By 12:32 ET on Saturday, Justin Fields had booked a trip to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Ohio State, in Ryan Day’s first game as head coach, pushed itself into Clemson/Alabama territory as a College Football Playoff lock. And the rest of the Big Ten, thinking that this was the year that the Buckeyes may be a tiny bit vulnerable with a first-year head coach and a transfer quarterback, sunk in their seats. Sigh, another year where everyone is chasing Ohio State.

Then Fields and the Buckeyes came back to Earth.

But all things considered, it was an impressive debut for Fields, who was the No. 2-rated recruit in the Class of 2018 behind only Trevor Lawrence. He lit up Lane Kiffin and Florida Atlantic early on, accounting for five touchdowns — four of which came in the opening nine minutes. Fields, though, looked human for much of the rest of the game, as Ohio State went nearly two quarters without scoring.

This was the moment that Ohio State fans had waited for since Fields — the highest-rated recruit to ever play for Ohio State — announced he was leaving Georgia. He showed his complete package of skills early on, with that rocket arm and his breakaway speed. He ran for a 51-yard touchdown through a massive hole on the left side of the line, after which he admitted he couldn’t believe how easy that was. He must’ve been thinking the same thing on the next possession with a 25-yard TD pass to Jeremy Ruckert. And a few minutes later on the 32-yard TD to Binjimen Victor. And then to Chris Olave for a 29-yard score. Has there been a better 30 minutes of a first career start ever?

On the FOX broadcast, Gus Johnson didn’t even have time to get revved up, as he sounded almost subdued because it looked so easy.

What happened next is up for interpretation. Did Ohio State take its foot off the gas, or did Florida Atlantic outscoring the Buckeyes 21-17 the last 51 minutes mean something? Is Fields great at the home run play, but can he not string together first downs and sustain drives? The answer may be a little bit of both at this time.

Fields comes in highly regarded because of his tools, but he is not yet the precise passer that Dwayne Haskins was. Probably not even close at this point. Haskins could fit balls into windows; Fields may have a stronger arm, but he can’t quite pick apart a defense yet. So when Florida Atlantic dropped eight into coverage (and didn’t let receivers run free to the end zone), Fields wasn’t quite the same.

My favorite play from Fields was on third-and-15 midway through the second quarter. Fields moved out of the pocket, set his feet and delivered a strike to Olave for 17 yards over the middle and a first down. Those are the throws Fields has to make. It starts with willing to make them in the first place, and he was a little shy in this regard.

Let’s put this all in perspective, though. It was his first start, in front of 103,000 fans, with sky-high expectations (which comes with the territory when you have those five stars next to your name). It was his first time getting hit, and in a bit of a surprise, he took more than a few snaps under center. He held onto the ball a few times when he could’ve just thrown it away. He has to get better command of this offense, like changing protections and helping along his offensive line.

But when we look back on Fields’ performance, it could’ve gone much, much worse. Other quarterbacks with a ton of hype haven’t had near the success in their debuts that Fields enjoyed on Saturday (as Hunter Johnson can attest).

Let’s take a look at the first starts for every 5-star quarterback in the last five years, keeping in mind that opponent and location matter. Fields (18 of 25 passing for 234 yards, 4 TD, 0 INT; 12 rushes for 61 yards, TD) stacks up very favorably to his peers:

Bo Nix (Auburn vs. Oregon): 13 of 31 passing for 177 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT; 7 rushes for 42 yards

Trevor Lawrence (Clemson vs. Syracuse): 10 of 15 passing for 93 yards, 0 TD; 4 rushes for -9 yards

Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama vs. Louisville): 12 of 16 passing for 227 yards, 2 TD; 5 rushes for 26 yards, TD

Shea Patterson (Ole Miss at Texas A&M): 25 of 42 passing for 338 yards, 2 TD, INT; 15 rushes for 64 yards

Hunter Johnson (Northwestern at Stanford): 6 of 17 passing for 55 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT; 11 rushes for 13 yards

JT Daniels (USC vs. UNLV): 21 of 35 passing for 282 yards, TD; 5 rushes for -1 yards

Davis Mills (Stanford): Has not started yet

Jacob Eason (Georgia vs. Nicholls State): 11 of 20 passing for 204 yards, TD, INT; 1 rush for -2 yards

Josh Rosen (UCLA vs. Virginia):  28 of 35 passing for 351 yards, 3 TD

Blake Barnett (Alabama vs. USC): 5 of 6 passing for 100 yards, TD; 4 rushes for -10 yards

Kyler Murray (Oklahoma vs. Florida Atlantic): 9 of 11 passing for 209 yards, 2 TD; 4 rushes for 23 yards

As you can see, Fields holds up well. Lawrence obviously went on to win a national title with Clemson, and Tagovailoa sparked Alabama to one off the bench. Is that the standard for Ohio State? No, but I’m sure many expect Fields to lead the Buckeyes to the College Football Playoff since the only game they may not be favored in is at Michigan.

And since it’s natural to look at this program’s past, here’s how Fields stacks up to notable Ohio State quarterback debuts from the last decade:

Dwayne Haskins (vs. Oregon State): 22 of 30 passing for 313 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT; 2 rushes for 24 yards

JT Barrett (vs. Navy): 12 of 15 passing for 226 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT; 9 rushes for 50 yards

Cardale Jones (vs. Wisconsin): 12 of 17 for 257 yards, 3 TD; 8 rushes for 9 yards

Braxton Miller (vs. Colorado): 5 of 13 for 83 yards, 2 TD; 17 rushes for 83 yards

Terrelle Pryor (vs. Troy): 10 of 16 passing for 139 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT; 14 rushes for 66 yards

The big question, though, is where is all this going? Ryan Day has worked under Chip Kelly and Urban Meyer, but he seems intent on putting his own twist on the offense. Thus the pro-style looks with Fields under center and mostly two tight ends in the game. It worked too, most notably on the play-action pass to Olave for six and then near the goal line with the touchdown pass to Ruckert.

There’s plenty on film now for Day to deconstruct. By the time Fields steps onto the turf at Michigan Stadium after Thanksgiving, he’ll be a much more polished product, and — as he showed Saturday — the tools to lead Ohio State where it wants to go.

Notebook

Michigan 41, Middle Tennessee State 20

Michigan unveiled its new offense, and it’s admittedly a work in progress. And that’s to be expected when you transition from a physical offense to a more fast-paced one. But Shea Patterson certainly had his moments with three touchdown passes.

When Jim Harbaugh said he wanted to play two quarterbacks, I didn’t know he meant at the same time. Dylan McCaffrey lined up at wide receiver several times, and it didn’t go well. You can’t protect a quarterback when he is lined up out wide. What’s the point of that?

Anyways, Zach Charbonnet made his case to be the No. 1 back, and the Wolverines — without starting wide receiver Jonathan Peoples-Jones — showcased its firepower. If the Wolverines can get Tarik Black going again this season (and not in the training room), that would be quite the trio to go along with Nico Collins.

Nebraska 35, South Alabama 21

OK, so maybe let’s slow the hype train down a little bit. I’m not unconvinced Nebraska can win the West, but I’m surely not convinced either. It was a tough day for Adrian Martinez, on the ground and through the air. Every lofty prediction is based on him being in the Heisman discussion, and this certainly wasn’t it.

That said, I don’t think it’s prudent to overreact one way or the other when a Power Five beats a non-Power Five. Scott Frost mentioned Nebraska had fewer plays in this game than it typically would. Translation: Don’t show too much. Still, Martinez will need to be much better. He said as much afterwards too.

P.S. At least Nebraska got the game in! The Huskers are already further along than they were at this time last year.

Stanford 17, Northwestern 7

What if I told you this was a matchup of the two highest-rated quarterbacks in the Class of 2017, higher than Tua and Jake Fromm? Even I can’t believe that. But Davis Mills against Hunter Johnson certainly did not go like we would’ve imagined two years ago. Mills came on in relief and completed 7 of 14 passes for 81 yards. Johnson, the Clemson transfer, started for Northwestern and was not good, to put it mildly. He was just 6 of 17 for 55 yards and two interceptions. This was an all-around discouraging loss for the Wildcats, who were supposed to be able to actually score with their 5-star QB.

Wisconsin 49, South Florida 0

Jonathan Taylor: Good at football. Need I say more? That four-touchdown performance wasn’t surprising, but the way he did it was. Taylor hasn’t been used much as a receiver, with just 15 catches in two seasons. He had two against USF, and he took them both to the house. Not only does that make him a much better pro prospect, but it can help out a quarterback who had a bit of a shaky opener.

Jack Coan threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns, but Taylor did the legwork on those. In the first game post-Alex Hornibrook, Coan did nothing to push the former QB into the rearview mirror. He was inaccurate early on, missing some wide-open receivers early on. He eventually settled in and completed some shorter throws. If he can improve his accuracy, my goodness, Wisconsin looks primed for a big-time season.

Michigan State 28, Tulsa 7

Even though Michigan State led by 25 points in the second quarter, it was a bit of a disappointing opener for the Spartans. We already knew their defense was awesome (Tulsa had -73 rushing yards, fewest by an FBS team since 2000!). And upon further review, still awesome. But the offense looks like it’s going to be subpar again.

The Spartans’ offensive line, with five returning starters, couldn’t open up holes for its running backs. Michigan State finished with just 108 rushing yards on 40 carries (2.7 average). And that’s against a team projected to finish at the bottom of the AAC. Yuck.

But as we discussed earlier, playing with a huge lead in the first half of a non-conference game, it’s hard to get the motivation to keep piling it on. Why put unnecessarily put something on tape for your future opponents? In Michigan State’s case, though, this won’t dispel the notion that it can’t play on one side of the ball.

Nevada 34, Purdue 31

Pour one out for Purdue fans. Up 17 in the second half and 14 in the fourth quarter, the Boilermakers found a way to lose. And on a 56-yard field goal by a freshman, who was awarded a scholarship after the game. That’s called proving your worth.

Elijah Sindelar threw for 423 yards, but he’ll remember those two second-half interceptions. At least Rondale Moore is still awesome. And David Bell is going to be awesome.

Indiana 34, Ball State 24

Whew, that was close. This game was a prime candidate to be the one to continue the MAC’s yearly upset over a Big Ten. But Logan Justus, the fifth-year senior kicker, stole the show. He was 4 of 4 on field goals, including makes from 48, 49 and 50 yards. And they were pure. What a weapon to have.

Michael Penix Jr.’s debut was a mixed bag, but I like that even after two first-half interceptions, Tom Allen didn’t panic and go to last season’s starter, Peyton Ramsey. When you pick Penix to be the quarterback, you have to let him settle into that role, mistakes be damned. Penix threw for 326 yards and ran for 67, but Ball State isn’t exactly known for its stingy defense. The Cardinals had no sacks. It’s hard to get any sacks when you don’t get any pressure. Penix will surely face better defenses that can actually get to him, but all-in-all, he looked good — despite a few drops from his wideouts.

Iowa 38, Miami 14

This finally score was more than a little misleading as Iowa scored twice in the final six minutes. Nate Stanley threw three touchdown passes and looked like the veteran quarterback he is. But I get the feeling that Iowa fans were a little more interested in what was going on in Ames, as rival Iowa State need three overtimes to beat Northern Iowa. Bad news for the Hawkeyes is Iowa State gets two weeks to get ready for the annual meeting between these two, while Iowa has to focus on Rutgers.

Maryland 79, Howard 0

Not a typo. If you’re looking at overall team statistics in the next month (or maybe this entire season), they’re going to be a little skewed. Maryland is not the top offense in the Big Ten, but Mike Locksley’s debut couldn’t have gone much better. The former Alabama assistant is on top of the world, at least for one week. It’s great to see nine players score touchdowns, but let’s see how this translates against a legitimate squad in Syracuse next week. We’ve seen these hot starts from Maryland before, after all.

Penn State 79, Idaho 7

When the backup gets to throw 14 passes, you know you’ve had a heck of a day. This was like a spring game for Penn State, which had seven players get five or more carries and seven players catch multiple passes. For a team replacing its quarterback and running back, this is great experience. I’m not going to make too many judgements on Penn State just yet, but I’m intrigued. James Franklin knows what he’s doing.

Minnesota 28, South Dakota State 21

All those people thinking Minnesota was a dark-horse to win the West… well, this wasn’t a good look. But hey, Northwestern did it after losing to Akron last year. As P.J. Fleck says, “A win is a win.” Some wins are more inspiring than others. I’m curious to see how the narrative evolves with Fleck.

Illinois 42, Akron 3

This was low-key one of the most encouraging performances from the Big Ten. Even when Illinois beats the MAC, it’s usually not like this. Plus, remember when Akron beat Northwestern last year? Brandon Peters had a great first game with the Illini. Dare we say it, there’s hope in Champaign? Illinois has a great chance to be 3-0 going into its game against Nebraska, with UConn and Eastern Michigan up next.

Rutgers 48, UMass 21

Trailing 21-7, Rutgers rattled off 41 unanswered to equal last season’s win total.

Three Up, Three Down

Up

1. B1G East

It was a thoroughly impressive opening weekend for the East. Ohio State and Michigan took care of business, and Penn State and Maryland each put up 79 (!) points. Michigan State’s defense is going to make it tough week-in, week-out, plus Rutgers scored 41 unanswered points to overcome a 14-point deficit and Indiana knocked off an in-state rival against which it has had issues.

2. Remembering a late teammate

This is not meant to be controversial or made into more than it is, but it’s nice to see Maryland players remembering late teammate Jordan McNair, who wore No. 79. The Terrapins scored 79 points against Howard, and some Terrapins shared how much it meant to them on social media.

3. JK Dobbins beast mode

He had 105 total yards, one touchdown and one memorable stiff-arm. He says he wants to play like he did in 2017. Well, this is a start.

Down

1. B1G West

For all the talk about the league’s depth this season, it was mostly due to the West supposedly having six legitimate teams and a wide-open division race. Well, it was a rough first week. Only Wisconsin impressed (well, Illinois did too, but yeah). Nebraska, a 35-point favorite that is predicted to win the West, led South Alabama by just seven in the fourth quarter. Northwestern let a winnable game slip away at Stanford, Iowa led a lower-tier MAC team by just 10 until two late TDs, Minnesota came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat FCS South Dakota State and Purdue blew a 14-point lead to Nevada. Yikes.

2. Hunter Johnson

The 5-star QB made his first career start, and it did not go well. He was 6 of 17 for 55 yards and two interceptions. TJ Green, a former walk-on, looked much better and maybe even would have assumed the starting role next game if not for a season-ending injury. Maybe Johnson will do better without

3. Purdue

The Boilermakers lived up to their reputation as one of my most exciting teams to watch, but what a dejecting ending. Elijah Sindelar threw for 423 yards on 52 passes. It’s in stark contrast to how the traditional powers in the West (i.e. Wisconsin and Iowa) want to play, and that’s what is interesting about Purdue. But a loss like this leaves a bad taste in the mouth.