Best and worst performances after a memorable first month of the college football season

We wait months and months for college football only to have the season whoosh past at a breakneck pace. Life just isn't fair.

It's almost October. Then it's Halloween. Then it's rivalry weekend. Then it's the College Football Playoff. Cue the long and boring wait until next year. Rinse and repeat, over and over again.

So let's press pause for a moment to look back at the opening month of the 2023 season, a frenetic stretch that has included a handful of headlines that might've been the biggest story of any other season. There's Deion Sanders' attention-grabbing start at Colorado, Alabama's early dip out of contention and the last hurrah of the Pac-12, for starters.

One month in, here are USA TODAY Sports' picks for college football's best team, biggest disappointment, early Heisman Trophy leader and more:

Best team: Washington

There are seven or eight teams that could earn this label, including two-time defending national champion Georgia, resurgent Florida State or the Big Ten's power trio of Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. But the pick is Washington, which through four games has done a close impersonation of 2019 LSU against a fairly strong September schedule of Boise State, Tulsa, Michigan State and California. The Huskies lead the Bowl Subdivision in yards per game (593.3) and yards per play (9.2) while outscoring opponents 164-41 in the first three quarters before pulling back in garbage time.

Most improved team: Texas

The 34-24 win at Alabama may not quite carry the same weight given the Crimson Tide's documented struggles, but let's get real: Texas is back under coach Steve Sarkisian and poised to win the Big 12 and contend for a playoff berth before jetting off to the SEC. The Longhorns have the depth to weather league play and the wiggle room to lose once during the regular season and still finish in the top four, should they win the conference championship game.

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Best Group of Five team: Fresno State

Fresno State is the first team out of this week's US LBM AFCA Coaches Poll following a 4-0 start with two wins against Power Five opponents, Purdue and Arizona State. The Bulldogs are 14-4 dating to the start of last season and own the nation's second-longest active winning streak at 13 games, trailing just Georgia.

Biggest surprises: Duke and Kansas

Once college football punchlines but recently on the rise, the Blue Devils and Jayhawks are a combined 8-0 heading into enormous Saturday games: Duke hosts Notre Dame while Kansas goes to Texas. Hires from different sides of the ball have paid off wonderfully for both schools. Duke's defense under Mike Elko ranks second in the ACC in yards allowed per play (4.1) while Lance Leipold's offense at Kansas continues to be one of the nation's best.

Biggest disappointment: Alabama's offense

On the other hand, Alabama's offense has plummeted to 13th in the SEC in yards per play (5.7) due to subpar line play, a dearth of playmakers at the skill positions and the shuffling of three different quarterbacks. The Crimson Tide have struggled every week and do not even remotely resemble the powerhouse we've grown accustomed to seeing atop the FBS.

Best Power Five conference: Pac-12

Yes, the Pac-12, and better late than never. In its last year of existence, the conference had as many as eight ranked teams earlier this month and six in this week's Top 25. Southern California, Washington, Oregon and Utah represent the best foursome in the Power Five.

Most disappointing Power Five conference: SEC

The SEC has three unbeaten teams − Georgia, Kentucky and Missouri − and has suffered non-conference losses to Utah, North Carolina, Florida State, Texas, Miami and Brigham Young. While the SEC will almost always get the benefit of the doubt, this start should impact the league's overall reputation when the playoff selection committee convenes for the first time in late October.

Heisman Trophy leader: QB Michael Penix Jr., Washington

Penix leads the FBS in passing yards (1,636) and touchdowns (16), ranks second in yards per attempt (11.9) and efficiency rating (209.6), and just barely gets the nod over Southern California junior Caleb Williams. Last year's Heisman winner has been outstanding himself, with 15 touchdowns and no interceptions, but Washington's tougher schedule and better overall numbers as an offense gives Penix the edge.

Best coach: Kyle Whittingham, Utah

The most consistently underrated coach in the country continues to get it done, this time piloting the Utes to a 4-0 start with three Power Five wins − Florida, Baylor and UCLA − despite relying on two backup quarterbacks in place of an injured Cam Rising.

Best first-year coach: Deion Sanders, Colorado

Sanders has turned Colorado into the hottest spot in college football, if not all of sports. With cameras documenting his every step and networks and celebrities flocking to Boulder, the Buffaloes have become must-see TV well over a decade after the program's last brush with national relevance. Then there's the on-field product courtesy of a first-of-its-kind roster rebuild, which despite last weekend's ugly loss to Oregon has far exceeded expectations. Sanders has been everything Colorado could've hoped for and more.

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Coach on the hottest seat: Jeff Hafley, Boston College

Boston College is 6-18 since winning four in a row to open the 2021 season and has run off the rails since the start of last year, with losses to Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Connecticut, Northern Illinois and more with just two wins against FBS competition. The program has landed at its lowest point since the late 1980s, putting Hafley firmly on the hot seat less than two years after he received a five-year extension.

Best freshman: RB Darius Taylor, Minnesota

The true freshman earned just one carry in the season opener against Nebraska but has been named the Big Ten freshman of the week three consecutive times after exceeding the century mark against Eastern Michigan (193 yards), North Carolina (138 yards) and Northwestern (198 yards). An injury in the loss to the Wildcats has his availability in doubt heading into Saturday's matchup against Louisiana-Lafayette, but Taylor has shown why several big-time programs made a run at the three-star prospect heading into signing day.

Best transfer: QB Shedeur Sanders, Colorado

There are two offensive line transfers making a huge impact in Michigan's Drake Nugent and Oregon's Ajani Cornelius and a defensive lineman of note in Miami's Thomas Gore. But no transfer has been as impactful as Sanders, who has 11 touchdowns against a single interception through four games and orchestrated a memorable fourth-quarter drive against Colorado State on Sept. 16 to keep the Buffaloes unbeaten.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football best and worst awards after one month