We made it.
Once again, we have arrived at a new college football regular season that kicks off this Saturday in Week 0 with seven games. While we don’t have any marquee matchups, Notre Dame and USC are in action, and a Group of Five battle in San Diego should be a competitive contest.
College football has been mired in significant change for quite awhile, but this season will certainly be one to cherish even more with 2024 set to look a lot different in many ways. Frankly, it’s sad that the business of college athletics has affected the landscape of the sport, but this is nothing new to us obviously.
With that being said, let’s focus on the games and take a glance at the Week 0 action.
Navy vs. No. 13 Notre Dame in Dublin (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC): The Midshipmen will debut new head coach Brian Newberry, whose option offense will look a little different under first-year OC Grant Chesnut. Expect Navy to take it to the air more often as it looks to return to the postseason for the first time since going 11-2 in 2019. Meanwhile, new Fighting Irish QB Sam Hartman—who threw for nearly 13,000 yards during his time at Wake Forest—will look to keep the ND offense humming after the Irish won six of their last seven games last year, including a Gator Bowl victory over South Carolina. Marcus Freeman finished his first year strong after ugly losses to Marshall and Stanford. Can the ND ground game find traction against a Navy rush defense that was one of the best in the country last fall and returns a lot of production? New Irish OC Gerad Parker will be looking for playmakers to step up as there isn’t a ton of proven talent at receiver.
UTEP at Jacksonville State (5:30, CBSSN): This will be the debut contest for the Gamecocks as a member of the FBS after asserting themselves as an FCS power. Remember Rich Rodriguez? He’s in his second year as head coach after a debut 9-2 campaign with Jax State and has a QB in Zion Webb who was granted a seventh year of eligibility after helping the team win an Atlantic Sun championship. The Gamecocks do need to replace five of their top seven tacklers, but the secondary should be solid if they can continue to generate a pass rush. Meanwhile, Miners boss Dana Dimel begins a likely make or break campaign as he enters with a 17-40 mark in five seasons in El Paso. However, he has won 12 games over the past two seasons and has the program in much better shape than when he arrived. QB Gavin Hardison will work behind a very good offensive line; he just needs to be much more consistent. Defensively, this unit holds its own.
UMass at New Mexico State (7:00, ESPN): This is a matchup of independent FBS schools in Las Cruces. Last season, Jerry Kill took the Aggies to a bowl game for just the second time in program history. QB Diego Pavia returns to lead the spread option offense, while the Minutemen will be led by redshirt junior transfer Taisun Phommachanh, who spent time both at Georgia Tech and Clemson. Despite UMass having the worst offense in the FBS last season, it played pretty well against NMSU last fall, holding the Aggies’ offense under 25 points. The Minutemen went heavy in the transfer portal, so improvement could be on the horizon.
Ohio at San Diego State (7:00, FS1): The Bobcats were really good with a healthy Kurtis Rourke under center last season, and he is slated to start in what could be the best game of the day. Rourke was the MAC offensive player of the year last season but suffered an ACL injury in November that ended his campaign. The Bobcats return a lot of surrounding talent from a unit that ranked 41st in the nation in scoring (31.8 points per game), but they also allowed 286 passing yards per game. Historically, the Aztecs have fielded one of the best defenses in the Mountain West. But there was a lot of turnover. That being said, it’s a good bet that the system continues to work. Speaking of history, these teams met once before—in the 2018 Frisco Bowl, where SDSU was shut out for the first time since a 2006 loss at TCU. Can the Aztecs improve offensively? Former safety Jalen Mayden is back at QB but will need playmakers to emerge.
Hawai’i at Vanderbilt (7:30, SECN): The Rainbow Warriors were throttled by the Commodores 63-10 in Honolulu to open Timmy Chang’s debut season as head coach last year. Vandy went on to win five games for the first time since 2018, so can Clark Lea’s squad go bowling this season? The ‘Dores pulled off upsets over Kentucky and Florida last year, but Mike Wright was at QB and not AJ Swann. Wright is now at Mississippi State, so Swann will need to improve as a passer and the run game will need to find a way to make it work without Ryan Davis, who is gone after carrying the ball 232 times last year. Meanwhile, Chang added some run-and-shoot concepts after a brutal start last year, and QB Brayden Schager has help in the backfield from 5-foot-7 dynamo Tylan Hines, who averaged 7.6 yards per carry in 2022.
San Jose State at No. 6 USC (8:00, Pac-12): Defending Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams won’t be on a lot of televisions across the country this week, as the Trojans’ matchup with SJSU is on Pac-12 Network, which is unavailable for many cable subscribers. This will be USC’s last year in the dwindling conference, but Lincoln Riley and Co. are looking to put behind their Pac-12 title game loss as well as the collapse to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl. Can significant improvement occur on defense? Riley and his staff hit the portal hard and brought in several potential instant impact players on that side of the ball. Meanwhile, SJSU brings back QB Chevan Cordeiro as well as all five offensive line starters, but the defense needs new stars to blossom.
FIU at Louisiana Tech (9:00, CBSSN): The Bulldogs have former Boise State QB Hank Bachmeier to run Sonny Cumbie’s Air Raid offense, which should be much improved this fall. But can the defense become even below average? Louisiana Tech is looking for revenge after losing 42-34 in Miami last season, and it dropped six of its last seven to close out the year. Meanwhile, the Panthers lost four straight to end 2022, so Mike MacIntyre is looking to take a step in the right direction as he begins his second seaosn with the program. The problem is he lost several of his best players to Power Five teams via the portal in the offseason.
This week’s best bets
*Jacksonville State +1
*New Mexico State -6.5
*Ohio +2.5
Cocktail of the week: Spicy Watermelon Margarita
The heat has been stifling the last two days in Chicago, so I’m looking to cool down. However, sweating is the body’s natural way of cooling itself off. So this first cocktail of the season—while very refreshing—does bring a little heat. It’s a twist on a margarita, but it’s the perfect blend of fruity and spicy. Simply put, it’s watermelon heaven. And here’s how you craft it:
-In a shaker, muddle 3 jalapeno slices and 3 watermelon cubes to extract the juices (Note: If you want to substitute the jalapenos, you can roll with cucumber slices, basil or mint sprigs.)
-Add 2 oz. blanco tequila, .5 oz. lime juice, .5 oz. agave syrup and ice.
-Shake until well chilled.
-Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.
-Enjoy every sip!
Week 1 look-ahead:
Labor Day weekend, as always, is going to be beautiful. The action kicks off Thursday, which features Florida at No. 14 Utah, and continues Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. No. 5 LSU and No. 8 Florida State battle on Sunday, which is the marquee matchup of the weekend. I cannot wait!
My preseason Top 25 power rankings
25. NC State
24. Kentucky
23. Texas A&M
22. Kansas State
21. UCLA
20. North Carolina
19. Oklahoma
18. Wisconsin
17. Ole Miss
16. TCU
15. Notre Dame
14. Oregon
13. Texas
12. Utah
11. Tennessee
10. Washington
9. Clemson
8. Florida State
7. USC
6. LSU
5. Penn State
4. Alabama
3. Ohio State
2. Michigan
1. Georgia
I hope everyone enjoys the opening games!
Follow me on X @Miller_Dave & email me at david.matthew.miller@gmail.com