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LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
After a Week Zero appetizer (Nebraska did Nebraska things; FSU got a legit warmup for the LSU game without blowing it; Clark Lea's Vandy boys looked the part of a proper bully against an overmatched opponent for once), it's time for the REAL WEEK ONE in college football.
The Irish kick the season off with a brutal road test for Marcus Freeman's first regular season game as head coach, but there is plenty of other intrigue to track during week one, as well.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st
- The season potentially gets weird right out of the gate with an intriguing Backyard Brawl matchup on Thursday night. Our old friend, and 8th-year senior JT Daniels is now quarterbacking the WVU offense, but they are still projected to finish near the bottom of the Big XII... can they try and spring an early upset against a Pitt squad that lost its two best players?
- Oklahoma State should tee off of CMU, but it's at least good commercial fodder during the Backyard Brawl.
- Ditto for Tennessee and Ball State... flip over during commercials to watch Hendon Hooker throw a bunch of touchdowns against the overmatched Cardinals.
- Another legitimately intriguing matchup at 8:00PM when Penn State opens B1G play on the road at Purdue. PSU is a 3.5 point road favorite, but Purdue loves to play spoiler as a home underdog.
- Missouri vs La. Tech / Minnesota vs NMSU are commercial break backup
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2nd
- Sparty suddenly has to deal with high preseason expectations (as does their outrageously-compensated coach)... WMU looks for an in-state upset.
- VT opens against an ODU squad that finished last season on a 5-1 run... VT now lead by former PSU DC Brent Pry, who was widely respected in the CFB media world, but less well known by us common folk.
- Our old friend Mike Elko coaches his first game as Duke's head coach. Temple was ass last year. Does Temple bounce back, or does Mike Elko's Duke squad start strong?
- Indiana had high hopes last season, but took a step back. Illinois starts year two of Bert Bielema's brand of Manball. Does Illinois exert their will, or does Indiana bounce back?
- TCU @ Colorado is the night cap... I honestly don't know anything about either team yet, but hopefully it's a fun game to fall asleep to.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd - EARLY
- Nothing brings us together early on a Saturday quite like rooting for an underdog to upset scUM. This should NOT be the noon ABC game (disregarding TV contracts).
- #13 NC State is a popular darkhorse pick to win the ACC, and maybe even push for a playoff spot, behind the arm of Devin Leary... but they're on upset alert against the ECU Pirates right out of the gate, for me.
- Watch our boy Philly J show everyone involved with ND who's boss, as he attempts to throw for a million yards against Rutgers... who might be quarterbacked by Noah Vedral for a minute, but will eventually give way to Gavin Wimsatt (familiar recruiting name!).
- UNC travels to App Sate, proving they aren't cowards. They got a warmup against Florida A&M in week zero, but the Mountaineers will be looking to defend their home field. THIS should be the noon ABC game.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd - AFTERNOON
- Shoutouts to Oregon for opening the season in Georgia against the Bulldogs, even if it's not in Athens. Dan Lanning coaches his first game as head coach, leading the Ducks against his former boss Kirby Smart. Juicy storyline right off the bat!
- GO BEARCATS. A lot of turnover for the Cincy roster. A tough road test against an SEC team that's on the rise. This would be a big upset, despite the current rankings, IMO. But still... GO BEARCATS.
- Oklahoma beating up on UTEP is just commercial fodder during the other games, though it will be interesting to see if Venables still needs a Get-Back Coach now that he's the head honcho.
- Scout the future opponent: BYU opens on the road (props to them) at USF. Get familiar with the Cougars.
- You could also try: Bowling Green @ UCLA (2:30pm, PAC12 Network), #24 Houston @ TSA (3:30pm, CBSSports), or #21 Ole Miss vs Troy (4:00pm, SECN)
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd - LATE
- GO IRISH. BEAT BUCKEYES. Marcus Freeman and Al Golden will be tested right out of the gate by Ohio State's offense, particulary the WR's. Tommy Rees will need to help out with a solid control-the-clock gameplan. Avoid turnovers, make a big special teams play or two, lean on the big uglies, let Buchner do his thing when necessary on 3rd down, and let's win the football game.
- Florida did NOT expect to be a home dog when they scheduled this game. Billy Napier begins his Florida career looking to upset this year's trendy playoff pick, Utah.
- Selfish here a little bit... I have a soft spot for UK, they are trying to stake their claim as the second-best team in the SEC East, they have a good QB, and they're playing our old friend Chuck Martin to kick the season off.
- Army at Coastal Carolina is only on ESPN+, but I'll try to have it on an extra screen just for the beauty of the option offense vs the many mullets of Coastal Carolina.
- Memphis at Mississippi State is an upset alert game.
- Boise and Oregon State squaring off feels like a throwback to some awesome mid-2000's matchups, when both teams had some national pull. This is a fun night cap.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4th
- Brian Kelly and his LSU Tigers host FSU. The Seminoles looked competent against an inferior opponent for once in Week Zero. BK is probably more familiar with the Noles than any of his current conference opponents. Really curious to see how the Tigers look in BK's first game.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th
- This should be a stress-free cooldown after a long opening weekend. If Georgia Tech is able to get the national pulse elevated, Clemson is in for some big problems this season.
After a Week Zero appetizer (Nebraska did Nebraska things; FSU got a legit warmup for the LSU game without blowing it; Clark Lea's Vandy boys looked the part of a proper bully against an overmatched opponent for once), it's time for the REAL WEEK ONE in college football.
The Irish kick the season off with a brutal road test for Marcus Freeman's first regular season game as head coach, but there is plenty of other intrigue to track during week one, as well.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st
| Time | Matchup | TV Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00PM | #17 Pittsburgh vs West Virginia | ESPN |
| 7:00PM | #12 Oklahoma State vs Central Michigan | FS1 |
| 7:00PM | Tennessee vs Ball State | SECN |
| 8:00PM | Penn State @ Purdue | FOX |
| 8:00PM | Missouri vs Louisiana Tech | ESPNU |
| 9:00PM | Minnesota vs New Mexico State | BTN |
- The season potentially gets weird right out of the gate with an intriguing Backyard Brawl matchup on Thursday night. Our old friend, and 8th-year senior JT Daniels is now quarterbacking the WVU offense, but they are still projected to finish near the bottom of the Big XII... can they try and spring an early upset against a Pitt squad that lost its two best players?
- Oklahoma State should tee off of CMU, but it's at least good commercial fodder during the Backyard Brawl.
- Ditto for Tennessee and Ball State... flip over during commercials to watch Hendon Hooker throw a bunch of touchdowns against the overmatched Cardinals.
- Another legitimately intriguing matchup at 8:00PM when Penn State opens B1G play on the road at Purdue. PSU is a 3.5 point road favorite, but Purdue loves to play spoiler as a home underdog.
- Missouri vs La. Tech / Minnesota vs NMSU are commercial break backup
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2nd
| Time | Matchup | TV Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00PM | #15 Michigan State vs Western Michigan | ESPN |
| 7:00PM | Virginia Tech @ Old Dominion | ESPNU |
| 7:30PM | Temple @ Duke | ACCN |
| 8:00PM | Illinois @ Indiana | FS1 |
| 10:00PM | TCU @ Colorado | ESPN |
- Sparty suddenly has to deal with high preseason expectations (as does their outrageously-compensated coach)... WMU looks for an in-state upset.
- VT opens against an ODU squad that finished last season on a 5-1 run... VT now lead by former PSU DC Brent Pry, who was widely respected in the CFB media world, but less well known by us common folk.
- Our old friend Mike Elko coaches his first game as Duke's head coach. Temple was ass last year. Does Temple bounce back, or does Mike Elko's Duke squad start strong?
- Indiana had high hopes last season, but took a step back. Illinois starts year two of Bert Bielema's brand of Manball. Does Illinois exert their will, or does Indiana bounce back?
- TCU @ Colorado is the night cap... I honestly don't know anything about either team yet, but hopefully it's a fun game to fall asleep to.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd - EARLY
| Time | Matchup | TV Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00PM | #8 Michigan vs Colorado State | ABC |
| 12:00PM | #13 NC State @ East Carolina | ESPN |
| 12:00PM | Rutgers @ Boston College | ACCN |
| 12:00PM | North Carolina @ Appalachian State | ESPNU |
- Nothing brings us together early on a Saturday quite like rooting for an underdog to upset scUM. This should NOT be the noon ABC game (disregarding TV contracts).
- #13 NC State is a popular darkhorse pick to win the ACC, and maybe even push for a playoff spot, behind the arm of Devin Leary... but they're on upset alert against the ECU Pirates right out of the gate, for me.
- Watch our boy Philly J show everyone involved with ND who's boss, as he attempts to throw for a million yards against Rutgers... who might be quarterbacked by Noah Vedral for a minute, but will eventually give way to Gavin Wimsatt (familiar recruiting name!).
- UNC travels to App Sate, proving they aren't cowards. They got a warmup against Florida A&M in week zero, but the Mountaineers will be looking to defend their home field. THIS should be the noon ABC game.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd - AFTERNOON
| Time | Matchup | TV Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 3:30PM | #3 Georgia vs #11 Oregon | ABC |
| 3:30PM | #19 Arkansas vs #23 Cincinnati | ESPN |
| 3:30PM | #9 Oklahoma vs UTEP | FOX |
| 4:00PM | #25 BYU @ USF | ESPNU |
- Shoutouts to Oregon for opening the season in Georgia against the Bulldogs, even if it's not in Athens. Dan Lanning coaches his first game as head coach, leading the Ducks against his former boss Kirby Smart. Juicy storyline right off the bat!
- GO BEARCATS. A lot of turnover for the Cincy roster. A tough road test against an SEC team that's on the rise. This would be a big upset, despite the current rankings, IMO. But still... GO BEARCATS.
- Oklahoma beating up on UTEP is just commercial fodder during the other games, though it will be interesting to see if Venables still needs a Get-Back Coach now that he's the head honcho.
- Scout the future opponent: BYU opens on the road (props to them) at USF. Get familiar with the Cougars.
- You could also try: Bowling Green @ UCLA (2:30pm, PAC12 Network), #24 Houston @ TSA (3:30pm, CBSSports), or #21 Ole Miss vs Troy (4:00pm, SECN)
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd - LATE
| Time | Matchup | TV Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 7:30PM | #5 NOTRE DAME @ #2 Ohio State | ABC |
| 7:00PM | #7 Utah @ Florida | ESPN |
| 7:00PM | #20 Kentucky vs Miami (OH) | SECN/ESPN+ |
| 7:00PM | Army @ Coastal Carolina | ESPN+ |
| 7:30PM | Memphis @ Mississippi State | ESPNU |
| 10:30PM | Boise State @ Oregon State | ESPN |
- GO IRISH. BEAT BUCKEYES. Marcus Freeman and Al Golden will be tested right out of the gate by Ohio State's offense, particulary the WR's. Tommy Rees will need to help out with a solid control-the-clock gameplan. Avoid turnovers, make a big special teams play or two, lean on the big uglies, let Buchner do his thing when necessary on 3rd down, and let's win the football game.
- Florida did NOT expect to be a home dog when they scheduled this game. Billy Napier begins his Florida career looking to upset this year's trendy playoff pick, Utah.
- Selfish here a little bit... I have a soft spot for UK, they are trying to stake their claim as the second-best team in the SEC East, they have a good QB, and they're playing our old friend Chuck Martin to kick the season off.
- Army at Coastal Carolina is only on ESPN+, but I'll try to have it on an extra screen just for the beauty of the option offense vs the many mullets of Coastal Carolina.
- Memphis at Mississippi State is an upset alert game.
- Boise and Oregon State squaring off feels like a throwback to some awesome mid-2000's matchups, when both teams had some national pull. This is a fun night cap.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4th
| Time | Matchup | TV Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 7:30PM | Florida State @ LSU | ABC |
- Brian Kelly and his LSU Tigers host FSU. The Seminoles looked competent against an inferior opponent for once in Week Zero. BK is probably more familiar with the Noles than any of his current conference opponents. Really curious to see how the Tigers look in BK's first game.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th
| Time | Matchup | TV Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00PM | #4 Clemson @ Georgia Tech | ESPN |
- This should be a stress-free cooldown after a long opening weekend. If Georgia Tech is able to get the national pulse elevated, Clemson is in for some big problems this season.
