Top Underrated Games Of Week 1 - 2024 College Football

Folks, we finally made it. It is now Week 1 of the college football season and after an exhilarating Week 0 slate that saw the tenth-ranked team in the nation fall victim of an upset in Ireland, I can say with confidence that this is going to be a crazy year.

Week 1 is littered with high-profile games. Deion Sanders’ Colorado team will be in the national spotlight on Thursday night, Clemson and Georgia go head-to-head in a massive noon kickoff, Miami and Florida play for the first time since 2019 in Gainesville at 3:30 p.m., and the night is wrapped up with a prime time showdown between Mike Elko’s Texas A&M squad and Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish.

Sunday night continues the fun, as LSU meets USC in Vegas, and Week 1 concludes on Monday with Florida State in prime time again as they take on Boston College. With all of these big games on the schedule, some games are bound to fly under the radar. Let’s take a look at three matchups that should not be ignored in Week 1.

Penn State @ West Virginia - Saturday, 12 p.m.

Pat McAfee’s pick of West Virginia to win the Big 12 may have been a little inflated, but this is not a team that should be completely overlooked in this matchup. The Mountaineers were blown out in Week 1 against Penn State a season ago, but they went on to finish the season at 9-4 with a big win over North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊.

🆚 Penn State pic.twitter.com/bfFldUSr2o

— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) August 26, 2024

The Mountaineers return 15 of their top 20 players in terms of offensive snaps from a season ago, led by senior quarterback Garrett Greene. Continuity is key in college football and this team is swimming in it.

Penn State returns quarterback Drew Allar, who struggled as a sophomore but is considered a potential future first-round draft selection. They do face significant turnover at receiver and on defense, which could diminish early-season returns.

While Penn State is the more talented team on paper, being in Morgantown against a team with this level of continuity will make this game worth watching on Saturday.

South Dakota State @ Oklahoma State - Saturday, 2 p.m.

South Dakota State has won back-to-back FCS titles and is currently the premier program in the Division 1 subdivision. The Jackrabbits have their work cut out for them in Week 1, as they have to go on the road to face an Oklahoma State team that played for a Big 12 title last season and returned a significant amount of starters. 

Football '24: The @GoJacksFB season preview - who's gone, who's back, what's new, what might go right, what could go wrong and what to expect: https://t.co/juiXCCpuVF

— Matt Zimmer (@MattJZimmer) August 26, 2024

Seventh-year quarterback Alan Bowman will lead the charge on offense, along with Heisman-contending running back Ollie Gordon II. Mike Gundy’s squad is ranked 17th coming into the season but faces a severe challenge in their season debut. The Jackrabbits have not lost since they fell 7-3 against Iowa in early 2022. Don’t miss this one at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Miami (OH) @ Northwestern - Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

If you like defensive slugfests, this game will have a Big Ten West feel to it. Miami Ohio is the reigning MAC champion and returns sixth-year quarterback Brett Gabbert to man the offense.

David Braun’s Northwestern team shocked the college football world by qualifying for a bowl game in what was thought to be a wash of a season for them in 2023. The Wildcats return a lot on defense, which was their strength a season ago, but have a new quarterback under center in Mississippi State transfer Mike Wright.

This could be a sloppy game in the Chicago wind between two teams with a lot to play for this year. It has the feel of a game that could come right down to the wire.

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