College Football: Viewers Guide to Opening weekend

Every College football fan is counting down the days until Saturday afternoon when College Football opening weekend starts. Yes I know it started last week, but who stayed up and watched Stanford and Rice? I will confess that I did watch some of the game, but only cause I stayed up and watched the Mayweather Macgregor fight.

Thursday: #2 Ohio State at Indiana:

The action kicks off Thursday with #2 Ohio State opening up on the road against Indiana. The Buckeyes should roll to an easy win in offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson’s return to Indiana after coaching the Hoosiers for six years and two bowl appearances. This is also the first look for a new look Ohio States offense; Wilson coordinated some of the best offenses in college football history at Oklahoma and turned Indiana into one of the best offensive teams in the Big 10. The last time Urban Meyer had a talented offensive coordinator (Tom Herman) he won a National Championship.

Friday: Navy at Florida Atlantic:

This game is a contrast in styles. Navy is one of the most consistent programs in college football; Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo has won 8, 9, 8, 11, 9 games the past five years. The Midshipmen employ the Triple option offense which has been around since the dawn of college football. Florida Atlantic, on the other hand, has not had a winning season since 2008. New Head Coach Lane Kiffin has had a controversial career, to say the least. Go ahead and google Lane Kiffin controversy and see how many articles pop up. Kiffin hired Art Briles son Kendal to be his offensive coordinator, and took two players off “Second Chance U”. Both players have been in trouble at multiple schools before coming to Florida Atlantic.

Saturday:

Noon: Maryland at #23 Texas

Maryland and Texas both feature two young head coaches that exceeded as coordinators for Big Ten programs under two of the best college football coaches. DJ Durkin of Maryland coached under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford and Michigan before becoming Maryland’s Head Coach. Tom Herman coordinated Ohio States offense under Urban Meyer for three seasons including a National Championship run in 2014. Texas was once College Football elite teams from 2001-2009 winning no less than ten games and finishing in the top five in five of those seasons. Longhorn fans hope that Herman can restore some past glory. Durkin, on the other hand, is in charge of creating a winning tradition at Maryland. Maryland is considered a sleeping giant in college football; Maryland does have Under Armor money, access to fertile recruiting grounds in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and DC.

3:30pm: #11 Michigan vs. #17 Florida in Arlington, Texas

The last time these two teams played Michigan crushed Florida 41-7 in the 2015 Citrus bowl. Since then Michigan is on the cusp of becoming an elite program again and Florida is still searching for an offensive identity. Reports have surfaced that Florida will play three quarterbacks against one of the premier defensive coordinators in the country in Don Brown. To make matters worse ten Gators are suspended for this game. This game will ultimately be a blow out in Michigan’s favor.

8:00pm: #1 Alabama vs. #3 Florida State in Atlanta, Georgia

This game features two of the most tradition rich programs in college football, two of the four active Head Coaches with a National Championship’s, two of the premier defensive players in the country (Darwin James of Florida State and Minkah Fitzpatrick of Alabama).

Two dynamic sophomore quarterbacks in Jalen Hurts of Alabama and Deondre Francois of Florida State. The Noles are one of the few teams in the country that can match Alabama’s talent but it will ultimately come down to the Seminoles stopping or slowing down the Tides ground game and Alabama replacing their entire front seven against and experience Florida State offensive line.

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