College Football Preview: Week 1

Well, the moment we have all been waiting for since LSU was crowned national champions eight months ago is 24 hours away.  It's shaping up to be yet another exciting season of college football, from Storrs to Stillwater to Pullman and everywhere in between.  Good luck to everyone's team as the new campaign commences. 

First, a look at this weekend's national television schedule, since finding a comprehensive guide to the action is often not that simple.  Thank God Comcast picked up the Big Ten Network, as I now have yet one more reason not to do anything besides watch college football or attend the occasional high school game on Saturdays this fall.

THURSDAY 8/28:
Vanderbilt at Miami (OH), 7:30 (ESPN U)
North Carolina State at South Carolina, 8 (ESPN)
Wake Forest at Baylor, 8 (FSN)
Oregon State at Stanford, 9 (ESPN 2)

FRIDAY 8/29:
Temple at Army, 7 (ESPN Classic)
SMU at Rice, 8 (ESPN)

SATURDAY 8/30:
Virginia Tech at East Carolina, 12 (ESPN)
Syracuse at Northwestern, 12 (ESPN 2)
Bowling Green at Pittsburgh, 12 (ESPN U)
Youngstown State at Ohio State, 12 (BTN)
Akron at Wisconsin, 12 (BTN)
Coastal Carolina at Penn State, 12 (BTN)
Western Kentucky at Indiana, 12 (BTN)
Maine at Iowa, 12 (BTN)
USC at Virginia, 3:30 (ABC)
Utah at Michigan, 3:30 (ABC)
Oklahoma State vs. Washington State in Seattle, 3:30 (FSN)
Towson at Navy, 3:30 (CBS College Sports)
Delaware at Maryland, 3:45 (ESPN U)
Appalachian State at LSU, 5 (ESPN)
TCU at New Mexico, 6 (Versus)
Mississippi State at Louisiana Tech, 6:45 (ESPN 2)
Northern Illinois at Minnesota, 7 (BTN)
Boston College vs. Kent State in Cleveland, 7:30 (ESPN U)
Alabama vs. Clemson in Atlanta, 8 (ABC)
Michigan State at California, 8 (ABC)
Illinois vs. Missouri in St. Louis, 8:30 (ESPN)
Washington at Oregon, 10 (FSN)

SUNDAY 8/31:
Kentucky at Louisville, 3:30 (ESPN)
Colorado vs. Colorado State in Denver, 7:30 (FSN)

MONDAY 9/1:
Fresno State at Rutgers, 4 (ESPN)
Tennessee at UCLA, 8 (ESPN)


Unlike in past years, Week 1 is actually quite appetizing.  Sure, there are still plenty of contests involving BCS U beating up on Cupcake College 63-0 that almost make you wish you had gone to the beach to check out babes instead of staying home to watch the first weekend of real football in seven months.  Here are the five games you need to watch over this extended 5-day weekend of college football:

Alabama vs. Clemson
When the 12th game was added to the schedule, all preseason classics were ended, including the long-running Kickoff Classic.  Chick-fil-A and the folks in Atlanta have reintroduced the kickoff game, although it will be a regular season contest and not an extra non-conference game added on to the participants' schedules.  The first installment is a dandy.  ACC vs. SEC.  Tommy Bowden vs. Nick Saban.  The tradition of Alabama vs. the tradition of Clemson.  The Tigers have massive expectations on their shoulders entering the new season, and cannot come out of the gate slow against an Alabama team that is facing similar pressure to step up.  6-6 is not satisfactory in Tuscaloosa.  This will be a hard-hitting, defensive battle that will be well worth spending a warm Saturday night inside in front of the tube.   I like the Tide to pull off the upset.  Keep your eyes on heralded true frosh wideout Julio Jones, who should immediately give John Parker Wilson and the Tide offense a much-needed boost. 

Appalachian State at LSU
For the first time in the 31 seasons of the FCS/FBS classifications within Division 1 football, the two respective defending national champions square off.  LSU is breaking in a lot of new, albeit highly skilled, players.  App State went up to the Big House and pulled off the biggest upset in the history of college football one year ago this weekend, and returns Armanti Edwards at QB.  It can happen again, although you can bet that Les Miles will not let his team rest on its laurels.  They will not be caught sleeping like Michigan.  The Tigers will have to fight for this game, but I expect them to pull away in the third and fourth quarter behind the great depth characteristic of BCS squads. 

USC at Virginia
Both of these teams, one surprisingly, played in New Year's Day bowl games last season.  USC should make another strong run at a prestigious bowl, while the Wahoos will have their work cut out.  Al Groh's team lost its starting QB, RB, standout defensive lineman Chris Long, and several other starters.  But the Trojans won't go in and walk all over UVA, at least not initially.  Mark Sanchez is still relatively inexperienced, and may be tentative on the knee he dislocated a few weeks back in practice.  In the first game of the season between two BCS schools, you can't expect the offense to come out and fire on all cylinders.  But once the Trojans warm up, they will pull away to win big before getting a week off to prepare for their showdown with Ohio State. 

Tennessee at UCLA
The Vols are getting into a habit of opening the season with Pac 10 opponents, as this is the third year in a row they open up against a west coast team.  And for the second year in a row, it is on the road.  Barring a strong performance from UCLA, UT should head back east victorious this time however.  This is Rick Neuheisel's first game as Bruins coach, and it's against a good team on national TV.  Don't expect any miracles.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this game was an embarrassment.  UCLA's quarterback situation has been in flux all offseason, and I don't see how this team can score easily against an SEC defense.  Plus, a team that went 6-7 a year ago only returns 12 total starters. 

Illinois vs. Missouri
In years past, no one gave much thought to the so-called Arch Rivalry.  But with both of these programs coming off strong campaigns and back for another run at a national championship in 2008, this will truly be an early season heavyweight battle.  When watching this game, look no further than the play of the quarterbacks.  Juice Williams emerged as one of the nation's top duel threats one season ago, and gave Big 10 defenses nightmares.  Chase Daniel is considered a Heisman frontrunner and has NFL scouts salivating.  If the Tigers can get through this one unscathed, and I think they will, they shouldn't have any problems being undefeated heading into an October 18 showdown at Texas. 

And these games are worth mentioning as well:

Michigan State at California:
Two mid-pack teams in their respective leagues trying to take the next step.  Too bad this game is on opposite of so many other great ones.

Hawaii at Florida:
The Warriors begin the post-June Jones and Colt Brennan era with a 5,000-mile trip to Gainesville.  It won't be pretty, but still intriguing to see Hawaii travel all the way across half an ocean and entire continent.  This game would have been even more interesting a year ago. 

Utah at Michigan:
We all remember what happened in Ann Arbor last September 1.  This game could be an upset based on the factUtah is one of the better non-BCS squads and Michigan is instituting an entirely new offense. 

Fresno State at Rutgers:
Pat Hill's squad has BCS aspirations.  While working their way through the WAC won't be too much of an issue, a non-conference slate including Rutgers, UCLA, and Wisconsin will be a huge test. 

Washington at Oregon: 
Ty Willingham's clearly on the hot seat in Seattle, and he is rewarded by having to open up the season with a conference game in the Pac 10's toughest stadium.  Oregon may have QB issues, but has enough talent to overwhelm the Huskies. 

TCU at New Mexico:
BYU and Utah are considered the favorites in the Mountain West, but the Horned Frogs and Lobos will not be pushovers in the Cougars' and Utes' quests for an at-large BCS berth. 

SMU at Rice:
June Jones' debut with an SMU program that hasn't seen much of anything in terms of results for a quarter century begins with a big conference and state rivalry with the Rice Owls. 

Oregon State at Stanford:
Another opening weekend Pac 10 conference game featuring two teams looking to kick off the new season on the right foot. 



One other note to take into consideration when watching kickoff weekend: the college game's clock rules have been changed for the third year in a row.  After the abomination of 2006, where the clock started on the ready (even after kickoffs), and the reinstatement of the old rules in 2007, a 40-second play clock has finally been introduced into the college game for 2008 (the play clock will begin when the previous play is over, and not on the ready for play, as was the case with the 25-second clock).  Additionally, the GAME clock will start on the ready (and not the snap) on plays that end out-of-bounds, except in the last two minutes of each half.  These two traditional NFL clock rules should shorten games a few minutes without sacrificing too many plays, as well as introducing consistency in play clock operation.  No longer will each individual referee have an influence on when the play clock rolls, as was the case with the old 25-second clock.