College football season begins in earnest this week with a full slate of games highlighted by three Top 25 matchups. The race for the playoff already has begun.
It’s not even Labor Day and one team expected to make the 12-team field is teetering.
No. 10 Florida State entered the season still smarting from getting snubbed for the last four-team playoff despite going 13-0 and winning the ACC. The Seminoles’ 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech last week as a double-digit favorite dropped their odds of getting picked this year from 3-2 to 5-1, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
The betting public has dropped them from first to third choice among ACC teams behind Clemson and Miami. If ever there were a must-win game for FSU, it’s Monday when Boston College visits Tallahassee.
For every other team with playoff hopes, the week-to-week ups and downs are about to start.
The top games pit No. 14 Clemson against No. 1 Georgia, No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 20 Texas A&M and No. 23 Southern California against No. 13 LSU.
Best game
No. 14 Clemson vs. No. 1 Georgia in Atlanta, Saturday, noon ET (ABC)
It’s a matchup of hungry, if not angry, teams. Clemson won five straight to end the season, including a Gator Bowl win over Kentucky, but came out of 2023 unsatisfied after failing to win 10 games for the first time since 2010. Georgia went 12-0 in the regular season but was kept out of the playoff because of its loss to Alabama in the SEC championship game.
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Clemson QB Cade Klubnik expects to be better. The question is whether the defense, which brings back just three starters, slips.
Georgia QB Carson Beck led an offense that averaged just under 7.3 yards per play and converted a nation-leading 55.2% of third downs. There’s no reason to think the Bulldogs’ defense won’t be great again.
Heisman watch
Georgia’s Beck gets the biggest stage of the Heisman Trophy contenders this week. He was 13-1 as a first-year starter and completed 72% of his passes to set a school record. He was even better against Top 25 opponents, going 5-1 with 13 TDs against two interceptions and completing 74% of his attempts.
Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, who transferred from Oklahoma, will start against Idaho. How long he is in the game against the Vandals of the Football Championship Subdivision is another matter.
Texas’ Quinn Ewers goes against Colorado State in the Longhorns’ first game as a SEC member.
Numbers to know
3-1 — Record against Big 12 opponents for FCS power North Dakota State, which visits Colorado on Thursday night.
6 — Florida and Oklahoma opponents ranked in the AP’s preseason top 15, tied for most in the country.
14 — Consecutive games without allowing a sack by Tennessee fourth-year starting center Cooper Mays.
27 — Penn State’s nation-best streak of games without allowing a touchdown on the opponent’s opening possession.
448 — Number of games since Florida was shut out, the FBS’ longest streak.
2 — The number of weeks that helmet communication between coaches and players has been allowed across the Bowl Subdivision.
Under the radar
South Dakota State at No. 17 Oklahoma State, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
The Jackrabbits are two-time defending FCS champions and not fazed going into a power-conference opponent’s stadium. They nearly knocked off Iowa two years ago. QB Mark Gronowski is an NFL prospect who passed on chances to transfer to an FBS school for his final season.
Oklahoma State QB Alan Bowman begins his seventh college season, RB Ollie Gordon II led the nation with 1,732 yards, and coach Mike Gundy is 15-0 against FCS opponents. The Cowboys must take care not to look ahead to next week’s home game against Arkansas.
Hot seat
Clark Lea is 9-27 in three years at Vanderbilt and, with 10 straight defeats, on the longest active losing streak in the Power Four.
The Commodores have a big opportunity at home against Virginia Tech on Saturday. Lea brought in 51 new players, hired Tim Beck as offensive coordinator and five other position coaches. Lea will be his own defensive coordinator. He also brought in the well-traveled Jerry Kill as chief consultant to the head coach/senior offensive advisor.
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