SAN MARCOS, Texas -- The minute SMU delivered the opening kickoff Saturday afternoon against Texas State, everything else seemed to be less important in retrospect.

A win -- whether considered pretty or ugly -- wasn't as treasured. A loss -- whether big or small -- wouldn't have been as frowned upon.

The real victory was that college football happened in 2020 for both teams. There are two Power 5 conferences that can't say the same.

For SMU, the 60-minute battle was stressful for the coaches and fan base. The offense had its moments but didn't play a flawless game. The defense recognized a ton of holes it needed to patch, although it did have several key stops in the second half -- four in a row, in fact.

"It was just a strange football game," SMU coach Sonny Dykes said on his post-game radio show. "A little symbolic of the way 2020's been so far."

The overall result was twofold. It was a win for the Mustangs. And, it was a day of college football. First glance, pre-kickoff, Saturday afternoon simply didn't look right.

A look at the Texas State band served as proof. In the "new normal," where social distancing is preached, band members sat with a space in between each of them. They took up the entire end-zone seating.

The announced crowd was 7,500. Bobcat Stadium seats 30,000. "It still doesn't feel like a normal game," Texas State head coach Jake Spavital told reporters after the game. "... I don't think it will ever like a true game day."

By the end of the day, fans were treated to a somewhat-entertaining finish. Some SMU fans were underwhelmed that the Bobcats played the Mustangs so tightly. Then you had Texas State fans excited about what could be the turnaround season they've been looking for after going 3-9 in Spavital's first season.

What needs to be reminded -- over and over again -- is that with everything that'll be discussed on Sunday, Monday and for the rest of the week, the first game is officially in the books. In these unprecedented times, that's the biggest win of all.

"We tested our entire travel squad three times this week and didn't have a positive test," Dykes said in a socially distanced post-game interview. "I think that speaks volumes about who they are, what they're about, what's important to them, and what kind of protocols we have as a program."