North Carolina’s Bill Belichick was the day’s biggest winner from a national storyline perspective. But there were other highs and lows as the college football season started with Week 0.Here are our winners and losers from Saturday’s eight-game FBS schedule, which whet our appetite for the rest of the college football season:Winner: Grown-man footballMany coaches and programs spent the offseason studying and copying Indiana’s national championship formula: choose older players with proven production instead of betting everything on young potential. Virginia supplied an early example of why that might be a good idea in its blowout victory over NC State.The Cavaliers own the most experienced roster in the Power 4 after adding 29 transfers who had already played nearly 23,000 combined snaps elsewhere. NC State had the sixth-least experienced roster. The difference was difficult to miss.Virginia offensive coordinator Des Kitchings recognized that NC State could not stop his veteran offensive line or quarterback Beau Pribula from running the ball. Virginia ran 57 times, threw only 11 passes and controlled possession for more than 38 minutes of a 60-minute game.Pribula, a transfer from Missouri, ran for 110 yards and completed nine passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns. He played to his strengths. Virginia finished with 258 rushing yards and converted all four times it chose to keep its offense on the field on fourth down.Kitchings deserves credit for refusing to overcomplicate an obvious advantage. The larger winner was Virginia’s decision to build an older roster ready to overpower a younger one. After a 34-8 demolition, last year’s ACC runner-up might be even more dangerous.UNC looks like totally different team in win over TCUDavid Ubben and Jayne OrensteinWinners: Andrew Luck’s QB choiceDavis Warren already knew something about comebacks before Stanford needed him to deliver one against Hawaii.The 119th-ranked quarterback in our preseason QB Tiers — lowest among projected Power 4 starters — overcame leukemia in high school. He walked on at Michigan, won the starting quarterback job in 2024, then transferred home to California for one final shot after the Wolverines struggled and he tore his ACL.Saturday, Hawaii rallied from 23-7 down with 20 consecutive fourth-quarter points before Warren led the Cardinal on a seven-play, 60-yard go-ahead drive. He was 5-for-5 on the drive for 58 yards and ended the night 22-for-34 for 310 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions, giving coach Tavita Pritchard his first win as coach after being hired by Luck, Stanford’s general manager.Pritchard knows what an overlooked Stanford quarterback can accomplish. He led Stanford to a 24-23 win over USC as a 41-point underdog 19 years ago in his first start, throwing a fourth-down touchdown pass with 49 seconds remaining in one of the biggest upsets in college football history.Beating Hawaii wasn’t an upset, but the Cardinal definitely looked better offensively with Warren than they did a year ago, when they finished 122nd in scoring (18.8 points per game) and lost their opener to the Warriors in Honolulu.Losers: California home crowdsWho wasn’t excited about the return of college football this weekend? Virginia fans showed up in force — a crowd of 62,779 for the first home sellout in 18 years at a game that was originally scheduled for Brazil. Florida State nearly sold out its home opener against New Mexico State with 65,915 in the stands (67,277 capacity).