Bo Nix is likely to be under center for the new-look Oregon team.
The Utah-Florida game could be a big statement game for the Pac-12.
After a thrilling Rose Bowl victory, Ohio State opens the season at home against Notre Dame.
This is all in the first week.
The college football season starts in August and our reporters break down the games and players they are most looking forward to.
The Notre Dame vs Ohio State game is on Sept. 3. The Marcus Freeman era at Notre Dame gets off to a great start as he faces his alma mater. The Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State will be a motivator for the Fighting Irish. The Ohio State offense should be another potent one with C.J. Stroud, Henderson, and Smith-Njigba leading the way.
The standard in-conference must-sees are Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, Texas A&M, Baylor, Oklahoma State and USC, to name a few. Texas A&M might not get as much attention as other early contests, but it is fascinating to see two programs with similar trajectory. Both programs are trying to break through. Jimbo Fisher and the A&M's have captured more recruiting attention than anyone else right now, but first-year coach Mario Cristobal and the Canes should enter the conversation soon. The Texas A&M defense is very talented and Tyler Van Dyke will have a good test against them. How will the quarterback situation play out? Two teams that should be generating more national discussion in the next few seasons will match up at Kyle Field.
If the SEC and Pac-12 square off on a campus, sign me up. There is something about one school and its fans trekking all the way across the country to play another school with a different culture and different group of fans. The Florida-Utah season opener is going to have a lot of storylines. For one, Billy Napier's debut as Florida's head coach and Gator Nation is hungry to see him get off to a rousing start. In his first season, the schedule is daunting. There are trips to Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Florida State. If the Gators are going to win 10 or more games in 2022, they need to take care of business in the opener. If the Utah team can beat an SEC foe on the road, it will bolster their College Football Playoff chances. Mohamoud Diabate, second on the team in tackles a year ago, transferred to Utah and will be going up against his old teammates.
Even if it doesn't end up being the most exciting game, I'm still looking forward to the Backyard Brawl between Pitt and West Virginia. College football is better off with this rivalry taking place annually because the two schools haven't played since 2011. The atmosphere for this game is going to be one of the best we have seen all season.
David Hale is a fan of Harry's answer. Pitt needs to play either Penn State or West Virginia every year. It makes college football better. In order to offer more diverse opinions, how about the opening game between Florida State and LSU? Two teams with a lot of success but recent struggles. It will be Brian Kelly's first test at LSU and a chance for Mike Norvell to land a signature win at FSU. Both programs need an injection of national respect if they are to succeed. The loser is likely to dig a big hole the rest of the season. There are games with more at stake when it comes to the CFP race, but in the larger narrative of the season, this one has a chance to have a huge impact on two blue-blood programs.
In terms of sheer curiosity, it is hard to top Cincinnati at Arkansas. I have a lot of questions about both of these teams. Does Arkansas have the strength in the skill corps that it lacks without the two players? We could have some decent answers by the end of Week 1. If the Bearcats win, it will be the third straight season of perfect regular season.
I am surprised that there are no takers for Georgia-Oregon, but the only correct answer is the backyard brawl. Mark was at the Masters. Dan Lanning will make his debut for the Ducks against his former team in this one. I think that might be the fifth best storyline. Georgia will have a lot of new faces on defense as it tries to defend its national championship, who will step up to replace All-Americans Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean? Will he provide the same type of magic that he did a year ago? Does Oregon have any chance of making the playoffs? Bo Nix will compete for the starting quarterback job. It is hard to keep track of all the juicy subplots.
The quarterback decided to follow Lincoln Riley to USC. Williams provided a spark for Riley at Oklahoma last year. The familiarity between Riley and Williams, and the desire for the USC to reestablish themselves in the Pac-12 and nationally, will be weekly storylines to watch and follow.
Since we have to pick one, I will go with C.J. Stroud. If Ohio State's offense looks like it did in the Rose Bowl against Utah, it will be hard to find a player that is more exciting than him. We gained a glimpse of what life without those guys would look like, and it was still pretty glamorous for the Buckeyes. In his second year as a starter, Stroud will have plenty to work with.
The next wave of first-round draft picks is the usual suspects. If you really want to be entertained, make sure you check out Kansas State. I didn't include his position because he does it all in spectacular fashion. He plays as big as anyone in college football, even though he is only 5 feet 6 and 173 pounds. He had more than 1,400 rushing yards and more than 400 receiving yards last season. He was fourth among Power 5 players in average yards from scrimmage, and the only Power 5 player with more running/receiving plays of 10 yards or longer was Smith-Njigba of Ohio State. Lane Kiffin said to get your popcorn ready when No. 22 touches the ball.
Hale: Louisville is a team that has failed in each of the past two years. Even though they are down big, there is at least one reason to tune in, and that is the quarterback, who might be the most electric player in college football. Cunningham ran for more than 1,000 and threw for nearly 3000 yards and had 19 passing and 20 rushing touchdown. How wild is that? Only four other players in the past 15 years have posted a similar line, and you might have heard of them: Johnny Manziel, Colin Kaepernick, and Lamar Jackson. It can be hard to tell the difference between Cunningham and Jackson because of their running styles, but they are both good athletes. Cunningham is an exceptional deep ball player, a game-breaking runner and an increasingly smart decision-maker. If Louisville doesn't take a big leap forward, he's unlikely to crack the Heisman race, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be appointment viewing in 2022. Ask the question: Who is the most fun player in college football? Cunningham is the logical answer.
I will not let Will Anderson Jr. happen again. The Alabama defense was led by Anderson, who generated over 100 tackles, including 34.5 tackles for loss. He won the SEC defensive player of the year award. Anderson will enter his final college season with as much hype as any defensive player in recent memory, even though he should have been a Heisman Trophy finalist. Opponents will try to limit his impact on the games this season. He will go down as one of the most impressive defenders in Alabama history if he replicates or exceeds his production in 2021. I heard a lot about Anderson in his freshman year. From the opening game onward, he will be on my radar.
Since Harry picked Young, I will pick him. The guy who won the Heisman while learning on the job? He threw for over 5,000 yards and 47 touchdown, but he had a few bad habits that he was trying to iron out. He has a new receiving corps to break in, and that might hold him back a little, but it is hard to ever worry about how Alabama will fare at the skill positions. Young should be fun to watch because the Tide will have some scary weapons.
It is always fun to watch quarterbacks, and you can't go wrong with anyone listed here. If we are going to stay on the quarterback theme, I urge people to watch them in the conference. I mean that. The league returns the most talented quarterback group in the country, even with Kenny Pickett leaving for the NFL. Cunningham has been fun to watch. One of the best seasons by a quarterback in Virginia history was put together by Brennan Armstrong, who had 4,700 total yards and 40 total touchdown and was ranked second in the nation in total offense. He accounted for 400 or more yards in seven of the 11 games he played. Sam Hartman is a 4,000-yard passer at Wake Forest. NC State returns a 3,000-yard passer of its own, and Miami has a quarterback who nearly threw for 3000 yards as a freshman. There is no easy choice as the preseason All-ACC selection.
I am anxious to see what Smith-Njigba has to offer as an encore to his performance in the Rose Bowl. Smith-Njigba will have plenty of time to build off his performance against the Utes. Notre Dame lost Kyle Hamilton from its secondary, and how the Fighting Irish deal with the passing game will be a crucial test in Week 1.
I will take the other side of the ball in Ohio State-Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish will have a new starting quarterback, a new running back and a new wideout against the Ohio State defense. There is a lot of newness in this game. We know that Ohio State will score a lot of points, but we don't know how long it will take to get all of his chess pieces in the right place, and we don't know how capable Notre Dame is. This is a tone-setting moment right out of the gate.
If he wins the starting quarterback job at Oregon, what a scene he will have for his first performance. The former top 25 national recruit will return to the South to face the defending national champion in Atlanta. The game will be a virtual road game for the Ducks, who will make their debut under new coach Dan Lanning. Georgia will be heavily favored but loses a lot on defense, and Nix has a chance to show how formidable Oregon will be in a wide-open conference. In three previous games against Georgia, the quarterback has
I am excited to see what Bijan Robinson can do against an improved Alabama defense. One of the most exciting players in the nation was Robinson, who rushed for 1,127 yards and 11 touchdown as a sophomore. He ran for 137 yards and a touchdown in the biggest game of the year for the Longhorns against Oklahoma. The Will Anderson Jr.-led defense is going to be a great test of how Steve Sarkisian is able to further open things up for Robinson.
College football transfers are the way of the world now. In Week 2, Spencer Rattler gets his first real test as South Carolina's starting quarterback against Arkansas on the road after transferring from Oklahoma. The Arkansas defense allowed 16 touchdown passes a year ago. Veteran defensive coach Barry Odom has squeezed everything and then some out of the Razorbacks personnel on defense, and he has his own influx of transfers to go along with returning stalwarts Bumper Pool at linebacker and All-SEC safety Jalen Catalon. The transfers who could make a big impact on the defense are defensive ends from LSU and Georgia Tech, as well as a linebacker from Alabama and a safety from Georgia.
The Utah-Florida game is one of the more under-the-radar non conference games. Emmitt Smith was on the Gators last year and they will play a Pac-12 team for the first time in 25 years. This game is a rare treat because Florida doesn't like scheduling home-and-home games against Power 5 opponents. It is not a good way to start Billy Napier's career. What will be most intriguing to watch is the way Anthony Richardson takes control of the offense against a defense that is typically one of the best in the country. Utah has a lot of holes to fill on that side of the ball, starting with the linebacker. There will be at least one familiar face trying to stop Richardson, as Mohamoud Diabate transferred from Florida to Utah in the winter.
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