In the first full week of the college football season, numerous high-profile matchups will take place. Here are some intriguing storylines we’ll be watching as the majority of teams take to the field for the first time this year… and some stories you may not know yet.
- Colorado at Georgia Tech
7 p.m. CT | Thursday, Sept. 3 | Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field | Atlanta, Ga. | ESPN
Colorado Game Notes | GT Game Notes | Live Stats
For the second straight season, Brent Key and Georgia Tech open the season against Deion Sanders and Colorado. Last season, the Yellow Jackets captured a 27-20 win in Boulder in the first meeting all-time between the two schools.
The two schools are linked in the annals of college history, for having shared the 1990 national title in a season in which Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Ross earned the Bear Bryant Award as National Coach of the Year.
The game marks a bit of a homecoming for Sanders, who played professionally for both the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and MLB’s Atlanta Braves.
The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 9-4 season, including a 6-2 mark in which Georgia Tech averaged 460 yards per game. The nine-win campaign was Georgia Tech’s first since 2014 and only the 16th in the program’s 133-season history. Colorado posted a 3-9 mark, going 1-8 in Big 12 play.
- North Texas at Indiana
11 a.m. CT | Saturday, Sept. 5 | Memorial Stadium | Bloomington, Ind. | FOX
UNT Game Notes | Indiana Game Notes | Live Stats
There’s not really anything new that we can add when talking about the job that Curt Cignetti has done at Indiana. If you’re missing some details about the Hoosiers’ historic 2025 campaign… google it.
Meanwhile, on the other sidelines, the Neal Brown era begins in Denton, and for the second time in his career, Brown starts his tenure at a university against Cignetti, having squared off against Cignetti and James Madison in 2019 during his first year as the head coach at West Virginia. In that meeting, Brown and the Mountaineers ended up on the winning end of things with a 20-13 win in Morgantown.
The Mean Green are coming off a 12-2 campaign, a runner-up finish in the American Conference, and a win in the New Mexico Bowl; but will undoubtedly have their hands full with a Hoosiers team that has gone 27-2 in Cignetti’s two seasons in Bloomington.
This is the third meeting all-time between Indiana and UNT and the first since 2014. The Hoosiers won the previous meeting 49-24 in Bloomington, while the Mean Green won the first matchup in Denton in 2011.
- Baylor vs. Auburn
2:30 p.m. CT | Saturday, Sept. 5 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Atlanta, Ga. | ABC/Disney+
Baylor Game Notes | Auburn Game Notes | Live Stats
The Aflac kickoff game marks the first game of Baylor’s 125th season of football and the seventh year under head coach Dave Aranda. Alex Golesh enters his first season at Auburn – the 134th season of Tigers football. The two teams opened the season last year in Waco, with Auburn using a furious rushing attack to take a 38-24 win over Baylor.
Both teams are looking to bounce back after 5-7 campaigns, with Baylor bringing 39 players in through the transfer portal and 15 high school newcomers. Meanwhile, Golesh leaned into the transfer portal – bringing several of his players from USF – but also accumulating a big amount of starting experience in the process. The 176 incoming starts from players joining the program through the transfer portal ranks second in the NCAA – trailing only the 185 incoming starts by Eric Morris’ Oklahoma State squad.
- Louisville vs. Ole Miss
6:30 p.m. CT | Sunday, Sept. 6 | Nissan Stadium | Nashville, Tenn. | ABC
Louisville Game Notes | Ole Miss Game Notes | Live Stats
Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm starts his fourth season at his alma mater, and the Cardinals have experienced sustained success under Brohm – winning nine wins or better in each of Brohm’s three seasons at Louisville. Across the field, Pete Golding enters his first full season as the Rebels’ head coach after leading Ole Miss through the playoffs last season.
The Rebels return one of the top backfields in college football with quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and tailback Kewan Lacy, while Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz will debut under center with the nation’s No. 5 running back unit (ranked by PFF), anchored by Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown.
This game could come down to gameplan – Brohm is certainly a known quantity from his long tenure as a collegiate head coach. Meanwhile, the benefit of surprise may play in favor of Delta State product Golding – who has worked his way up the coaching ranks as a defensive coordinator before taking the helm at Ole Miss for the playoffs last season.
- Clemson at LSU
6:30 p.m. CT | Saturday, Sept. 5 | Tiger Stadium | Baton Rouge, La. | ABC
Clemson Game Notes | LSU Game Notes | Live Stats
The spotlight is shining brightly on this game – both for on- and off-field reasons – but the stakes are high for both Dabo Swinney at Clemson and new LSU head coach Lane Kiffin.
Swinney and Clemson are coming off a 7-6 mark and an eighth-place finish in the ACC, and are looking to reclaim the form that led to the Clemson leader being the only three-time Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year award winner (2015, 2016, 2018). During his tenure at Clemson, Swinney has not shied away from marquee matchups to open the season – with this opener, Clemson becomes the only program in the nation to have faced four AP top-11 opponents in season openers since 2021; and Clemson looks to become the first time to earn a victory in its first visit to Baton Rouge since UAB in 2000.
Meanwhile, LSU is coming off a 7-6 record – marking the fifth time in the last six years that the Tigers have lost at least four games. However, this year’s LSU squad bears little resemblance to last year’s as Kiffin has remade the roster. LSU’s fortunes may rest on the arm of Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt, who was ranked the No. 1 quarterback in the transfer portal and was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year after leading the Sun Devils to an 11-3 record, a Big 12 title, and a berth in the College Football Playoff.
Predictions? We’re taking the Tigers.
Other Things To Watch.. And Some Things We Watched
- Friday evening will see San Jose State head to the Midwest for a matchup with Eastern Michigan. It’s one of several matchups that may fly under the radar this week but appear close on paper – Liberty at James Madison, Boston College at Cincinnati, Tulane at Duke, Wyoming at Colorado State, UNLV at Hawai’i, UCLA at California, and Western Kentucky at Nevada all look to be exceptionally competitive.
- 19 SMU travels to Tallahassee in the week’s final game – a Monday night showdown against Florida State.
- A rematch of nationally-ranked Division II teams will take place Thursday night in Hays, Kansas, as No. 25/23 Fort Hays State plays host to No. 5/9 Colorado State-Pueblo. The two teams met last year in Pueblo, with FHSU winning a 36-35 thriller
- The football program at NAIA member Ottawa University made history last Saturday with a 33-13 win over Kansas Wesleyan. The win marked Ottawa’s 600th win all time – making them just the third program in the history of the NAIA to clear the 600-win threshold. From 1997-2000, Ottawa was led by current Eastern Michigan head coach Chris Creighton, who led the Braves to a 32-9 record, earning KCAC Coach of the Year honors in both 1997 and 2000.
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