The Associated Press national player of the week in football for Week 1 of the season:
Toney formed an immediate connection with Duke transfer quarterback Darian Mensah, catching 12 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns in the Hurricanes’ 45-6 win at Stanford. Toney set a Miami single-game receiving record, bettering the 220 yards by Eddie Brown against Boston College in 1984.
Toney and Mensah teamed for 48 yards on Miami’s first play from scrimmage and they finished the drive with a 23-yard touchdown. Toney caught a 2-yard TD pass on the second series, hauled in a 39-yard pass to set up another TD and finished his night with a 47-yard TD reception.
Mason Heintschel, Pittsburgh. The second-year quarterback threw seven touchdown passes in a 59-14 win over Miami (Ohio) to set the Atlantic Coast Conference record and tie the school record.
Heintschel completed 31 of 41 passes for 453 yards. His seven touchdowns went to seven different receivers, with three coming in the first half and four in the second.
Mississippi’s Deuce Alexander had a career-best 159 yards on five catches with a pair of 62-yard touchdowns against Louisville; Miami’s Mensah completed 27 of 30 passes for a career-high 401 yards with five touchdowns against Stanford. He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 19 straight games, the longest active streak in the FBS; SMU’s Kevin Jennings completed 26 of 36 passes for 430 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions, against Florida State; Arizona State’s Cutter Boley completed 21 of 27 passes for 387 yards and six touchdowns against Morgan State; Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith had eight catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns against Ball State.; LSU’s Sam Leavitt had 230 yards passing and 113 yards rushing against Clemson, tallying three total touchdowns (two rushing, one passing); Auburn safety Eric Winters made a game-saving tackle on a two-point conversion attempt in the final 10 seconds, stopping Baylor tight end Matthew Klopfenstein inside the 1-yard line. Winters also was credited with a forced fumble and career highs of 11 tackles and 2.0 for loss; San Jose State linebacker Dylan Lee recorded a career-high nine tackles, an interception, two pass breakups and a tackle for loss against Eastern Michigan.
— Kamari Moulton’s rushing average of 16.64 yards per carry on 11 attempts in Iowa’s win over Northern Illinois was the highest for a player with at least that many carries since 2024. Eight of his runs went for 20-plus yards.
— Missouri State lost three fumbles in its season-opening loss at Texas A&M. The Bears lost a total of five over 13 games last season.
— Boise State allowed three pass plays of 50-plus yards in its loss to Oregon. The Broncos allowed four over 14 games last season.
— Vanderbilt has won eight home games in a row for the first time since a nine-game stretch that spanned 1954-56.
— Penn State’s Rocco Becht is the FBS active leader in quarterback starts (40) and wins (27).
— Louisiana Tech’s 63 first-half points against Northwestern State were the most by an FBS team at halftime since Tennessee hung 65 on Kent State in 2024. Tech won 80-6, its most points in a game since it joined Division I in 1989.
AP voters: Aaron Beard, Pat Graham, Stephen Hawkins, John Marshall, Michael Marot, Steve Megargee, Eric Olson.
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