Week 1 Preview: Enjoy the football marathon

For the only time throughout the football season, all eyes will be on the college game for the an entire weekend starting now. Since the NFL does not begin its season until next weekend, yearly we see college football take advantage of this wide-open window on a holiday weekend.

For five days, there will be college football games on the tube as the 2022 season officially gets kicked off. To begin the marathon, we got to consume a pair of instant classics as both West Virginia-Pittsburgh and Penn State-Purdue were decided in the final minutes and staggered kickoff times allowed us to take in both endings separately.

Let’s hope that chaos continues into the long weekend with extra games waiting for us on Sunday and Monday. KSR is here to help get you ready for the weekend.

The Slate

— Western Michigan at No. 15 Michigan State (7:00 ET Friday, ESPN2)

— Virginia Tech at Old Dominion (7:00 Friday, ESPNU)

— Temple at Duke (7:30 Friday, ACC Network)

— Illinois at Indiana (8:00 Friday, FS1)

— TCU at Colorado (10:00 Friday, ESPN)

— Rutgers at Boston College (Noon, ACC Network)

— Colorado State at No. 8 Michigan (Noon, ABC)

— No. 13 NC State at East Carolina (Noon, ESPN)

— North Carolina at App State (Noon, ESPNU)

— Arizona at San Diego State (3:30, CBS)

— No. 23 Cincinnati at No. 14 Arkansas (3:30, ESPN)

— No. 11 Oregon vs. No. 3 Georgia (3:30, ABC)

— No. 24 Houston at UTSA (3:30, CBS Sports Network)

— UTEP at No. 9 Oklahoma (3:30, FOX)

— Troy at No. 21 Ole Miss (4:00, SEC Network)

— No. 25 BYU at USF (4:00, ESPNU)

— Rice at No. 14 USC (6:00, Pac-12 Network)

— Miami (Ohio) at No. 20 Kentucky (7:00, ESPN+)

— No. 7 Utah at Florida (7:00, ESPN)

— No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 2 Ohio State (7:30, ABC)

— Memphis at Mississippi State (7:30, ESPNU)

— Utah State at No. 1 Alabama (7:30, SEC Network)

— SMU at North Texas (7:30, CBS Sports Network)

— Louisville at Syracuse (8:00, ACC Network)

— ULM at Texas (8:00, Longhorn Network)

— Kent State at Washington (10:30, FS1)

— Boise State at Oregon State (10:30, ESPN)

— Florida State vs. LSU (7:30 Sunday, ABC)

— Clemson at Georgia Tech (8:00 Monday, ESPN)

Gambling corner

The ATS content has no plans of stopping at KSR this year. Over on our Pick 3 show, Drew Franklin got off to a 1-1 start thanks to a thrilling two-minute drive from Penn State. After an 0-1 start, Nick Roush is back on the clock tonight taking the points with Illinois on the road. Our terrific trio still has five plays scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

My own Friday gambling column, Luckett’s Locks, made its return today. For those that need more picks, here I will be dishing out six ATS plays every week throughout the football season. We’re feeling really good about Brian Kelly’s Bayou Bengals on Sunday night in New Orleans.

A measuring stick for Notre Dame

Former Ohio State linebacker Marcus Freeman will return to Columbus for his head coaching debut when Notre Dame enters the Horseshoe on Saturday night. The Irish start the season at No. 5 in the AP Poll, but it’s hard to call this team a true title contender.

The Irish are breaking in some new coaches, and Tyler Buchner will make his first start at quarterback. Ohio State is ranked No. 2 and a 17-point favorite in a top-five matchup for a reason — the Buckeyes are legit. But the showdown will tell us more about the Irish.

The future is optimistic in South Bend as Freeman seems to have raised the recruiting ceiling, but the 36-year-old needs to also try to match the stable consistency that Brian Kelly brought to this proud program. Notre Dame feels like one of the more overrated teams in college football due to all the moving parts. Despite a No. 5 ranking, this doesn’t feel like a playoff contender.

It’s a true barometer game for the Irish that will set the expectation for Freeman’s first team as a head coach win, lose, or blowout.

Tricky in-state road trips for North Carolina, NC State

Both North Carolina and NC State have reasons to feel optimistic about the 2022 football season. A good quarterback and a potential top-five defense could be enough to finally get the Wolfpack to double-digit wins and a potential ACC title. After three consecutive top-20 recruiting classes, North Carolina should have the best roster in the ACC outside of Clemson.

Both teams have a manageable schedule, but the Week 1 game presents some challenges not so far from home.

NC State will travel to Greenville to take on an East Carolina squad that has a good super senior quarterback with a quality defense and a stud tailback. The Pirates are more than good enough to give Dave Doeren’s program a scare. Over in Boone, North Carolina will face App State and a strong outside zone run game could be tough for the Heels to stop while a new QB plays in his first road game in an underrated home environment.

For both North Carolina and NC State to get where they want to get to, neither can afford an early season loss to a Group of Five in-state foe. With both making early road trips, each of these games figures to be tricky.

Since both contests occur in the noon window, we’ll get some heated local games early that could give the big programs some real anxiety if things are close in the fourth quarter.

Utah vs. Florida will be the storyline game

Every year coming out of Week 1, one game emerges as the hot take game. Texas is back with Charlie Strong, Tennessee will continue to win with Butch Jones, and Auburn will be a national title contender. Each of those takes did not last long.

The winner of Utah-Florida will get some unfair expectations placed on them after the game.

Utah is a legit threat to win the Pac-12 and potentially make a playoff push. That doesn’t change with a loss on Saturday but does the latter much more difficult. Year one under Billy Napier is a rebuilding one that will be full of some ups and downs. Knocking off Utah in game one doesn’t change that.

Expect some wild takes involving one of these teams late on Saturday night.