College football Week 1 – Games to watch, betting tips, key storylines

Week 0 was the appetizer. Thursday night certainly got things off on the right foot. And now you’re ready for the main course. Notre Dame–Ohio State in a top-five tussle. Oregon–Georgia with Dan Lanning’s Ducks debut against Kirby Smart and the defending champs. Cincinnati–Arkansas with two would-be contenders looking to make an early statement. And that’s just scratching the surface.

But you’re not here to read an intro, and we’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s dive straight in.

Here’s everything you need to know — storylines, betting info, viewing guide, etc. — about the chaotic super marathon that is the first weekend of the 2022 college football season. Hope you’re well rested. Hope you’re hydrated.

All times are Eastern.

Is Ohio State as good as we think? Does Notre Dame have top-four potential?

No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 2 Ohio State (7:30 p.m., ABC)

“We feel like we’re the strongest, most badass [redacted] in the country.” That was Notre Dame defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola‘s official statement to the media earlier this week. We’ll find out soon enough if that’s true, but it rather eloquently points to the biggest strength the Fighting Irish bring to Columbus in this huge battle of top-five teams: line play.

Notre Dame returns four starters (and most of the second string) from an offensive line that wasn’t the best of the Brian Kelly era, but was awfully solid considering it had two freshmen in the starting lineup. Center Jarrett Patterson is a potential All-American (he’s also battling a foot sprain), and if it’s still possible to push Ohio State’s defensive front around — as Minnesota, Oregon, Michigan and Utah all did last season — then Notre Dame might be able to do it. The Fighting Irish also have one of the best defensive lines the Buckeyes will face, led not only by Jayson Ademilola but also rush ends Isaiah Foskey and Justin Ademilola.

To the extent that we have questions about Ohio State heading into this season, Notre Dame will help us answer them. But Ohio State is listed as a 17-point favorite because of, well, everything else. Notre Dame has a new starting quarterback in Tyler Buchner and Ohio State has Heisman co-favorite C.J. Stroud. Notre Dame will be asking skill-corps players such as running back Chris Tyree and wide receiver Lorenzo Styles to thrive in new, marquee roles, and Ohio State has TreVeyon Henderson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Ohio State has a new defensive coordinator in Jim Knowles, but Notre Dame has a new head coach in…