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Five CFB games to watch in Week 1: LSU's Brian Kelly talks smack, 'Coach Prime' era begins

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 9/1/23

The 2023 college football season really gets rolling this holiday weekend with the first full slate of games, including a massive top-10 matchup with potential playoff implications.

Here are five games worth your time:.

The five-star game | No. 5 LSU at No. 8 Florida State (Sunday | 7:30 p.m. ET)

The only game featuring two top-10 teams takes place in Tallahassee, Fla. It could be one of the biggest games of the season. Both schools have legit playoff aspirations — especially LSU, which enters the second year of the Brian Kelly era.

The Seminoles won last season, 24-23, in a game that came down to a blocked LSU extra point with no time remaining.

The Tigers have a lot of new faces on their roster, but Kelly is bullish on his team. On his weekly radio show, he talked big (comment begins around the 13:30 mark):

"I think we're in a really good position in year two. Look, I will say there are still some areas that need to be improved. We're going to take 15 freshman on this trip and 14 transfers. So, nearly 40 percent of this travel roster are going to go overnight for the first time with LSU. And that's not a disclaimer of any kind. We're going to go beat the heck out of Florida State."

The winner of this game gets an instant résumé booster for the College Football Playoff committee.

The Heisman game | Boise State vs. No. 10 Washington (Saturday | 3:30 p.m. ET)

Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is a dark-horse candidate for the Heisman Trophy. You might want to hop on his bandwagon.

He leads a top-10 team, has five years' college experience and is coming off an outstanding 2022 performance that saw him finish second in the nation with 4,641 yards passing. An experienced, talented passer on a good team that has a chance to win a lot of games is exactly the type of Heisman candidate you want to buy stock in early in the season.

The Huskies have a Heisman committee for Penix that has met every two weeks since January to help get the message to the people.

#Penix4Heisman #BeLikeMike https://t.co/RsSBGniT0S
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) August 31, 2023

Boise State presents a nice early season test for Penix, whom Yardbarker's ex-NFL scout Daniel Kelly has pegged as a sixth-round draft pick.

Upset special | Old Dominion vs. Virginia Tech (Saturday | 8 p.m. ET)

The Hokies always seem to be on upset watch early in the season, and this season is going to be no different. That's especially true against an ODU team that has absolutely tormented them in recent years.

OddsChecker has Virginia Tech as a 15.5-point favorite, but that might be a little generous considering where Virginia Tech's program is and the recent history between the teams.

Both teams won just three games a season ago, while ODU has won two of the past three meetings between the schools, including a 20-17 win to open the 2022 season.

Under-the-radar game | No. 9 Clemson at Duke (Monday | 8 p.m. ET)

This might seem like a complete mismatch, but the Blue Devils are no joke after a strong debut season under head coach Mike Elko.

In 2022, Duke won nine games, including a 30-13 win over Central Florida in the Military Bowl. Three of its four losses last season came by three points or less. 2022 was a massive step forward after consecutive nine-loss seasons to end the David Cutcliffe era.

Duke opens with a huge test against a top-10 Clemson team that brings in a game-wrecking defensive front. Duke shouldn't be expected to win — and Clemson might not be on a true upset watch — but this game has a chance to be surprisingly good given Duke's improvement and the fact it gets the Tigers at home.

Wild-card game | Colorado at No. 16 TCU (Saturday | 12 p.m. ET)

It may not be the best matchup of the week, but it's definitely the most fascinating.

TCU is coming off a 2022 campaign that saw it go all the way to the championship game, where it got pummeled by Georgia, 65-7. The Frogs open against a Colorado team that won one game a year ago and has not won more than five games since the 2016 season.

It is still the "Big Noon Kickoff" game of the week on Fox. Why? Well, it's prime time — as in Coach Prime.

Saturday's game marks the beginning of the Deion Sanders head-coaching era at Colorado. He has brought a lot of swagger and attention to the program. He also has completely revamped the roster through the transfer portal.

"I know it's a huge overhaul," Sanders told ESPN.com. "But it had to be done."

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