College Football is back: Power Five “Week Zero” Games
College football is officially back. For some schools who will be participating in “Week Zero” matchups, today marks the first game week of the season.
Diehard college football fans that cannot wait until September 3rd will be content to watch games of any kind this weekend. Here are the Power Five games to watch on Saturday, August 27th.
College Football: Big Ten Games
In Big Ten play, Nebraska and Northwestern kick off the season in Dublin, Ireland at 12:30 PM EST. Pat Fitzgerald and Scott Frost both hope to set the tone for successful seasons in this early conference matchup. The Huskers went 3-9 last season, but famously lost a ton of one-possession games.
Former Texas quarterback Casey Thompson may be the last hope for Frost to keep his job in Lincoln. Other notable Huskers include a couple of Alabama transfers, safety Kaine Williams and defensive lineman Stephon Wynn. Former LSU wide receiver Trey Palmer plays for Nebraska as well.
Northwestern is also coming off a 3-9 year, but the Wildcats have been a solid program under Fitzgerald. The ‘Cats have won at least seven games in nine of the last fourteen seasons, and won double-digit games three times since 2012.
Later in the afternoon, the Fighting Illini of Illinois host the Wyoming Cowboys at 4:00 PM EST. Illinois went 5-7 in 2021 under Bret Bielema. The Illini feature ex-Tide defensive back Eddie Smith.
College Football: ACC Games
In the ACC, Florida State hopes to get its program back on track starting with a home outing against Duquesne at 5:00 PM EST. Mike Norvell’s Seminoles went 5-7 last season, but have a playmaker at quarterback in Jordan Travis.
Mack Brown’s North Carolina Tar Heels also look to bounce back from a disappointing 2021 season. The Heels open against Florida A&M at 8:15 PM EST. North Carolina finished 6-7 last year after losing its bowl game to South Carolina. It also lost one of the best quarterbacks in school history in Sam Howell to the NFL Draft. However, Mack Brown has stockpiled enough blue-chip recruits that the defense should be much improved. The offense is similarly loaded with young talent, and may be led by former Bama commit Drake Maye at quarterback.
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Lastly, SEC bottom feeder Vanderbilt takes a long flight out to Honolulu to take on the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at 10:30 PM EST. Vandy went 2-10 last year and likely won’t improve much in 2022. The Commodores feature former Alabama kicker Joseph Bulovas.