Welcome to Before The Snap, For The Win’s college football series where we’ll break down the sport’s trending storylines, examine each week’s biggest matchups and track the College Football Playoff and Heisman Trophy races.
The first games of the 2022 college football season kick off on Saturday with a light schedule before Labor Day Weekend’s huge slate of games. So with the season about to start, here are five big storylines to watch.
First up, the coaching carousel between last season and this one was wild. There are a lot of coaches with new programs, including some first-time head coaches.
And then there are the coaches who could be on their way out if they don’t have strong starts to the season. Those that could end up in the hot seat in a hurry include Nebraska coach Scott Frost, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, and, of course, Auburn coach Brian Harsin, who survived a coup attempt but is still on thin ice.
Next: Bring on the fun NIL deals. Now that college athletes are allowed to make money off their own names, images, and likeness in a massively overdue update from the NCAA, the deals are rolling in. Some of the best we’ve seen so far in 2021 include Nebraska WR Decoldest Crawford selling air conditioning and Texas RB Bijan Robinson having his own mustard, Bijan Mustardson.
And, of course, we can’t look ahead to the season without talking about the Heisman Trophy favorites. At the top of the list are Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, reigning Heisman winner Alabama quarterback Bryce Young and USC quarterback Caleb Williams. However, an important thing to remember here is that, as of late, the preseason Heisman favorite almost never actually wins come December.
Lastly, the College Football Playoff race, which we hope is fun and chaotic rather than some fairly boring combination of Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, Notre Dame and Oklahoma.
