Week 1 college football storylines for Kentucky fans to follow
Each week Cats Illustrated will preview Kentucky's next football game, but we'll also survey the college football landscape and single out the storylines that Wildcat fans might have an interest in for various reasons.
You won't have to wait long ... There are 16 college football games featuring FBS programs that take place on Thursday. Teams involved include Clemson, Georgia Tech, UCLA, Cincinnati, Utah and BYU. There are also eight games on Friday. That makes for a smaller than usual regular season Saturday slate, but who's complaining? We also get games on Sunday and Monday. That's five consecutive days of quality college football.
Oregon-Auburn ... Your game of the week is between two darkhorse playoff contenders in the Ducks and Tigers (also two teams that played for a national championship, which resulted in a ring for Cam Newton). Oregon should be explosive but Auburn's defensive line might be the best in the country and one of the only questions for the Tigers is the quarterback position, where they will be young and untested. This game is more important for the Pac-12 than the SEC, but we'll learn a lot about two big name programs right away.
Can Vandy's skill players get any help? ... Vanderbilt has some of the best skill talent in the SEC between KeShawn Vaughn and Kalija Lipscomb, among others, but will the 'Dores have the defense, o-line play and quarterbacking to be competitive? Opening at home against Georgia won't tell us that, but it's our first glance at two teams on the Cats' schedule. Expect to see a lot of red in Nashville.
Neal Brown's first game at West Virginia ... Might Brown one day be a head coach of the Wildcats? He'll have to succeed with the Mountaineers first. James Madison should be a painless start, although the 'Eers might be up against it in the Big XII in Brown's first year.
Measuring stick for Chip Kelly ... The former Oregon coach didn't do much with UCLA in his first year as he implemented a new system. Can he take a step forward in his second year with the Bruins? Week 1 is a test. They get Cincinnati, which leaped from 4-8 to 11-2 in Luke Fickell's second year with the Bearcats.
Defending champs begin conference play ... Georgia Tech travels to Clemson for each team's season and ACC openers. This game has great appeal on two fronts: Clemson begins its quest to defend its second national title under Dabo Swinney, and Georgia Tech begins the post-Paul Johnson, post-triple option era.
Not Alabama's sexiest opener ... Nick Saban has complained that it's very difficult to schedule non-conference opponents, but they found better matchups in the past than this year. Duke has come a long way under David Cutcliffe, but the Blue Devils are probably in for a rude awakening in Saturday afternoon game against the Tide, its first since that blowout in the national title game.
Battle of the Carolinas ... South Carolina always ends the season against an ACC team, Clemson, but this year they begin against a team from that league as well. North Carolina, once again coached by Mack Brown, will be the underdog against Jake Bentley and the Gamecocks. USC-East's schedule is absolutely brutal this season so this is a game Will Muschamp has to win if he has hopes of keeping his fan base even mildly satisfied.
Scott Satterfield gets no breaks in his first game ... Louisville begins the Satterfield era with Notre Dame at home. The Irish are ranked No. 9 to start the season and many believe they could once again be a playoff contender. It might not be the most fair measuring stick for a program that was abysmal on both sides of the ball last year, but it the first chance Kentucky fans have to get a look at their archrival.
Jalen Hurts with the Sooners ... It might be a tall order for Hurts to match or even come close to what Baker Mayfield did with the Sooners, but the former Alabama quarterback won the offseason competition in Norman and draws Houston, at home, in his first game with OU. The Cougars are just 20-15 in two seasons under Major Applewhite but they have played on big stages before.
Upset watch? ... No. 19 Wisconsin travels to South Florida, Rondale Moore and Purdue head out to Nevada to take on a Wolf Pack team fresh off an 8-5 season, No. 25 Stanford has a tough test at home against Northwestern, and would it really be an upset if Boise State beats Florida State?
Will Fresno State embarrass USC at the Coliseum? ... If the Bulldogs, 22-6 in two years under Jeff Tedford, roll into SC and knock off the Trojans it could be the beginning of the end of the Clay Helton era...If that hasn't already arrived.
The Les Miles era begins in Lawrence ... Kansas has been college football's worst Power Five program for the last decade. Will Les Miles, formerly of Oklahoma State and LSU and the winner of a national championship, restore the Jayhawks to respectability? Indiana State should be a "W".
Kiffin in Columbus ... When Ohio State hosts Florida Atlantic, the Buckeyes' head coach, Ryan Day, won't even be the most famous head coach on the sidelines. Lane Kiffin will be standing on the other side of the field hoping his Owls can at least make things interesting in the first game of the post-Urban Meyer era.