Weekend Watch Guide: An Oklahoma State Fan’s Guide to Week 1 of the College Football Season

We made it. College football is all the way back.

The good news about Oklahoma State playing on a week night is that OSU fans can set up a quad box and inhale the various games from around the country on Saturday.

Here is a look at the Big 12 and other best games to watch in Week 1 of the college football season.

Big 12 Schedule

Jacksonville State at UCF — 6 p.m. Thursday on ESPN+
UT-Martin at Oklahoma State — 6:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN+
Stephen F. Austin at Houston — 7 p.m. Thursday on ESPN+
Cincinnati vs. Nebraska (in Kansas City) — 8 p.m. Thursday on ESPN
Wagner at Kansas — 6:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN+
Auburn at Baylor — 7 p.m. Friday on FOX
Georgia Tech at Colorado — 7 p.m. Friday on ESPN
Robert Morris at West Virginia — 1 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
South Dakota at No. 22 Iowa State — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FOX
North Dakota at No. 17 Kansas State — 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at No. 23 Texas Tech — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Portland State at BYU — 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Northern Arizona at No. 11 Arizona State — 9 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Hawaii at Arizona — 9:30 p.m. Saturday on TNT/HBO Max
Utah at UCLA — 10 p.m. Saturday on FOX
TCU at North Carolina — 7 p.m. Monday on ESPN

That’s a lot of football.

There are a lot of Big 12 squads playing FCS foes to start the season, but I’ll highlight some of the league’s bigger games of the weekend.

Matt Rhule is entering Year 3 at Nebraska, which is usually where his teams really start to find success, but the Bearcats will be looking to buck those trends when these teams square off in Arrowhead. Dontay “The Godfather” Corleone is a three-time All-American in the middle of Cincy’s D-line, as the Bearcats look to slow down Dana Holgorsen, Dylan Raiola and the rest of the Cornhusker offense.

Baylor hosts Auburn and former Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold on Friday night. Returning quarterback Sawyer Robertson had the Bears rolling to close last season, with Baylor ending the regular season on a six-game winning streak.

Deion Sanders is entering his third year in Boulder, and it’s his first without Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter won the Buffaloes’ starting quarterback job after a battle with five-star freshman Julian Lewis. Salter comes to Colorado with 5,889 career passing yards, 2,006 rushing yards, 56 passing touchdowns and 21 rushing touchdowns.

Utah and UCLA will renew an old Pac-12 rivalry with neither program in the conference any more. A lot has been said about OU transferring in a QB/OC combo, but that’s the same thing Utah did this offseason. OC Jason Beck and QB Devon Dampier come to Salt Lake City from New Mexico. Dampier threw for 2,768 yards and 12 touchdowns last season (also had 12 picks) and ran for 1,166 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Week 1 closes with the most anticipated college coaching debut in some time as eight-time Super Bowl champ (six with the Pats and two as the Giants’ DC) Bill Belichick leads North Carolina into a game with TCU. Horned Frog quarterback Josh Hoover finished seventh nationally with 3,949 passing yards to go with 27 touchdowns to 11 picks. Among quarterbacks returning to college, only LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier had more passing yards than Hoover last season.

Other Games to Watch

No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State — 11 a.m. Saturday on FOX
No. 8 Alabama at Florida State — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
No. 9 LSU at No. 4 Clemson — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 10 Miami — 6:30 p.m. Sunday on ABC

These are the games in every Saturday timeslot that will be the most watched.

The Arch Manning era of Texas football starts with a banger of a game on paper, as the Longhorns travel to Columbus to play the defending national champion Buckeyes. Julian Sayin, the No. 1 QB prospect in the 2024 class, will get the start for Ohio State.

Florida State will look to bounce back from the disappointment of last season, but they have a tough start to try to do that with Alabama coming to town. Alabama is set to start Ty Simpson at quarterback. Simpson is the son of UT-Martin coach Jason Simpson.

Clemson has expectations to compete for a national title for the first time in what feels like a handful of years, and the Tigers will play another set of Tigers hoping to do the same.

Watercooler Discussion

Illinois State at No. 18 Oklahoma — 5 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Abilene Christian at Tulsa — 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+

Here are the games your coworkers might be talking about at the watercooler come Monday.

OU opens a pivotal year for Brent Venables by hosting Illinois State. The Sooners will hope their additions for offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and quarterback John Mateer from Washington State move their offense in a much better direction.

Tulsa’s game against Abilene Christian will be the Golden Hurricane’s first under coach Tre Lamb. Lamb comes to Tulsa from East Tennessee State. Former OSU running back Dominic Richardson will tote the rock in Tulsa this season.