College football season starts in earnest on Saturday! Sorry for the exclamation point, I just needed to deliver that news with the enthusiasm it deserves (and that still probably wasn’t enough).
Week one offers up some intriguing games that will already have a big impact on who ends up making it into the College Football Playoff. Here are some games you should keep your eye on:
No. 14 Michigan at No. 12 Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC)
You thought I was saving this one for the end? No way! The Maize and Blue head to South Bend to open the season. The last time these two teams met up, Notre Dame had their way with Michigan, winning 31-0. That was still in the Brady Hoke era. Jim Harbaugh now gets his first crack at the Fighting Irish as head coach of his alma mater.
Notre Dame returns 10 of its starters on defense. Last year, after a win against Wake Forest in early November, this team was 8-1 and projected to make the College Football Playoff. Then came a terrible loss to Miami, a close win over Navy and another bad loss to Stanford. This team failed to finish last season. If the defense can build on what it did last year, this unit could be one of the best in the country.
Brandon Wimbush threw for 16 touchdowns against only 6 interceptions last year, but his completion percentage was, astonishingly, under 50 percent on the season. That’s not going to get it done against Michigan or the other tough competition on Notre Dame’s schedule.
After a disappointing 8-5 overall record, and going 5-4 in Big Ten play in 2017, the Wolverines are looking to turn the page. This is a big game for them. If they lose, their margin for error becomes zero. Starting October 13, Michigan faces a brutal three-game stretch against No. 4 Wisconsin (in Ann Arbor), No. 11 Michigan State (in East Lansing, against a team that has won 8 of its last 10 against the Wolverines), and No. 10 Penn State (in Ann Arbor). And don’t forget about “The Game” against No. 5 Ohio State. If Michigan loses the opener, they’d probably have to go at least 3-1 against those four teams and win the Big Ten title to make the playoff.
Last year, the Michigan offense was ranked outside the top 90 while the defense was ranked inside the top 15. Defensive Coordinator Don Brown’s defense could once again be one of the best in the country, but the Maize and Blue will only go as far as Ole Miss transfer Shea Patterson can take them. If the junior QB can extend plays and build off of last season where he threw for nearly 2,300 yards at a 64 percent clip, the Wolverines could not only win this game but also make a legitimate run at a Big Ten title.
No. 6 Washington at No. 9 Auburn (3:30 p.m. ET on ABC)
A mouth-watering week one matchup between two top-10 teams is fitting for the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff in Atlanta.
The stakes are higher for Auburn in this game. The Tigers could still make the playoff as a two-loss team because they play in the stacked SEC West, but an opening-week loss means they would need to get at least a split in their road games against top-five Alabama and Georgia and beat everyone else.
After this matchup, the Huskies should be favored the rest of the way. They only have two remaining games against teams currently ranked in the top-25: an October road game against No. 24 Oregon and a November home game against No. 13 Stanford. A loss doesn’t doom the Huskies because they could run the table, win the Pac-12 North, and win the Pac-12. If they do that, they’ll be back in the College Football Playoff.
Auburn has one of the country’s most dangerous dual-threat QBs in Jarrett Stidham and he’s projected as one of the top quarterbacks in next year’s NFL draft. With Stidham under center, the Tigers pounded much of their SEC competition in the regular season, bulldozing second-ranked Georgia by 23 and knocking off top-ranked Alabama by 12 to win the Iron Bowl and the SEC West. Last year, Auburn averaged more than 218 yards per game rushing, but, despite losing Kerryon Johnson, the Tigers’ rushing attack will still be explosive. Unfortunately for Auburn, two of their top returning receivers, Will Hastings and Eli Stove, are still recovering from ACL tears suffered during spring practice. While they’re both expected to return and play this season, they won’t be playing in the opener against the Huskies.
On the other side, Washington’s Jake Browning will become the first four-year starter at quarterback in school history. He was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year two seasons ago, throwing for a conference-record 43 touchdown passes. But he regressed last year. While his completion percentage jumped to 68.5 percent, he threw for fewer yards and ended up throwing just 19 touchdowns (against a mere 5 interceptions). He’s still one of the best quarterbacks in school and Pac-12 history. If he stays healthy and produces offense the way he is capable of, he’ll own nearly all of Washington’s all-time passing records by the end of the season.
If you want to watch two of the country’s best quarterbacks go head-to-head, this is the game you should be watching.
Louisville at No. 1 Alabama (8:00 p.m. ET on ABC)
Expect to see a raucous pro-Crimson Tide crowd turn out in Orlando for this game. As of press time, Alabama, the defending national champion, hasn’t announced who will start at quarterback. Jalen Hurts has started 29 games for the Crimson Tide and Alabama has won 27 of them. However, Hurts was benched in the national championship game in favor of then-true freshman Tua Tagovailoa. All Tagovailoa did was lead Alabama to a come-from-behind overtime victory against Georgia and its fifth national championship under Nick Saban.
Saban might play both in the game, and the quarterback battle will be one of the most closely-followed college football storylines in the SEC and the entire country. ‘Bama lost some key contributors on both sides of the ball to the NFL Draft, but they’re still loaded at the skill positions like running back and wide receiver. It’s title or bust in Tuscaloosa as the Crimson Tide will be favored to win every game they play this season.
Bobby Petrino’s offense scored just more than 38 points per game last season, good for 11th in the country. The Cardinals will need to find the endzone early and often to beat an Alabama team that’s favored to win this game by more than 24 points. Lamar Jackson is suiting up on Sundays now, and Louisville will sorely his leadership and the production he gave them through the air and on the ground. How much of his production can they replace? That will be the big question for Louisville in this game and throughout the season.
Noah Niederhoffer (@Noah715) is a producer at SiriusXM and a graduate of the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Originally from Atlanta, he now lives in Washington, D.C.
