Week 1 NCAA football action continues this weekend across the TSN Network with a number of intriguing matchups. Here's a closer look at a few of them.
No. 14 Clemson vs. No. 1 Georgia, Noon ET/9am PT on TSN1
A marquee matchup from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta kicks off Saturday's early Week 1 action as Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs meet Dabo Swinney's Clemson Tigers.
National Champions in 2021 and 2022, the Bulldogs missed out on last season's College Football Playoff after losing the SEC Championship to Alabama, ending a 29-game winning streak. Feeling slighted by the snub, UGA took out their frustrations on another slighted team, the previously undefeated ACC champions Florida State, in the Orange Bowl by a score of 63-3.
With Heisman Trophy contender Carson Beck back under centre, Georgia enters the season with big expectations and legitimate hopes to make it three titles in four years.
"I've said it now a bunch of times, that's probably the main reason for me coming back is coming back and finishing the job and winning that National Championship," fourth-year senior Beck said this week.
The Tigers will be a good early test for a team with championship designs. Smart says he underestimatedthe level of rivalry between the two programs.
"I didn't realize how many years consecutively Georgia played Clemson for a long time, but [there's] just a lot of respect for their program," Smart said. "What Dabo's done, he's done an incredible job. He's got a great culture there, a great environment. You think about their coaching staff, how in tact [it's] been able to stay, how many coaches he's had going on to be head coaches and they do a tremendous job in recruiting in our state. We go head to head with them quite a bit."
While there are scores of programs across the country who would love a nine-win season, the Tigers' nine wins in 2023 marked the lowest number by a Clemson team since Swinney's second year at the helm of the program in 2010. Conference champions eight times since 2011 and National Championship winners in 2016 and 2018, the Tigers once again have Cade Klubnik as their starting quarterback. A five-star recruit out of Austin, Klubnik struggled in his sophom*ore season in 2023. He heads into 2024 without last season's No. 2 target in Beaux Collins, who left for Notre Dame.
But offensive coordinator Garrett Riley believes his QB is ready to take that next step.
“I can’t wait to see him play," Riley said."I feel like we’re seeing a player now that’s just more settled in and more comfortable. I think he is going to take a huge step forward, but obviously he has to go do it on game day.”
Where there are few question marks for Clemson this season will be on defence. The Tigers boast one of the country's best in man coverage with no shortage of aggressiveness.
"The best thing to do would be to get a first down before third down," Smart said of the Clemson defence. "They do a tremendous job on third down. They do a tremendous job of disguising coverages. They're very mobile in the front. They're aggressive. They tackle well. A lot of their defence reminds me of ours."
Saturday's game between the two teams will be the 66th in the rivalry. The Bulldogs are 43-18-4 all-time against the Tigers and have won seven of the last eight games between them going back to 1991. The last time these two teams met was in Charlotte in 2021 when UGA claimed a low-scoring 10-3 win.
No. 19 Miami vs. Florida, 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT on TSN+
The Florida Gators' 2024 schedule is almost comedically tough.
As it stands, Billy Napier's team is set to play a ranked team in eight of their 12 games. After a bye week in Week 9, theyfinish their season with an absolutely punishing run against Georgia, Texas, LSU, Mississippi and Florida State.
College football analytics guru Kelley Ford broke down the Gators' schedule last month.
According to Ford's model, the No. 12-rated team in the country would win 6.9 games against Florida's schedule for 0.5 fewer wins against any other team's slate of games. What will compound Florida's misery is that they're not the No. 12 team in the country - they're unranked entirely.
If Florida's season goes as poorly as is forecasted, then Napier's already hot seat will become scorching. Heading into this third season in Gainesville, this isn't something surprising for the former Louisiana coach.
"I'm not a fool," Napier said this week of his potentially precarious future. "Part of leadership is you've got to have some self-awareness, and you have to make tough decisions. You have to make necessary changes. We've done that. I have a ton of confidence. This is all just part of the story."
While things might appear to be bleak, the Gators have some reason for optimism. Graham Mertz is one of the better QBs in all of FBS football. Having transferred from Wisconsin last season, Mertz put up career highs in 2023. He threw for 2,903 yards on 261-for-358 passing with 20 touchdowns to only three interceptions, down from double-digit picks in his previous two seasons.
“Not enough can be said about their quarterback,” Miami head coach Mario Cristobal said. “I mean, statistically, he leads the country in accuracy under pressure. Certainly, the touchdown-to-interception ratio leads you to understand how accurate, how decisive [he is], what kind of calibredecisions he makes. He’s on point. He’s a very well-coached player. He’s a very smart player, but he is also elusive. He’s got great feet, great body control, he’s got great awareness in the pocket. He’s a winner, and I think now going through a second year in their system, he’s certainly a guy that you have to control throughout the course of the game."
On the other side of the field, it's an important season for Cristobal, as well. The former Hurricanes offensive lineman surprisingly left Oregon to take the job at his alma mater on a 10-year contract in December of 2021. After a five-win season in 2022, Cristobal led his team back to a bowl game in 2023 with a seven-win campaign. But the season ended with three losses in their last four games.
With Tyler Van Dyke having transferred to Wisconsin, Wazzu transfer Cam Ward will be the Canes' starting QB in 2024.
“I’m a gunslinger,” the 22-year-old Wardsaid of his style. “That’s just what I do. Continue to be a leader for this team. Continue to put guys in situations that they can be successful and just get the ball to the playmakers."
Saturday's game will be the 57th in what has been a very close rivalry. The Hurricanes hold a close 29-27 edge between the two teams. After six straight Miami wins from 1986 to 2004, Florida has won two of the past three meetings. In their last game in 2019, the Gators were 24-20 winners in Orlando. Miami and Florida are set to meet again next year in Miami Gardens.
No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 20 Texas A&M, 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT on TSN2
The Mike Elko era at College Station gets underway on Saturday with a major test in the form of the visiting Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The Aggies defensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021 under Jimbo Fisher, Elko had spent the past two seasons in his first-ever head coaching gig at Duke. Elko led the Blue Devils to a 16-9 mark over the two years, was the 2022 ACC Coach of the Year and won both of their bowl games. Upon the firing of Fisher at the end of the sixth season of a 10-year deal, Elko returned to the Aggies.
Elko knows there is a big job ahead. The TAMU program has not posted a season with double-digit wins since 2012. The Aggies' recent futility will be compounded by the arrival of Texas in the SEC this season, making A&M no longer the only Lone Star State-based team in the conference.
It will be a familiar face for Elko to contend with in the form of Irish QB Riley Leonard. With Sam Hartman leaving for the NFL, Leonard transferred from Duke to South Bend as the team's new starting pivot for Marcus Freeman's team. Leonard was limited to only seven games last season with injury, but had a breakout 2022 under Elko where he threw for 2,967 yards on 250-for-391 passing with 20 TDs and six picks.
Elko believes that Leonard's understandingof the type of team defence he favours as a coach will give him an advantage going into Saturday.
“I have an unbelievable amount of respect for Riley and what he did for us at Duke,"Elko said this week. “I do think he has the leg up, because I think the amount of snaps he's taken against this defensive structure, when you talk about every day at practice for two years, I think there's some built in knowledge of what we do that we're gonna have to be really careful how we present things to him."
Leonard agreed with his former coach's assessment.
“I think I have a really good feel for the defence, obviously,”Leonard said. “I’ve been playing against it at practice every day for the last two years. He obviously has a good feel for my game and my tendencies as well. I think they do a good job of disguising everything. Everything looks similar pre-snap. If I’m able to figure it out, we’ll be alright."
The 21-year-old Fairhope, AL native says he's excited to face off against Elko and other coaches he had in Durham.
"Ayear ago, who would’ve thought we’d be in this situation?" Leonard said."We’re both very competitive. We like to talk a little trash, too. It’s not just him. A lot of their coaching staff came from Duke. To be able to play against all those guys, I’m sure they’ll be scheming me up. I’m excited.”
For Freeman, there are similarities between himself and Elko. Prior to joining A&M, Elko spent one season with the Irish as Brian Kelly's defensive coordinator in 2017, the same role held by Freeman until his promotion to head coach in 2021 upon Kelly's exit for LSU.
"A lot of the people that were here when I got here still spoke very highly of Mike and the job he did here and the type of defence that he installed here," Freeman said on Thursday. "And you see it now. You saw it with his defences and his teams at Duke. I’m sure we’ll see it as we get ready to play A&M. He’s a really good football coach. He’s great at developing his players and getting them to play fast and hard. And that’s the objective of any head coach or any coordinator. We want to have a scheme that’s tactically very challenging for our opponent but at the same time we need our guys to play hard, we need our guys to play with passion, play fast and physical. That’s definitely something you see with Mike Elko-coached teams.”
With close to 108,000 people expected at Kyle Field, Freeman says his team is ready to walk into a hostile environment, but it's not really possible to be prepared for it until it's experienced.
“We made sure to truly give our guys a feeling for what the stadium will be like," Freeman said."I wanted them to know exactly where our tunnel is, what sideline we’re on, where we’re warming up, where the 12th man is. I think it’s important that we have a great idea of the environment that we’re going into so we’re not surprised. We can talk about it being a big, rowdy crowd, but until you show them examples and really until they get there they won’t truly understand that. We try to give them as much insight to what it’s going to be like. But at the same point, once you do that then you got to get them to focus on the things that matter and that’s what you do between the white lines."
Saturday's game is just the sixth meeting between the two teams and the first since 2001 when the Aggies were 24-3 winners. The Irish hold a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series.
Click for a full list of the rest of Week 1 NCAA on TSN this weekend
