Week 1 of the college football season arrives with the sport scattered across the airwaves, and the first full weekend already comes with a fresh look in the broadcast booth.
A few of the biggest shifts are impossible to miss. CBS has Charles Davis stepping in for Gary Danielson alongside Brad Nessler.
Fox has moved Connor Onion into a bigger role after Jason Benetti’s jump to NBC, while Benetti is set for his NBC college football debut early in the week. With so many new pairings and network changes, the opening slate doubles as a first look at how the year’s broadcast teams will sound.
Thursday’s schedule starts with Colorado at Georgia Tech on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET, with Matt Barrie, Chase Daniel and Paul Carcaterra on the call.
Later that night, Eastern Illinois visits Minnesota on Peacock/NBCSN at 8:00 p.m. ET, where Benetti teams with Yogi Roth.
Friday brings a smaller board but a couple of prominent matchups. No.
7 Miami plays at Stanford on ESPN at 9:00 p.m. ET with Mike Monaco, Jordan Rodgers and Dana Boyle.
On Fox’s side, Toledo travels to Michigan State on FS1 at 8:00 p.m. ET with Noah Reed and Petros Papadakis, and Fresno State faces No.
14 USC on Fox at 9:00 p.m. ET with Connor Onion, Robert Griffin III and Alexa Landestoy.
That USC telecast will be the first game for Onion and Griffin III as a broadcast crew.
Saturday is the busiest day of the weekend, and the list stretches from noon into the night. ABC opens with East Carolina at No.
13 Alabama at 12:00 p.m. ET with Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick and Stormy Buonantony, while ESPN has Oregon State at No.
23 Houston at the same time with Anish Shroff, Andre Ware and Morgan Uber. At 3:30 p.m.
ET, ABC carries Baylor at Auburn with Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer and Taylor McGregor, and ESPN has Texas State at No. 5 Texas with Roy Philpott, Brock Osweiler and Sherree Burruss.
Later Saturday, Missouri State visits No. 8 Texas A&M on ESPN at 7:00 p.m.
ET with Lowell Galindo, Kirk Morrison and Dawn Davenport, and Clemson meets No. 11 LSU on ABC at 7:30 p.m.
ET with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Holly Rowe and Laura Rutledge. UCLA at California closes out ESPN’s late window at 10:30 p.m.
ET with Tom Hart, Roddy Jones and Quint Kessenich.
Fox’s Saturday lineup includes North Texas at No. 6 Indiana at 12:00 p.m.
ET with Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft. Ohio at Nebraska is on FS1 at noon with Eric Collins and Spencer Tillman.
Boston College at Cincinnati follows on Fox at 3:30 p.m. ET with Tim Brando, Devin Gardner and Josh Sims, while Marshall at No.
18 Penn State is on FS1 at 3:30 p.m. ET with Jack Kizer and Mark Helfrich.
Abilene Christian at No. 12 Texas Tech airs on FS1 at 7:00 p.m.
ET with Dan Hellie and Robert Smith, and Central Michigan at New Mexico wraps Fox’s day at 10:00 p.m. ET with Carlo Jimenez and Petros Papadakis.
CBS gets one major matchup Saturday afternoon: Boise State at No. 2 Oregon at 3:30 p.m. ET, with Brad Nessler, Charles Davis and Jenny Dell.
NBC’s Saturday night features Western Michigan at No. 16 Michigan at 7:30 p.m. ET, with Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge and Kathryn Tappen.
The other networks also have a slice of the weekend. Coastal Carolina at West Virginia is on TNT at 12:00 p.m.
ET with J.B. Long, Mike Golic Jr. and Coy Wire.
Ball State at No. 1 Ohio State is on BTN at 12:30 p.m.
ET with Jeff Levering and Jake Butt. Miami (OH) at Pittsburgh airs on CW at 12:30 p.m.
ET with Thom Brennaman, Jason Cabinda and Wes Bryant, and UNLV at Hawai'i is on CW at 10:00 p.m. ET with Chris Fisher, Cody Kessler and Marshall Newhouse.
Sunday gives Labor Day weekend its unusual college football finish. ESPN2 has Texas Southern vs.
Prairie View A&M at 12:00 p.m. ET with Jason Ross Jr. and Tyoka Jackson, while ESPN carries South Carolina State vs.
Florida A&M at 3:00 p.m. ET with Tiffany Greene, Jay Walker and Cameron Wolfe.
ABC’s top Sunday game is No. 24 Louisville vs.
No. 9 Ole Miss at 7:30 p.m.
ET, with Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and Katie George.
NBC also has two Sunday games. Washington State visits No.
17 Washington at 4:00 p.m. ET with Paul Burmeister and Yogi Roth, and Wisconsin plays at No.
4 Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. ET with Dan Hicks and Jason Garrett.
Hicks and Garrett will handle Notre Dame games throughout the year, while McDonough and McElroy are set for the weekend’s only ranked-vs.-ranked matchup.
The first weekend wraps on Monday with SMU and Florida State, called by Dave Pasch and Dusty Dvoracek.
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Texas A&M Fans Need To Watch This SEC Eligibility Fight
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Lane Kiffin has been outspoken about the SECs attempts to block those players, while critics have also taken aim at LSUs administration for the way it has handled the situation. The SEC is now preparing to challenge the court ruling, so the issue is far from settled, and the next move could shape how this case plays out across the league. [Read more 🡒]