We are just one week away from the start of College Football. And thank goodness for that. I am having major withdrawals without college football in my life. And you probably are too. I will be giving you a list of must watch games to start your college football season off right. Thursday August 30 will kick off the 2018 college football season with two games that evening.
Doubleheader Thursday August 30, 2018:
UCF Knights vs UCONN Huskies: Ok, this game may not jump out at you. But come on it is the start of the college football season. And besides we will see UCF start their season after going undefeated the previous season so they are looking to start their ’18 season on a good note The last time these two teams met on the field resulted in a 49-24 win for the Knights.
Purdue Boilermakers vs. Northwestern Wildcats: Northwestern finished last season in the top 25 last year and they are looking to prove early on that they deserve to be there. The Boilermakers are coming off a bowl win with a string of wins to end their season and therefore, are going to be looking to continue that streak.
Big 12 taking on The SEC
Tennessee Volunteers vs West Virginia Mountaineers: The Volunteers and new head coach Jeremy Pruitt look to make a big splash in hopes to forget all the things that happened this past offseason with the firing of former coach Butch Jones, and the debacle that happened with the “hiring” and “firing” of Greg Schiano. However, the Mountaineers have Heisman contending quarterback Will Grier throwing to a Heisman hopeful David Sills.
Collegiate Powerhouses Meet Up as well along with a Battle of Two Top Ten Teams
Auburn Tigers vs Washington Huskies: We have an early matchup of two schools ranked in the top 10. Auburn#6, and Washington #9. This matchup will take place in Atlanta where the Tigers have played their last two opening games at. The Tigers bring back a well balanced team on both sides of the ball. The defense only allowed 18.9 points last season and an offense that put up 319.4 yards per game. The Huskies bring in a very experienced team. The Huskies welcome back 4th year starter Jake Browning. They also welcome back running back Myles Gaskin, which should comfort Browning who is capable of racking up some serious yardage on the ground. This game could very well could be an early playoff preview. Since both schools are highly ranked early in the year, a loss this early more than likely are not going to hurt their chances.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Michigan Wolverines: We have ourselves a good old fashioned rivalry game on opening weekend. Awesome right? Jim Harbaugh is going into this game with his seat a tad warm where he wishes his seat was a little bit cooler. The Wolverines come into this season with some gaping holes that need to be filled after three players were lost to transfers.
Although the Wolverine defense do not exactly have all stars however they have enough to disrupt offenses. Their defense is pretty solid and they add Ole Miss transferring quarterback Shea Patterson. The Irish lost tackle Mike McGlinchey and guard Quenton Nelson to the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Even more, the offense lost three more key players – running back Josh Adams, wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown and tight end Durham Smythe. This will be Harbaugh’s first game against the Irish so he is looking for a win for sure, but so is Chip Kelly who has gone 14-11 in the past two seasons at ND. So both coaches are out to get things off on the right foot. Winning > losing.
The National Champs Take The Stage
Alabama Crimson Tide vs Louisville Cardinals: Louisville will get the first crack at possibly dethroning the #1 ranked and reining champions the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Crimson Tide come into this season with another high powered offense led by… no one knows yet. We are either going to see Jalen Hurts continue with the starting QB position or we are going to see a young Tua Tagavailoa who was brought into the 2nd half of the national championship game last season and brought back a Crimson Tide team to win the national championship. The Cardinals will be without Heisman winner Lamar Jackson do to the NFL draft. If the Cardinals manage to get the W, it will certainly boost up their ranking drastically. If the Tide wins like most people expect them to do so, they will be well on their way o another national championship.