Ethan Buresh returns his interception of Hampden-Sydney's Nash Nance for a touchdown. Wabash athletics photo

Brothers Cody and Ethan Buresh combined for three and a half sacks and six points, while making sure All-American quarterback Nash Nance had little time to throw behind his brand-new offensive line and No. 16 Wabash defeated No. 21 Hampden-Sydney 34-21 in the highly anticipated season opener.

• Week 1 scoreboard
• Friday night wrapup: Rowan upset
• Even more game stories
• Try your hand at the Kickoff treasure hunt!

Ethan Buresh had a sack and a half, plus intercepted Nance and returned the pick 41 yards for a touchdown. Buresh's score was the first of five unanswered scores for the Little Giants, as they scored 27 unanswered points in the second, third and fourth quarters to put Hampden-Sydney away.

The other game between ranked teams on Saturday saw fifth-ranked Wesley defeat No. 22 Thomas More 35-20. Steve Koudossou had six catches for 84 yards and scored two touchdowns, helping Joe Callahan to a 28-for-36 day and four passing scores. The Wesley defense held All-America running back Domonique Hayden to 24 carries for 92 yards and had two takeaways in the win.

Illinois Wesleyan, which was on the outskirts of the Top 25 in the preseason, defeated No. 25 Franklin 42-35 in the Grizzlies' first game without Jonny West. Quarterback Grant Welp was 26-for-48 passing for three TDs but was sacked four times for Franklin, while Jack Warner accounted for 344 yards of total offense for IWU and Anfernee Roberts ran for 140 yards and a touchdown.

There weren't many upsets in the Top 25 and there were a lot of the customary blowouts by ranked teams in Week 1, including UW-Whitewater's dismantling of Waldorf on Friday night and third-ranked Mount Union's 58-7 crushing of Bethany. 

No. 11 St. Thomas won another nail-biter with UW-Eau Claire, holding on down the stretch to defeat the Blugolds 22-17. The Tommies needed an interception in the red zone from Sean Hamlin to hold on for the win. Matt O'Connell returned at quarterback after a broken bone ended his 2013 season early and he threw for 183 yards and a score and ran for 97 yards and another TD in the win. Jake Neis, in his first start in 2014 replacing longtime Eau Claire power running back Joel Sweeney, got 67 yards on 20 carries and scored a touchdown. 

Taylor Jacobsmeier threw a touchdown pass from his wide receiver spot for Wartburg in its win at Augsburg. Photo by Caleb Williams, d3photography.com

12th-ranked Hobart's first game without longtime star running back Steven Webb was a success as the Statesmen rolled out to a 33-7 lead and cruised to a 33-21 win vs. Dickinson. Conner Hartigan ran for 103 yards and a score on just 11 carries, while Dominique Ellis had seven carries for 77 yards and two scores in the win. The game was not in doubt in the fourth quarter, as Dickinson's score to cut the lead to 12 came with just 41 seconds remaining.

Logan Schrader threw for two touchdowns and the Wartburg defense limited Augsburg to minus-5 rushing yards and 169 overall as the No. 17 Knights defeated the Auggies 40-3. 

Eighth-ranked UW-Platteville simply rolled in Storm Lake, Iowa, defeating Buena Vista 63-3. You know it's a blowout when the pass-happy Pioneers run for 241 yards. And the remade offense didn't seem to miss a beat for Johns Hopkins as the No. 14 Blue Jays stung the Yellow Jackets 42-3. And No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor came out of the locker room fired up for the second half, scoring 23 points in the third quarter in winning 43-7 at Millsaps.