College Football Saturday: #25 Stanford vs. Northwestern Highlights Early Action

Ahh, college football. How we’ve missed you.

The first week of the year is always an interesting one. There are usually a few marquee games on the schedule but, for the most part, the good teams tend to ease into the season with a weaker opponent before the true non-conference bangers take place. This year is no different with only one matchup between AP Top 25 teams on the slate for the entire day, and, with that being in the late slate, that means we’re stuck trying to scrounge around for meaning here in the early games.

If there is anything representing a clear highlight of this early slate, it’s probably the #25 Stanford Cardinal hosting the Northwestern Wildcats. Stanford is certainly not the team it was at its pinnacle, but it’s still a formidable team that has aspirations to win the Pac-12 North. Northwestern, meanwhile, is coming off a Big 10 West division championship. The last time these two teams met was the infamous “body clocks” game, where Stanford coach David Shaw complained that the early 9am kickoff had hurt the Cardinal and they had never adjusted to the time shift. So, I’m excited to see if Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald will use the same excuse should his Wildcats lose.

There are some smaller storylines at play in the early slate as well. The country will get their first look at Georgia Bulldogs transfer Justin Fields as he takes over for the #5 Ohio State Buckeyes, who are under new head coach Ryan Day. The #2 Alabama Crimson Tide, fresh off a humiliating loss in last year’s National Championship Game, open the year against an actual Power 5 opponent! Yes, that opponent is the Duke Blue Devils, but that has to count for something! Especially because, of the eight ranked teams kicking off before 4:00 pm PT, only them and Stanford are playing a Power 5 team. The rest, including the #13 Washington Huskies, are all playing cupcake opponents, the best of which is probably Eastern Washington.

If you’re looking for a fun early game, you can’t go wrong with the Memphis Tigers hosting the Ole Miss Rebels. At 12:30 pm, we have the return of Mack Brown to college coaching when he leads the North Carolina Tar Heels against the South Carolina Gamecocks in Charlotte. Quick aside: neutral site games early in the season are a pox on this earth.

Here is the full Saturday lineup:

This is your College Football Saturday open thread.


Go Bruins!