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College Football Playoff 2019: Top 5 Week 1 games with biggest implications

By Tanner Nestle

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - DECEMBER 29: Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines looks on in the first quarter against the Florida Gators during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - DECEMBER 29: Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines looks on in the first quarter against the Florida Gators during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Oklahoma Sooners QB Jalen Hurts
SANTA CLARA, CA – JANUARY 07: Jalen Hurts #2 of the Alabama Crimson Tide warms up prior to the CFP National Championship against the Clemson Tigers presented by AT&T at Levi’s Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

2. Houston vs. Oklahoma (Sunday, Sept. 1)

Before I start talking about Oklahoma, which is mostly what this game is about, let’s not forget that Dana Holgorsen is now the head coach at Houston after a bit of a head-scratching departure at West Virginia. He spent the last eight seasons at West Virginia and was with the program as it ventured into the Big 12. The familiarity he has with Oklahoma is as present as you could want for a massive underdog heading into Week 1. It’s something to keep an eye on.

Now onto Oklahoma. The Sooners are massive favorites to win this game and also make the College Football Playoff. But there’s a catch. The Sooners have another new starting quarterback. Jalen Hurts transferred from Alabama and was recently named the starter in Norman beating out freshman Spencer Rattler.

Hurts was always going to start at Oklahoma in Week 1. It’s just a matter of if he really earned the job or if Lincoln Riley is playing the political game and doesn’t want to be seen as unwelcoming to other transfers in the future by benching Hurts in his final season of eligibility. It sounds like a stretch, and I believe it is, but it’s still something to consider. Riley could have a quick hook on Hurts if the season doesn’t start as expected.

Riley’s reputation for developing Sooner quarterbacks into not only Heisman contenders, but Heisman winners, and eventual top NFL draft picks is brief but impossible to ignore. If he can do it again with Hurts is the question everybody wants to be answered. First, he’ll have to get through this season where expectations have the Sooners in the Playoff for the third year in a row.

And that’s why this game matters. Oklahoma needs Hurts to be great so it can get back to the Playoff and contend for a national championship. If there is any reason to doubt the potential success of the Riley-Hurts pairing, then Texas will be all the way “back” once more. At least until next week when the Longhorns play the LSU Tigers.

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