yards, a touchdown and no picks. The Nick Chubb-Sony Michel duo in the backfield accounted for 175 yards on the ground and Georgia defense controlled the day in a 31-10 win that was 31-0 going into the fourth quarter.

— What should we take from Florida's 33-17 loss to Michigan? The game was close for a while, but in hindsight, the game could have been 33-3 if not for a pair of pick sixes from the Gator defense. Given all the suspensions it's impossible to draw definitive conclusions, but Florida's offense was inadequate against the Wolverines.

— NCAA scrutiny? Coaching turnover? No matter for Ole Miss in a 47-27 season-opening win over South Alabama. This is a program that is probably used to performing under the microscope and quarterback Shea Patterson (28/35, 429 yards, 4 TD's, 0 INT) had an outstanding 2017 debut. Ole Miss didn't run the ball especially well but this will be an explosive offense that tests Kentucky's secondary later in the year. Receiver A.J. Brown (8 catches, 233 yards, 2 TD) is going to be a handful for whoever he's matched up with.

— What's up with Louisville? The Cardinals didn't look like a Top 20 team in barely beating Purdue 35-28 in Indianapolis. Lamar Jackson stuffed the stat sheet (378 pass yards, 107 rush yards) but Purdue limited the huge plays on the ground and he didn't have any rushing scores. The Boilermakers passed for nearly 300 yards. They did benefit from three fumbles the Cardinals handed over, but it wasn't an impressive debut for Bobby Petrino's squad.

— Mississippi State throttled Charleston Southern 49-0 and allowed just 33 yards of total offense to an opponent that was completely outmatched. Nick Fitzgerald didn't have to run much (7 carries, 41 yards) and Dan Mullen worked on refining the passing game, where he was 16/29 for 239 yards and two touchdowns. The Bulldogs racked up 281 yards on the ground and kept the shutout after going into the locker room up 35-0.

— Future OOC opponent Eastern Michigan started the season with a 24-7 win over Charlotte and quarterback Brogan Roback was 22/31 for 267 yards but he didn't find the endzone and threw a pick. Charlotte rushed for 166 yards against the Eagles so, offensive line issues or not, expect the Cats to find success on the ground against EMU.

Alabama: Winners. The Crimson Tide may have effectively locked in a spot in the College Football Playoff with that win over the Seminoles, because it's tough to see them losing two games based on how they played.

Florida State: Losers. On top of the loss, quarterback Deondre Francois suffered a knee injury against Alabama. So while this loss didn't eliminate Florida State from national championship consideration, the path looks a lot more difficult now.

Purdue: Winners. Moral victories are usually hollow but the Boilermakers entered Week 1 as nearly a four touchdown underdog to Louisville and for the first time, even after a loss, there's reason for optimism in West Lafayette.

Josh Allen, Loser. Wyoming's quarterback is a trendy pick for a very high draft spot and the Cowboys were a trendy pick to cover or even beat Iowa straight up. But the Hawkeyes avoided their usual early season letdown performance against a non-P5 school and Allen wasn't able to generate much offense. There was a ton of turnover with his supporting cast and he could be in for a more difficult year than most have imagined.

Jacob Eason, Loser. If Jake Fromm performs well in Eason's absence then Kentucky could be facing a new UGA quarterback this year.

ACC, Loser. Florida State fell to Alabama, North Carolina dropped a home game as a substantial favorite to Cal (which should be one of the worst teams in the Pac-12) and NC State dropped one to South Carolina. With Pitt looking unimpressive against Youngstown State (overtime was required) and Louisville not even approaching the spread against Purdue, the ACC left a lot to be desired in Week 1.

Texas, Loser. The Longhorns seem snakebitten after the much anticipated Tom Herman era began with a 51-41 home loss to Maryland. The Terrapins are not expected to be a contender in their half of the Big Ten, and just hours before kickoff David Pollack said Texas would have the best defense in the Big XII. Not a good look, Horns.

SEC and Big Ten, Winners: The SEC had a strong opening week but so did the Big Ten. Michigan rolled against Florida, regardless of the circumstances, and Ohio State ultimately stayed on a playoff course with Indiana showing something on Friday night, too. Iowa avoided their usual early season letdown and handled Wyoming quarterback and stud prospect Josh Allen with ease. Wisconsin shook off a slow start then showed polish and Penn State looked the part against an overmatched MAC opponent in Akron. Purdue played better than expected and Maryland notched that surprise win in Austin.

LSU, Winner: BYU might have been a trendy pick to cover a 14.5-point spread after a slow start in Week 1 but the Cougars were obliterated and smothered by an impenetrable LSU defense in Ed Orgeron's first game as the full-time coach. LSU held BYU to 102 passing yards and -5 rushing yards in shutting out a proud program 27-0. LSU's notoriously bad quarterback play even gave Tiger fans a reprieve for a week, as Danny Etling was an efficient 14-17 for 171 yards, and Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams combined for 214 yards on the ground (296 team rushing total). The West looks stronger after LSU's season opener.