- Close
ESPN Senior Writer- College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.
While Florida's trip to face Utah in Salt Lake City kicks things off Thursday night, the weekend's headline game involves another Florida team. After last year's thrilling 24-23 win in New Orleans, LSU and Florida State take their series to Orlando. That's the only matchup between two ranked teams in Week 1, but that doesn't mean there won't be plenty of other interesting storylines.
Three of the four teams in the College Football Playoff have new quarterbacks, as do Alabama and Penn State, and USC's Caleb Williams tries to win consecutive Heisman trophies.
We asked college football insiders Heather Dinich and Adam Rittenberg for insight on the hottest topics of the week, including the buzz around Deion Sanders and Colorado in Week 1, which coach already is under pressure and more.
Jump to a section:
Week 1 excitement | Coaches under fire?
Expectations for Deion | Upset picks
Under-the-radar Heisman picks
The thing you're most excited about in Week 1 is ________?
Rittenberg: To see whether Florida State has actually turned a corner. Coaches at both FSU and LSU are expecting a higher quality matchup than what we saw last year in New Orleans. "It was two question marks battling," an assistant at one school said this summer. "Now it's two statements battling." But FSU must show it can back up the hype, especially with so many returning contributors. I'm particularly interested in Florida State's front seven play on defense and whether LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels will run as much as he did in 2022.
