With many teams having wrapped up spring practice the past couple of weeks, and more doing so over the next two weeks, we are at the point where the 2022 college football season is a little more than four months away from kicking off.
Labor Day weekend, as usual, marks the first full week of action. It features a slate of games that includes a handful of appealing non-conference matchups. Here is a look at some of the games.
Thursday, September 1
West Virginia at Pitt
With West Virginia joining the Big 12 in 2012 and Pitt landing in the ACC the following year, the Backyard Brawl went on a decade-long hiatus. The teams, who had their first of 104 meetings in 1895, will renew acquaintance at Heinz Field.
In 2015, the schools announced the rivalry would resume in 2022 with games played four straight seasons on a home-and-home basis through 2025. On April 13, it was announced that Pitt and West Virginia agreed to another four-year, home-and-home series that will begin in 2029. That means the teams will meet eight times over the next 11 seasons.
The most recent matchup was in 2011 when Geno Smith and the Mountaineers rallied from a 20-7 third-quarter deficit to pull out a 21-20 victory in Morgantown. That was the third straight win for WVU in a series that Pitt leads 61-40-3.
The quarterback situation at both schools will receive plenty of attention, including among USC fans. Former Trojan Kedon Slovis will continue to compete with Nick Patti during fall camp for the starting role at Pitt. Meanwhile, J.T. Daniels announced his third stop on his college football journey will be West Virginia. It was Slovis who took over for an injured Daniels in USC’s 2019 season opener, which ultimately led to the latter transferring to Georgia. The Trojans’ offensive coordinator that season was Graham Harrell, who is now in the same role with the Mountaineers under Neal Brown.
Friday, September 2
Old Dominion at Virginia Tech
Blake LaRussa was a walk-on at ODU who forewent his senior season so that he could attend seminary school. What he did on a late-September afternoon in 2018 against visiting Virginia Tech during his junior, and final season, will not soon be forgotten. The quarterback took over the huddle at the beginning of the Monarchs’ second series and engineered a 49-35 upset over the No. 13 Hokies. He led ODU, which entered 0-3, on four fourth-quarter touchdown drives that totaled an eye-opening 298 yards.
On the day, LaRussa threw for 495 yards pass and five touchdowns, with four through the air to equal his career total coming in. His passing yards are the second-most — Maryland’s Scott Milanovich had 498 in 1993 — against the Hokies. The Monarchs, playing in front of 20,532 crammed into S.B. Ballard Stadium, piled up 30 first downs and 632 yards.
This year will mark the fourth meeting between the schools. ODU’s win was sandwiched between a pair of Hokies victories in 2017 and 2019.
Saturday, September 3
Notre Dame at Ohio State
This will only be the sixth meeting between two of the nation’s most tradition-rich programs, with Ohio State leading 3-2. It will be the first regular-season game since 1996, a 28-16 Buckeyes win highlighted by Pepe Pearson’s 173 yards and two touchdowns. The teams since met in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day 2016, when Ezekiel Elliott ran for four touchdowns in a 44-28 Ohio State win.
While the spotlight on this game will be intense, much of the glare will be directed to the Notre Dame sideline where Marcus Freeman took over for Brian Kelly after the latter departed for LSU prior to the Fighting Irish’s Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State. The 36-year-old Freeman was a two-time second team All-Big Ten selection as a linebacker at Ohio State, where he served as a grad assistant in 2010.
Cincinnati at Arkansas
The story in this first meeting between the schools is what the coaches have done for their respective programs. Luke Fickell has led the Bearcats to great heights the past few years, including breaking a Group of Five barrier with a CFP semifinal appearance last season.
Sam Pittman has turned things around in Fayetteville, something that was punctuated by an Outback Bowl win over Penn State to cap a nine-win 2021 season that saw the Hogs crack the top 10 at one point.
While Fickell has to replace quarterback Desmond Ridder and corner Ahmad Gardner, among others, Pittman has K.J. Jefferson, who was 10th nationally in pass efficiency, returning at quarterback. He also a number of key players returning from a defense that made great strides last season.
UC will receive $1.5 million for making the trip.
Utah at Florida
Billy Napier makes his debut on the sideline in Gainesville and, it is anybody’s guess what to expect out of his Gators. Things seemingly cannot get any worse than last year’s 6-7 showing, can they? After participating early in the spring, starting quarterback Emory Jones entered the portal. He has yet to find a new home. Anthony Richardson is the lone experienced QB on the roster, and he has started all of one game.
Utah, which next year will host the Gators in the back end of a home-and-home deal, is coming off a 10-win season that resulted in a Pac-12 title and finished with a last-second loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Kyle Whittingham will be in his 18th season as the Utes’ coach and has many key starters back in the fold. An exception would be at linebacker where Devin Lloyd is off to the NFL. A potential replacement? Former Gator Mohamoud Diabate.
The only previous meeting between the teams was in 1977. The Gators scored four fourth-quarter touchdowns, two by college football hall of famer Wes Chandler, to come out on top, 38-29.
Georgia vs Oregon (Atlanta)
The defending national champs will see a familiar face on the Oregon sideline. Former UGA defensive coordinator Dan Lanning is a first-time head coach. The 36-year-old will bring his Ducks to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic, which will be anything but a neutral site game – the Ducks are traveling about 2,200 miles — that will pay Georgia $5 million and Oregon $4.5 million.
There is also a new QB at Oregon, where former Auburn signal caller Bo Nix has been given the keys to the offense. He faced the Bulldogs twice (2019, 2020) with the Tigers coming up short both times while totaling only 20 points.
National championship hero Stetson Bennett decided to return for his final season in Athens. While some key contributors from last season have moved on, such as defensive lineman Jordan Davis, Kirby Smart’s team has more than enough talent and should be considered for national title contention once again.
The only meeting between the schools was UGA’s 27-16 win in Athens in 1977.
North Carolina at Appalachian State
It has been five years, though another ACC program trickles into Kidd Brewer Stadium. UNC’s first visit to Boone follows those by Wake Forest (2017) and Miami (2016). The in-state schools have met only twice with the most recent being a 34-31 Mountaineers win in Chapel Hill in 2019. That was the first of a three-game, two-for-one agreement that will have ASU traveling to Kenan Stadium next season. The first meeting was in 1940, a 56-6 Tar Heels home-field victory.
Mack Brown, who was the head coach at Appalachian State in 1983, will not have Sam Howell, the Tar Heels’ all-time leading passer (10,283 yards, 92 TDs), running the offense. Brown will turn to either, or both, Drake Maye or Colby Criswell.
Appalachian State, which is 19-7 in two years under alum Shawn Clark, will also have a non-conference game at Texas A&M the following week.
Army at Coastal Carolina
This should be a fun day in Conway. It will be the first time the Chanticleers face one of the three major military service academies, though they got a taste of academy football and the option attack when they opened against The Citadel last season. Because this is also a season opener, Coastal will have plenty of time to prepare for a Black Knights’ ground game that churned out 281 yards to rank second nationally.
Jamey Chadwell’s Chanticleers are 22-3 the last two seasons thanks to the effectiveness with which quarterback Grayson McCall operates an option-oriented offense that often goes to the air. McCall, who in December announced he was returning for another season, was the nation’s leader in pass efficiency last season.
This matchup kicks off a four-game, home-and-home series between the programs that runs through 2027. The agreement was announced in 2017 and includes an exchange of $200,000 guarantees for each game.
Sunday, September 4
LSU vs. Florida State (New Orleans)
This is the first of two “neutral” site games between the teams, with the return engagement scheduled in Orlando next year. Each team will receive $5.1 million per game given that their respective ticket allotments are sold.
To say both teams need a crisp start to 2022 is quite the understatement. After beating Texas A&M on Thanksgiving weekend to secure bowl eligibility, the Bengal Tigers proceeded to be thumped by Kansas State in the Texas Bowl to finish 6-7 only two years after winning the national title under Ed Orgeron. Brian Kelly, who was looking on at a mess of game, is now running the show in Baton Rouge .
Mike Norvell is heading into his third season in Tallahassee and does so with an 8-12 mark. Though his Seminoles noticeably improved as last season progressed, a season-ending loss to Florida resulted in staying home for the holidays instead of going to a bowl.
FSU leads the all-time series 7-2. The most recent meeting was in 1991 when, during a steady rain in Baton Rouge, the Seminoles prevailed, 27-16.
