This is the week of a lot of exciting beginnings. Five straight days of college football. Teams and conferences on new television channels. (The 3:30 CBS song is ours now, thank you very much.)
We get to see new offensive schemes. New quarterbacks. Heck, Colorado is going to show us a whole new roster.
Fun times. And to say we’re excited is probably an understatement.
So, we waste no time getting into it. We take a quick look back at the handful of games in Week 0, including impressive wins by Jacksonville State and … UMass? Also, Sam Hartman might be good, while USC’s defense … eh, might not be.
Then AJ gets us ready for all of the #GroupOfFiveAfterDark action with an absolutely loaded report (be sure to tune in every week, Boise State fans). You should have absolutely no reason to be bored this weekend. None.
And then … let’s go.
Florida at No. 14 Utah (8 ET Thursday, ESPN): Lots of questions this year for the Gators. Traveling to Salt Lake to face a stealthy Utes defense? That’s a big ask.
Nebraska at Minnesota (8 ET Thursday, FOX): B1G football lovers? This one’s for you. Matt Rhule gets a heck of a first game as the Huskers head coach. Meanwhile, Minnesota is rowing (see what we did there?) out a whole new offense.
Miami (OH) at Miami (7 ET Friday, ACCN): This one’s fun to talk about. (Ha!) We like the Canes … but wouldn’t be shocked to see the RedHawks hang around to make this interesting. The line is real dumb.
Colorado at No. 17 TCU (Big Nude Saturday, FOX): Coach Prime gets the prime TV treatment … but the Horny Toads have the upper hand.
West Virginia at No. 7 Penn St. (7:30 ET Saturday, NBC): Our first look at the new Penn State offense as the Drew Allar show begins in Happy Valley. Carla’s pumped. Crappy? Not so much. Meanwhile, WVU likes to run the ball. A lot.
No. 21 North Carolina vs. South Carolina in Charlotte (7:30 ET Saturday, ABC): Lots of intrigue here in what should be a stellar QB matchup between Drake Maye and Spencer Rattler. Take the over.
No. 5 LSU vs. No. 8 Florida St. in Orlando (7:30 ET Sunday, ABC): On paper, this is the best matchup of the weekend. This game last year was an instant classic. We expect more of the same this year.
No. 9 Clemson at Duke (8 ET Monday, ESPN): Oh hey. Duke’s actually pretty good at football now. Is this a Clemsoning opportunity? Perhaps.
If that’s not enough for you, Carla gives honorable mention (of course) to MTSU at No. 4 Alabama (7:30 ET Saturday, SECN), while Crappy is (obviously) focused on No. 3 Ohio State at Indiana (3:30 ET Saturday, CBS) and his mild concern about the Bucks potentially having two quarterbacks. (That would not be a good development.)
So, there you have it. An absolutely packed weekend of college football. Enjoy the games … and maybe even some bad movie theater popcorn. Cheers, yinz.
