Week 1 of the college football season is finally here with the first full slate of games this Saturday, along with action on Thursday, Friday and Monday. While much of this week’s slate features games that are expected to be blowouts, there are still several intriguing matchups.
Week 1 will give us our first look at most of these teams, many of which look drastically different after so many coaching changes and roster turnover through the transfer portal during the offseason. Week 1 usually delivers at least one upset that turns some heads, so with that in mind, here are three games to keep an eye on for a potential upset in Week 1.
Toledo vs Michigan State
If you’re looking for a potential Group of Six over power conference team upset, this is the one to watch on Friday night. Michigan State will begin the Pat Fitzgerald era against a tough MAC opponent in Toledo. Fitzgerald was a good hire for the Spartans this offseason, but many believe it could take some time for him to turn the program around after it was in such a bad spot.
Toledo went through some major changes this offseason as well, with longtime head coach Jason Candle leaving for UConn and taking several players with him. However, the Rockets should still be one of the top teams in the MAC after bringing in the conference’s top-ranked transfer portal class.
The Rockets hired former Mercer head coach Mike Jacobs, who has an impressive 94-23 record as a head coach at the Division II and FCS levels. Jacobs brought several of his former Mercer players with him to Toledo, including defensive end Andrew Zock, who won the Buck Buchanan Award last season, given annually to the best defensive player in the FCS, after finishing the year with 11.5 sacks, 20 TFLs and 23 QB hurries. Michigan State has struggled in early-season matchups against smaller programs in recent years, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one be close.
Clemson vs No. 11 LSU
LSU and Clemson will meet once again in Week 1, this time in Tiger Stadium for a night game. Death Valley will be in full force as one of the toughest environments in college football for Lane Kiffin’s first game in Baton Rouge. LSU’s roster is loaded with talent, but it will be interesting to see how quickly Kiffin can get all of those new pieces to come together.
Clemson is coming off its worst season under Dabo Swinney, and there hasn’t been much talk about these Tigers heading into this season. Dabo went to the transfer portal more than usual this offseason, particularly to address holes on the defensive side of the ball, but Clemson will still mainly feature players who have been in the program. The Tigers have yet to officially name a starting quarterback, but the expectation is that it will be senior Christopher Vizzina, who has made just one start during his college career.
This is an intriguing matchup between two teams taking very different approaches, with LSU having so many new faces after loading up through the transfer portal, while Clemson is relying on more of a homegrown roster. LSU will enter as the clear favorite on Saturday, but there is something about Dabo being counted out and all the attention surrounding LSU that makes me think Clemson could make something happen here.
No. 24 Louisville vs No. 9 Ole Miss
This is the lone top-25 matchup of the weekend and will be a neutral-site affair taking place in Nashville on Sunday night. It is a great coaching matchup between the Rebels’ defensive-minded Pete Golding and the Cardinals’ Jeff Brohm controlling the offensive side of the ball.
This Louisville team is a strong contender in the ACC, and how high this team can go will heavily rely on the play of Ohio State transfer quarterback Lincoln Kienholz. Ole Miss will look to carry what they had last year into this season, and having one of the top QB-RB duos back with Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy will certainly help.
We’ve seen several teams fall off after a surprisingly good season, with a bit of a hangover following a deep playoff run, and Ole Miss could fit that mold. Jeff Brohm has become known for knocking off top-ranked opponents, and he’ll have a chance to do it this Week 1 and set his team up very well for the rest of the season with a relatively easy schedule ahead for the Cardinals.
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