Here's a bold take. The opening weekend was almost a dud. ESPN billed Week 1's extended kickoff from Thursday to Monday as the biggest opening weekend ever. That critically depended on Southern California not wetting the bed against Alabama, which was a fait accompli. The most interesting thing about the main event of the "biggest opening weekend ever" was the Trojans' bizarre entrance.
Week 1 had some more interesting games down the card. LSU-Wisconsin definitely delivered. Houston-Oklahoma did too, for the most part. Auburn-Clemson was more interesting that it needed to be for the Clemson fan's perspective. Notre Dame-Texas was probably the biggest opening weekend game ever, certainly the most watched.
Elsewhere, the first weekend was full of cupcakes for some major programs. This will be the theme of Week 2. Teams like Clemson and LSU that put themselves on a limb for the first weekend will retreat home and play a cupcake. Those that had cupcakes the first week will have them again. Arkansas-TCU, BYU-Utah, Louisville-Syracuse, and Illinois-North Carolina are arguably the biggest attractions of the entire week.
Let's dig into the schedule.
Friday
Maryland at Florida International (CBS Sports, 7:30 p.m.). Florida International, which hosted Indiana last week, will host Maryland on Friday. There should be a Big Ten rule, or at least a memorandum of understanding, that discourages Big Ten programs from visiting Conference USA schools.
Maryland, somewhat fitting, is just a touchdown favorite.
Louisville at Syracuse (ESPN2, 8 p.m.). This might be an interesting game, something I would not have said two weeks ago.
Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson put one of the performances of the first weekend. He had a record eight touchdowns, all in the first half, in a 70-14 route of Charlotte. In a conference light on prominent quarterbacks, Jackson could conceivably generate Heisman buzz. He certainly will win it in a walk if he averages eight touchdowns a contest.
Syracuse opened last week with a 33-7 win over Colgate, an FCS program. That alone says little, but those watching the game remarked how much better the Orange's offense looked under first-year head coach (and Art Briles disciple) Dino Babers. Eric Dungey completed 34 of 40 passes for 355 yards and two touchdowns.
Louisville is a 12-point favorite, but don't be surprised if the Cardinals don't cover. Expect your TV to be saturated with orange.
Syracuse football: All-orange uniforms announced for #OrangeOut vs. Louisville https://t.co/LslAL27iue pic.twitter.com/Isog7fySir
— NunesMagician.com (@NunesMagician) September 7, 2016
Saturday
Central Michigan at Oklahoma State (FOX Sports 1, 12 p.m.). This is the return leg of a home-and-home, if you can believe that. Oklahoma State won last year's season-opening contest in Mount Pleasant, 24-13.
NC State at East Carolina (ESPNU, 12 p.m.). NC State travels to East Carolina fresh off a 48-14 home win over William & Mary. East Carolina won last week's directional school battle against FCS Western Carolina, 52-7.
Penn State at Pittsburgh (ESPN, 12 p.m.). Penn State is finally reunited with its long-time rival after a 17-year hiatus. Both programs last played in 2000, a 12-0 Pitt victory.
Pitt played Penn State every year from 1935 to 1992. Penn State won this 1958 encounter, 25-21.
There are any number of reasons why the rivalry went on hiatus. Penn State's transition from independent program in 1993 was one reason. Pitt's transition to the former Big East two years before it is another reason. Penn State's transition may have been the bigger reason. Penn State got acclimated to a new conference in which it saw Ohio State as a new rival (with the Big Ten helpfully assigning it an actual rival in Michigan State). Pitt was no longer an important feature to Penn State football.
Pitt's nose dive that started in the 1990s did not help matters. The Panthers were comically bad in the mid-1990s, a trend that mostly continued this century. The Panthers lost their home stadium after 1999 and most of the fan base too. Pitt appeared to want the series. It just couldn't credibly command Penn State's attention and it had no leverage to induce the Nittany Lions into a home-and-home series.
This is unfortunate since the series has a fun history. Long-standing blood feuds make college football better. Pitt, a program with a great tradition (at least in the 20th century), lost both the Penn State and West Virginia rivalries amid various conference realignments. It regained the Penn State rivalry, at least from 2016 through 2019. It would be better if it retained this rivalry, and the Backyard Brawl, on a permanent basis.
Central Florida at Michigan (ABC, 12 p.m.). Central Florida had a winless 2015 campaign but opened the Scott Frost era with a 38-0 win over South Carolina State.
Michigan will be a different animal altogether.
Cincinnati at Purdue (BTN, 12 p.m.). This is the return leg of a home-and-home that began in 2013. Cincinnati won that contest in Nippert, 42-7.
Howard's visit to Rutgers will be on the same time slot, but you will likely get this game instead.
Indiana State at Minnesota (ESPN News, 12 p.m.). This is an actual game on the ESPN family of networks at noon. The schedule is that bad.
Rice at Army (CBS Sports, 12 p.m.). Army opened its season last week with a 28-13 win at Temple, which was one of last year's surprise teams. It will hope to build on that against Rice, which lost by 32 at Western Kentucky to begin the season.
Wyoming at Nebraska (ESPN2, 12 p.m.). Craig Bohl parlayed three national championships at North Dakota State to the Wyoming gig in 2014. His tenure there hasn't worked out well so far. He's a combined 7-18 in three-plus years. He started 2016 with a win over Northern Illinois, though.
Nicholls at Georgia OR Prairie View A&M at Texas A&M (SEC Network, 12 p.m.). Both Nicholls and Prairie View A&M are not good by even FCS standards. Nicholls is especially terrible, with just nine wins in the last five seasons combined. Naturally, they appear on an SEC non-conference schedule.
Charleston Southern at Florida State OR Troy at Clemson (ACC Network, 12:30 p.m.). Both ACC heavyweights do well to mimic the scheduling practices of their SEC counterparts.
The Trojan exit was much less jubilant. (Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports)
Utah State at USC (Pac-12 Network, 2 p.m.). This should be a welcome reprieve for USC after the first weekend.
Connecticut at Navy (CBS Sports, 3:30 p.m.). Navy lost its quarterback after the first game to a season-ending ACL tear. That might have been the last hurdle between Houston and a 12-0 season.
Illinois State at Northwestern (BTN, 3:30 p.m.). Northwestern fans were counting on a MAC snack last week for a season-opening win. An FCS team might be more palatable.
Tulsa at Ohio State (ABC, 3:30 p.m.). This is your game of the week. Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors for comprehensive coverage of this contest.
Wake Forest at Duke (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.). The ACC schedule starts early for the Blue Devils and Demon Deacons. Wake Forest, a program that has struggled to gain any footing after the surprise Orange Bowl season in 2006, won a 7-3 game last week against Tulane. Meanwhile, Duke rolled over North Carolina Central.
Akron at Wisconsin (BTN, 3:30 p.m.). Nothing would be more fitting for Wisconsin than struggling to beat Akron after a marquee win over LSU in Lambeau Field.
Nevada at Notre Dame (NBC, 3:30 p.m.). Notre Dame lost in Austin in two overtimes. Texas emerged as the bigger story but don't forget this Irish team is incredibly talented.
Western Kentucky at Alabama (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). It'll be embarrassing for Clay Helton when the Hilltoppers put more yards of offense on Alabama than the Trojans did. They'll still lose by about the same margin.
Southern Methodist at Baylor (FOX Sports 1, 3:30 p.m.). How good is Baylor without Art Briles? The Bears looked the part last week, albeit against a garbage FCS team. Southern Methodist might be a bigger challenge even as the Mustangs have looked listless at times under Chad Morris.
Wofford at Ole Miss (SEC Network, 4 p.m.). Chad Kelly should be better prepared for this game than he was against Florida State on Monday. The Ole Miss quarterback deleted his Twitter after a former adult actress and Florida State fan embarrassed him by outing his direct message conversation with her.
If you have an SEC Network overflow, you'll likely get Middle Tennessee at Vanderbilt as well.
Ball State at Indiana (ESPN News, 4 p.m.). Indiana is coming soon. It might be good to scout arguably the most troublesome offense in the Big Ten.
Florida Atlantic at Miami (ACC Network, 6 p.m.). Mark Richt started his tenure at his alma mater with a 70-3 win over Florida A&M. It's now ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2013.
Northern Illinois at South Florida (CBS Sports, 7 p.m.). It's hard to find anything to say about this game, or most of Saturday's schedule for that matter.
Louisiana Monroe at Oklahoma (Regional, 7 p.m.). Check a FOX Sports affiliate you may have a higher-tier cable package for this game if you want to scout next week's opponent.
UTEP at Texas (Longhorn Network, 7 p.m.). Charlie Strong got a much-needed win over Notre Dame. It might have signaled what to expect of the Longhorns with him going forward. He brought in Tulsa's offensive coordinator, an Art Briles disciple, in the offseason. Add that to a "Charlie Strong defense", even one that got tried by a great Notre Dame team, and Texas should be the Big XII favorite going forward.
South Carolina at Mississippi State (ESPN2, 7 p.m.). Credit South Carolina for at least starting the season with two SEC games on the road, even if they're against arguably the two worst teams in the conference.
South Alabama dropped Mississippi State in Starkville last week. (Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports)
Watch what happens to Mississippi State if it loses this contest. The competitiveness of the SEC naturally leads to inefficiencies. For example, every coach in the SEC West makes at least $4-million a year. That means Dan Mullen gets $4-million a season in which he loses to South Alabama.
If he loses to South Carolina, we might able to count Mississippi State wins for a season on a single hand. Its other SEC East game is at Kentucky, winnable but more challenging than it would be at home. Its non-conference schedule includes trips to, weirdly, Amherst for a Minutemen program that gave Florida everything it could handle and to Provo for Brigham Young.
We should all strive to see an SEC coach paid for $4-million a year and a million dollars for every win in a season.
Arkansas at Texas Christian (ESPN, 7 p.m.). A Week 2 schedule light on drama and intrigue otherwise has this game.
Forecasting game in the preseason would call for an easy TCU win. Don't be so sure after the Horned Frogs struggled to put away the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
That said, Arkansas looked no better last week. It needed a fourth quarter rally to defeat Louisiana Tech at home.
Arkansas State at Auburn (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.). Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn got his head coaching start at Arkansas State. Expect that to come up a lot during this telecast.
The face of "set for life". (Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports)
Iowa State at Iowa (BTN, 7:30 p.m.). Nothing would be more fitting for Iowa than to lose to Iowa State days after it announced another obscene contract extension for Kirk Ferentz. I'm effectively praying for it at this point.
Brigham Young at Utah (FOX, 7:30 p.m.). The "Holy War" is back.
Brigham Young and Utah have one of the better rivalries in college football. It works in several ways. It's in a state without many professional sports distractions. Both are the biggest universities in the state. The colors clash, the games are routinely enjoyable, and the universities themselves have an unmistakable contrast in their composition and mission. Make no mistake; there's some animus in this series too.
However, this series went on hiatus after 2013. Utah had moved to the Pac-12, which made the Holy War a non-conference game. Utah also adopted a nine-game Pac-12 schedule with the move. Brigham Young later left the Mountain West Conference too. Utah was hamstrung with other commitments and Brigham Young needed to invest time in composing a full 12-game schedule.
Both met last year in the Las Vegas Bowl, but the Holy War as regular season affair starts anew on Saturday night. College football fans should hope it continues past 2020, the last scheduled date in this renewed series.
Eastern Michigan at Missouri (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.). Missouri is still licking its wounds after a beatdown from West Virginia. It should find Eastern Michigan easier to handle.
Jacksonville State at LSU (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.). LSU had 257 yards of offense and just one offensive touchdown in the loss to Wisconsin. Let's see if it can do better against Jacksonville State.
North Carolina at Illinois (BTN, 7:30 p.m.). This is the game of the week in the Big Ten. Illinois will host the ACC Coastal Division champion Tar Heels in Memorial Stadium. It's the second game in a home-and-home stand that North Carolina won by 34 points in Chapel Hill last year.
It will be a big test for first-year head coach Lovie Smith. The Illini can boast a former Super Bowl head coach and some great coordinators in Hardy Nickerson and Garrick McGee. However, the Tar Heels have more talent and more coaches accustomed to the college game. That's routinely the biggest question when NFL coaches, especially defensively-oriented ones like Lovie Smith, make the transition to the college game. Does the Tampa-2 that Smith knows inside and out square well against the type of offense UNC runs and pro coaches never see?
The Tar Heels are a touchdown favorite.
Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee [Bristol Motor Speedway] (ABC, 8 p.m.). You may have heard about this game. It's being held in Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. It expects an attendance of 150,000. This would easily be a college football attendance record.
There are several things wrong with this game. The idea of it already smacks of an anachronism. College football's popularity right now coincides with a resurgence of Southern exceptionalism, which emanates prominently from those residing in states with programs in the SEC conference. It doesn't appear to be for any great love of college education in the South. States in the South are conspicuous for their small percentage of college graduates while some major flagship institutions (Alabama and Tennessee, to name two examples) engage in or sanction behavior that stands at odds with the mission of higher education and the public university as a vehicle for the public good.
In other words, the love for college football in the South is more love of "football" and "the South" than "college".
If the South is the growing fan base for college football and love college football for reasons other than "college", ESPN and the institutions of higher learning themselves seem to have observed this and have learned to humor the fan base. It's why Kenny Chesney, college football's equivalent to a Kardashian sister, arrives at any ESPN college football event in which he can collect a jersey and a photograph with a coach. It's why someone like Jeff Dunham is a celebrity College GameDay picker.
We know this is bad. We know it's adding junk to the system. We know it's stupid. It just appeals to the lowest common denominator and, therefore, it sells and it's worth doing. What could appeal more to the lowest common denominator down south than hosting a college football game on a NASCAR race track? It's so obvious we wonder why it didn't happen five years earlier.
We'll look back on this project in twenty years and wonder what we were thinking. The reaction will be identical to yours when you saw photos of your dad in a Barrymore collar and bell bottoms, or when you saw a photo of your mom (or dad) with hair drenched in a quart of Aquanet at a Whitesnake concert.
If that sounds like hyperbole, take a look at these photos and explain to me how this is something other than a short-term cash grab. Can you see anything? Are fans of the game served best for this spectacle?
Ok. Highest seat in the house. Wallace Tower, row 13. Great for aviation nerds. pic.twitter.com/S8iiXXDR17
— @GrantRamey (@GrantRamey) September 6, 2016
This will be akin to giving a dessert cake to a kid who just ate a bag of Jolly Ranchers for dinner. It'll feel good for a while. It'll become uncomfortable within a half hour.
UNLV at UCLA (Pac-12 Network, 8 p.m.). UCLA put forward an impressive rally to even force overtime at Texas A&M. It demonstrated it might still be the team to beat in the Pac-12 South. However, it needs a win early in the season. UNLV will be exactly that.
Texas Tech at Arizona State (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m.). This is a gem of a game otherwise hidden on the schedule. The 10 p.m. kickoff will hide an otherwise interest Big XII-Pac-12 affair.
California at San Diego State (CBS Sports, 10:30 p.m.). This will be only our second exposure to California. The Golden Bears took the weekend off after it started the season in Australia two weeks ago.
Virginia at Oregon (ESPN, 10:30 p.m.). Make a point to watch this. Oregon will win, or at least should. Virginia was routed by Richmond, an FCS program, in the opening game for Bronco Mendenhall. Watch Oregon carefully if you want to see a fading star. The Buckeyes buried the Ducks in its last chance to win a national championship in the wake of Chip Kelly. That chance is gone and now Oregon is struggling to overwhelm FCS schools.
