We’re still recovering from the marathon that is college football’s Labor Day weekend bonanza.

From Thursday evening under the Colorado big top to Monday night under Florida State’s headstone, we dipped our toes in the sport’s new age and came out a little dizzy.

It’s the one weekend where the college game gets the stage all to itself, so the five days are a chance to sprint head-on into what figures to be an autumn unlike we’ve ever experienced.

So, what did we learn?

From the SEC

The league played 16 non-conference games, winning 13 of them. The average final score was an ugly 46-10 but that doesn’t tell the full story.

Of those 16 games, five were against Power conference schools or Notre Dame. The league went 2-3 in those games with No. 1 Georgia getting the marquee 34-3 win over then-No. 14 Clemson.

That was the only win over a ranked team as Florida got swamped by Miami, Texas A&M ran out of gas against Notre Dame and LSU continued its streak of Week 1 belly flops.

The most impressive/shocking result came in that early window Saturday. While we expected to be focused on Georgia/Clemson in Atlanta, wandering eyes drifted to … Nashville? For Vanderbilt-Virginia Tech? The distant 16th team in the SEC built a staggering 17-0 lead over the ACC dark horse before holding on for a 34-27 overtime win.

— We learned Georgia came out swinging offensively after a sluggish first half. Clemson remains not elite.

— We can surmise Florida’s already circling the same bowl that LSU was praying to after a weekend in Vegas. Seriously, no Tiger wins on Labor Day weekend since the 2019 title run.

Otherwise, what more can we say about the blowouts of outclassed opponents?

— Lane Kiffin showed no mercy for Furman scoring a national-high 76 points. The 772 yards of total offense beat next-best Tennessee by 54.

— Three SEC teams scored at least 70 points (Auburn had 73 and Arkansas had 70). Each were against FCS teams.

— Only two of the 11 who didn’t play P4 teams allowed touchdowns (South Carolina to Old Dominion and Mississippi State to Eastern Kentucky).

From the ACC

And people make jokes about the SEC’s preseason media polls going south? Look at our geographical neighbors in the ACC for a second. Their preseason pick was Florida State with 81 first-place votes followed by Clemson’s 55.

The Seminoles’ bad luck with all things Irish continued Monday with Bill O’Brien giving them a ceremonial shillelagh to the noggin. We’ve seen more fight from this crew in the courtroom than the playing field as Boston College (picked 14th of 17 in the ACC) truly exposed FSU in the weekend’s final game.

We learned Florida State’s a fraud and Clemson remains far outside the national conversation for a fourth year running.

— Miami (picked third in the preseason) is the lone shining state after embarrassing Florida in every conceivable way. We’ll see how much value it holds as the season unfolds but this Hurricane program is desperate to rediscover its old magic.

— The biggest loser is hard to pick but Virginia Tech (6th preseason) deserves a mention. Vanderbilt’s first win over a P4 team since 2022 looked dominant at times. Shocking.

— Back to FSU, for a moment. Since getting denied from last season’s playoff, the Seminoles are 0-3 with three losses to former Nick Saban assistants. That includes Georgia (63-3 in the Orange Bowl) to Kirby Smart, Georgia Tech (24-21) to Brent Key and Boston College (28-13) to Bill O’Brien.

From everywhere else

— The Big Ten saw just one team play a ranked opponent and USC made their new friends proud. The Trojans have a real-deal quarterback in Miller Moss with his 27-for-36 night with 378 passing yards. Just threw some incredibly impressive passes in crucial moments.

— No. 3 Oregon had considerably less fanfare in a curiously tight 24-14 win over FCS-level Idaho. Where the rest of the elite were gaining style points, the Ducks were in a slap fight with the Vandals.

— Penn State was impressive in the most hostile of environments, beating old enemy West Virginia 34-12 as QB Drew Allar answered a few critics. The much-maligned passer from last year threw for three TDs and completed 11 of 17 passes for 216 yards.

— That West Virginia loss to Penn State was the only game between a Big 12 team and a ranked opponent. Colorado’s escape from a North Dakota State upset on Thursday became a theme. No. 21 Arizona struggled with New Mexico before pulling away to win 61-39 while Texas Tech needed overtime to beat Abilene Christian, 52-51.

— For all the craziness, only two double-digit underdogs pulled upsets. Both were from the ACC with Virginia Tech (-14.5) and Florida State (-16.5).

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.