SEC football opens with the kind of Saturday that can lull you into thinking the league is cruising toward a clean 16-0 start - until the marquee games remind you there’s real meat on the Week 1 board.
A lot of the schedule is built for the heavy hitters to walk through the door and leave with a win. Arkansas Pine-Bluff visits No.
25 Missouri. UTEP heads to No.
10 Oklahoma. East Carolina goes to No.
13 Alabama. Kent State travels to South Carolina.
Youngstown State meets Kentucky. Tennessee State plays No.
3 Georgia. Texas State visits No.
5 Texas. Furman takes on No.
20 Tennessee. North Alabama is at Arkansas.
Missouri State goes to No. 8 Texas A&M.
Austin Peay visits Vanderbilt. UL Monroe plays at Mississippi State.
Florida Atlantic goes to Florida.
Then there are the games that carry a little more weight because they feature real-name programs and enough talent to make people stop and watch.
The biggest one on paper is Clemson at No. 11 LSU, and even with all the buzz around Lane Kiffin’s debut and the name value of the matchup, the on-field read is still fairly straightforward.
LSU is expected to lean on the edge it has at quarterback and in overall speed, while Clemson is handing the keys to a very green quarterback in one of the toughest spots in the sport. Christopher Vizzina has the arm and the outlets to pile up some yards, but the issue is whether he gets enough time to use them.
There is a path for Clemson to hang around early. If the front line can keep LSU from building any rhythm on the ground - and LSU ranked 126th in rushing last fall - the first half could stay tighter than expected. Even so, the prediction still lands with LSU, which is viewed as having the better passer and the speed to separate.
Auburn’s trip to Baylor brings another quarterback matchup worth watching. New Auburn coach Alex Golesh is bringing an offense that should play fast, with USF transfer Byrum Brown at the center of it.
Baylor, meanwhile, is trying to bounce back from a 5-7 season with former Florida five-star DJ Lagway under center. Auburn’s defensive continuity is pointed to as a major asset here, especially with Brown still settling in while the Tigers’ blockers are expected to help control the line of scrimmage.
Mississippi also gets a nod in a game that could tell a little about how its transition is going under Pete Golding. The permanent move to Golding as head coach will be watched closely, but the offense has useful continuity thanks to quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and record-breaking back Kewan Lacy both returning. That gives the Rebels a chance to keep rolling with a unit that should be productive.
Louisville at No. 9 Ole Miss is another game that gets attention because of the teams involved, and the read on Louisville is that it could be poised for something special in a competitive ACC. Jeff Brohm has been a winner since taking over, and the offense has enough skill talent - especially with rusher Isaac Brown back - to create chunk plays.
The pick on the board is LSU (-10.5) over Clemson. Home-field advantage, Kiffin’s debut energy and offensive aggression, Clemson’s decline, and an inexperienced quarterback are all listed as reasons to side with LSU.
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Knox Kiffin, the three-star quarterback and son of LSU head coach Lane Kiffin, will be on one sideline, while Colton Nussmeier, a four-star Georgia commit and younger brother of NFL quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, will be on the other. For LSU followers, it is a familiar kind of early-season intrigue, with two local family storylines intersecting before the high school calendar even gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]