The Sooners beat Utah State 31-24 Saturday. Although it was a win, it also broke a crucial governing principle of college football: Week 1 is the “win big” week.

That’s why OU dropped three spots in the AP Poll released Tuesday. Don’t mess with the Week 1 Rule.

It’s a principle that’s been in practice for years and years, as long as “powderpuff” opponents existed and key rivalries were played later in the season. Teams, especially top 10 ones, schedule a foe with the intention of destroying it to get the 80,000 screaming fans pumped for the rest of the season.

That’s just how it works. That’s why OU dropped.

I’m actually surprised the Sooners stayed in the top 10 after breaking the Week 1 Rule. I still think, after getting too close to actually losing, the Sooners’ top-10 ranking is a little overly optimistic. .

Week 1 reveals a lot about the teams ranked in the AP’s preseason top 10. Week 1 can make or break a whole season. Week 1 has put teams on the map and shattered national championship hopes.

Even though the majority the revelations from this year’s edition of Week 1 may seem like just that “powderpuff” games are boring, the results contrast OU against the rest of the best.

The Big Winners

No. 1 Alabama throttled San Jose State 48-3. Yes, the Spartans were one of the four teams Utah State beat last season, but the Crimson Tide rolled over them without last season’s Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mark Ingram.

In short, Alabama did what everyone expected: won by six touchdowns. So did No. 2 Ohio State: 45-7 over Marshall. So did No. 8 Nebraska: 49-10 over Western Kentucky, using a true freshman quarterback nonetheless. So did No. 9 Iowa: 37-7 over Eastern Illinois.

These teams embodied the reason most everyone hates Week 1: boring games with predictable outcomes. But that’s what these schools’ fans, and any fan of any top 10 team, expected.

These teams delivered. Some others didn’t.

The Barely Winners

The Sooners’ 31-24 victory over Utah State wasn’t the only game below expectation, though theirs was the closest of the bunch.

Preseason No. 4 Florida, the defending didn’t-win-our-conference-and-just-lost-Tebow-yet-we-still-somehow-deserve-to-be-highly-ranked guys, struggled against Miami—the one in Ohio, not Florida. The Gators squeaked past with a 34-12 win.

No. 5 Texas played at Rice and escaped with a 34-17 ugly victory. Maybe the Longhorns’ “sophomore phenom” Garrett Gilbert isn’t as “phenom” as everyone thought.

Gator, Longhorn and Sooner fans were left with a bitter feeling about their games. The “we won, but it should have been by more” feeling is no where near as fun as the “we won by six touchdowns” feeling. Sometimes barely winning can be worse than losing, especially with expectations like Week 1 brings.

The Exceptions

No one in their right mind would blame Boise State for only beating Virginia Tech by a field goal. In fact, few really thought Boise State would win at all.

The marquee matchup last week, No. 3 Boise State against No. 10 Virginia Tech, is an exception to the Week 1 Rule.

For those adventurous types, games against high-ranked opponents are the complete opposite of normal, powderpuff Week 1 matchups: If the game isn’t close, it’s a disappointment. Who wants a high-profile blow-out?

TCU gets the pass as well. The No. 6 Horned Frogs’ 30-21 win over then-No. 24 Oregon State delivered in the same way the Boise State-Virginia Tech game did: down to the wire.

The Result

When top 10 teams produce wide-margin victories, the voters reward them. In the AP’s Week 2 rankings, Alabama and Ohio State remained No. 1 and 2. Nebraska moved up to sixth. Iowa stayed at ninth.

When top 10 teams fail to produce big wins, the voters penalize them. Texas—for some reason—was the exception, staying at No. 5. However, Florida fell four spots to No. 8 and the Sooners dropped three spots to No. 10. The voters lose confidence in a team when it doesn’t win like they expected it would.

The high-profile games are a toss-up. Beat a great team and you might go up if you looked better than a team ahead of you, like TCU leap-frogging Texas from sixth to fourth, or you might stay where you are if your name is “Boise State.”

Week 1 is really important to shaping a season. Fortunately for the teams whose Week 1 wasn’t the best, the best way to undo damage done in Week 1 is win big in Week 2.

— James Corley, journalism senior