A 2021 college football season preview, week-to-week style
This season preview of two games to keep an eye on each week is long on fun and short on analysis. I can’t sit here September 1 and in good conscience break down the October 30 Georgia-Florida game.
The beauty of college football is that some players mature faster than others, and the surprises who come out of nowhere are an annual delight (so are the ones who come out of Tuscaloosa and Columbus and Clemson, though they hardly may be described as surprises).
The season is here, the seats will be filled (by the vaccinated and the masked) and who isn’t excited?
September 4
Game to watch: Georgia vs. Clemson at Charlotte
Two top-five teams 75 miles apart who rarely play is a crime against college football. The No. 3 Tigers and No. 5 Dawgs rekindle a rivalry that riveted the nation 40 years ago, back when men were men, except when they tried to tackle Herschel Walker.
Don’t forget: LSU at UCLA
Has Ed Orgeron fixed the Tigers’ 2020 issues? Looks like Chip Kelly has cleaned up the Bruins’.
September 11
Game to watch: Oregon at Ohio State
The Pac-12 needs this one badly. The conference skipped the College Football Playoff during the Trump administration – although I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the reason – and the No. 11 Ducks begin the Biden administration as the Pac-12’s highest-ranked team. Bad news: The No. 4 Buckeyes have lost two home non-conference games in the past 10 years.
Don’t forget: Tennessee State vs. Jackson State in Memphis
The Southern Heritage Classic features Eddie George’s Tigers vs. Deion Sanders’ Tigers. Not every day you see two College Football Hall of Famers coach against each other.
September 18
Game to watch: Alabama at Florida
The No. 1 Crimson Tide returns to the Swamp for the first time in 10 years. Bad year for the No. 13 Gators to be so young. Alabama is Young at quarterback, but that may turn out to be a good thing. The rest of the Tide is pretty good, too.
Don’t forget: Cincinnati at Indiana
Most smart guys have circled the No. 8 Bearcats’ game at No. 9 Notre Dame on October 2. But if the Bearcats don’t beat the No. 17 Hoosiers on their first trip to the state, the Fighting Irish game won’t matter so much.
September 25
Game to watch: SMU at TCU
While Cincinnati is taking up all the oxygen in the AAC, SMU coach Sonny Dykes quietly has assembled the best of his four teams in Dallas. The 100th Iron Skillet game is a good place to come out. And who knows? This rivalry may end up being a conference game before long.
Don’t forget: Notre Dame at Wisconsin
This feels as if it should be a rivalry (or a conference game), yet they haven’t played since 1964. In that season opener, a 31-7 Irish victory, new coach Ara Parseghian announced the program’s rebirth.
October 2
Game to watch: Oklahoma at Kansas State
Lincoln Riley has lost five regular-season games, with two coming to Chris Kleiman’s Wildcats in the past two seasons. It’s. Just. Weird. This season looks as if it will be a return to the mean, mainly because the Sooners’ defense looks as if it is returning to being mean. The offense is merely returning – take a bow, Spencer Rattler – and that’s always enough.
Don’t forget: Texas at TCU
It must stick in the Orangeblood craw that the Longhorns are 2-7 against the Horned Frogs in Big 12 play.
October 9
Game to watch: Alabama at Texas A&M
The strength of the SEC West is such that in odd-numbered years, the Tide’s tougher games are on the road. This one looks like Alabama’s toughest. The No. 6 ranking accorded the Aggies is a tip of the hat to last season’s 9-1 record and Jimbo Fisher’s proven ability to mold a national championship contender. Whether these Aggies can contend, having a new quarterback and a new offensive line, will be answered against the Tide defense.
Don’t forget: Utah at USC
Kyle Whittingham has done a great job with the Utes, but he’s 0-5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
October 16
Game to watch: Ole Miss at Tennessee
Lane Kiffin returns to Tennessee, where he coached one season and left, causing anyone who dresses in orange and named their child or dog Peyton to curse and spit when they heard his name. Although last winter they’d have taken him back. That’s how it’s going in Knoxville. The buildup will be more fun than the game.
Don’t forget: Appalachian State at Louisiana (on Tuesday, October 12)
Decent chance this is a preview of the Sun Belt Championship Game. And if Louisiana beats Texas this Saturday, the Cajuns will rage into playoff chatter.
October 23
Game to watch: Ohio State at Indiana
The Buckeyes’ toughest road game is in Bloomington, and the last time anyone typed that sentiment they did so on a typewriter. Tom Allen has worked magic in Hoosierland. Like Iowa State under Matt Campbell, Indiana plays hard and generally doesn’t beat itself. So does Ohio State, and it has more talent, but you never know. Been a long time since anyone typed that sentiment about this game, too.
Don’t forget: Western Michigan at Toledo
The Broncos and the Rockets have 40 starters returning between them. That alone would make this a good game even if it weren’t going to decide the MAC West.
October 30
Game to watch: Florida vs. Georgia in Jacksonville
This is still a great rivalry (I won’t say always because look at what happened to Alabama-Tennessee and all the rivalries that died in realignment), but it would be nice if they played a close one once in a while. The Dawgs’ 24-17 victory two years ago is the only one that has kept anyone from changing the channel in the fourth quarter in Kirby Smart’s five seasons. Florida is young this season, Georgia isn’t, so we may have another lopsided one. Sigh.
Don’t forget: Iowa at Wisconsin
If you had to pick a game that will decide Big Ten West – you remember the Big Ten West? The division that doesn’t win the Big Ten? – this is it. The Hawkeyes and the Badgers at their best reflect one another. There isn’t a lot of razzle or dazzle. Not a lot of mistakes, either.
November 6
Game to watch: Oregon at Washington
All the Pac-12’s hopes that aren’t placed in Los Angeles will be placed on the heads of these bitter North Division rivals (this is one of the great unheralded rivalries in the game). Oregon has gotten most of the preseason attention, but UW’s defense under Jimmy Lake is always dependable and the Huskies are a little more experienced. I apologize for saying this, but I’m hoping for 53 degrees and drizzle or fog coming off Lake Washington. That’s what I think of when I think of big games in Husky Stadium.
Don’t forget: LSU at Alabama
If I had confidence that the Tigers can play as if last season never happened, I would have listed this game first.
November 13
Game to watch: North Carolina at Pitt (on Thursday, November 11)
I’m not going to say the Tar Heels are back, because it’s been so long since they were there. But Mack Brown has built them into a very good team in a very short time. Sam Howell is a quarterback who will make noise in the Heisman race. The Panthers run hot and cold under Pat Narduzzi, but all seven of their ACC games against the Tar Heels have been decided by a touchdown or less. History says this will be a good game.
Don’t forget: NC State at Wake Forest
The Deacs have steadily improved under Dave Clawson. This team has tons of experience, and catch them now. Their final two games are at Clemson and at Boston College.
November 20
Game to watch: Iowa State at Oklahoma
Thank you, Big 12, for putting this game at the end of the season, even if it means the Cyclones and the Sooners may play twice in 14 days. If Iowa State tailback Breece Hall stays healthy and churns out yards the way he did last season, and the Sooners’ defense improves as much as is expected, we may see a Heisman Trophy candidacy decided here, not to mention Big 12 and playoff contention.
Don’t forget: Nebraska at Wisconsin
I really do believe the Huskers are better than they played against Illinois, which remains me of the old line that someone’s music was better than it sounded. Here’s hoping this game means something in the Big Ten West.
November 27
Games to watch: Alabama at Auburn, Wisconsin at Minnesota, Ohio State at Michigan, Indiana at Purdue, Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
Make your turkey sandwich and settle in. Rivalry Week, trophy games and maybe a few other things will be decided.