Arch Manning and the True Meaning of Life: Week 1 Preview

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Good morning and welcome to 4th & Forever, Rand & Tate’s College Football Newsletter. You know the drill here - College football is officially back, which means no more honey-do lists, Saturday lawn mows, trips to Home Depot, or whatever else you were forced to do to pass time during the doldrums of the offseason. We’ve got a ton to get through today, so let’s hop right into it with a potential national championship preview. 

Top Week 1 Games to Watch

#1 Texas @ #3 Ohio State: OSU -1.5, O/U 47.5 - Saturday 12:00 pm ET FOX

If there’s one recurring theme amongst the top group of national championship contenders in 2025, it’s that there will be a ton of new faces at quarterback. Seven of the top ten teams in the AP Preseason Poll are replacing their quarterback from last year, and that is the case for both Texas and Ohio State. Redshirt freshman Julian Sayin is taking over for last year’s national championship-winning QB Will Howard in Columbus. Sayin is not a big kid, standing at only 6’1 and a tick over 200 pounds, nor is he known to have an overly powerful arm. But the former 5-star was known as by far the most accurate quarterback in his class when he was coming out of high school, and when your new job is just distributing the ball to guys like Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, Mylan Graham, and Brandon Innis, accuracy may be just about all you need. Texas brings back a host of talent on defense, though, so those first start jitters could still get to Sayin even with all of that talent on the outside at his disposal.

For the Longhorns, it’ll be third-year player Arch Manning who will step in for Quinn Ewers and try to make the Texas offense a little more dynamic than it has been. There’s no question that Arch’s family pedigree will have him prepared for his new role as the starting QB in Austin: his mom, Ellen, has been a very successful lawyer in New Orleans for her entire career, certainly teaching Arch the value in discipline and hard work throughout his adolescence. Arch’s grandmother, Olivia, was awarded the Legacy Award from the Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy in 2024 - instilling in Arch the value of community, charity, and empathy. While playing quarterback in the SEC is something Arch will have to learn entirely on his own, there’s no doubt that his upbringing will have him prepared.

While Ohio State has a bit more to replace on defense than Texas does, the Buckeyes do still have All-American safety Caleb Downs - the consensus best defensive player in the entire country. Arch should be able to stretch the OSU defense with his legs in a way that the Longhorns couldn’t with Quinn Ewers, but he’ll be trying to do it on the road against one of the most talented rosters in the sport. Arch and Jeremiah Smith are both in the top 5 in the Heisman odds before the season, but there’s a reason the O/U here is only at 47.5, and is so hard to predict - two new quarterbacks are going up against future first-round picks on the defensive side of the ball. Games like this may matter a bit less in the 12-team playoff world, but it’s the #1 team in the country on the road against the #3 team in the country at noon on college football’s true opening day. We’ll all be tuned in.

#8 Alabama @ Florida State: ALA -13.5, O/U 50.5 - Saturday 3:30 pm ET ABC

In the mid-afternoon slot on ABC, we’ve got a fantastic helmet matchup between Alabama and Florida State. FSU will be debuting the newly renovated Doak Campbell Stadium, which cost an estimated $265 million. Pretty impressive investment for a school that has threatened to take private equity money because of how poor they are. Would firing head coach Mike Norvell for over $60 million also count as poor? What about the $1.3 million they paid Memphis last year to come to Doak Campbell, and then lost? The only type of poor FSU can claim is on the field. A full roster reset was in order following a 2-10 season, and that starts on offense, where they ranked 130th in scoring. Old Auburn and UCF head coach Gus Malzahn is in as offensive coordinator, and his run-first scheme is in the hands of QB Thomas Castellanos who comes in from Boston College. Castellanos made some waves this offseason by claiming Bama won’t be able to stop them because they don’t have Saban to save them. In his defense, Florida State couldn’t stop him as he ran all over the Noles on Labor Day last year, but Florida State is not on the same planet as Bama right now, which is saying something given Bama lost to Vandy and Oklahoma who didn’t have a single healthy receiver. Talk your talk, Thomas, you just might want to delete social media if you lose. The rest of the roster is made up almost entirely of transfers which is out of necessity, as FSU hasn’t had an offensive player drafted since 2020 that they signed out of high school. WRs Squirrel White (Tennessee) & Duce Robinson (USC) are intriguing talents on the outside but they transferred out of those schools for a reason. On defense, DT Darnell Jackson Jr. could’ve been a Day 1 pick but opted to come back. He’s a wrecker on the interior.

Bama turns the page on the Jalen Milroe experience to junior Ty Simpson, who has been patiently waiting his turn. Of course, he’s a former five-star and in addition to a rocket arm, he’s got above-average mobility even. He’ll have WR Ryan Williams to throw to on the outside, and instead of being bombarded with “did you know he’s only 17” during every broadcast, we’ll all learn he, in fact, celebrated his 18th birthday. Opposite of Williams, leading reception getter Germie Bernard is back for his fourth year in the program. OC Ryan Grubb flamed out as the Seahawks OC and is back with Kalen DeBoer for the first time since Washington’s natty run. When was the last time you couldn’t name Alabama’s starting RB? That’d was going to be Jam Miller - who’s back and who the Tide are relying on taking a step forward this year - but Miller will now miss the early part of the season with a collarbone injury suffered in camp. On defense, the Tide returns its entire secondary and some key pieces up front from a unit that ranked 10th in scoring nationally. Alabama is the better team at almost every position on the field here, but that was also the case in their losses to Vandy, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Michigan. DeBoer needs a big win here so the #1 Google search result on Sunday isn’t “Kalen DeBoer buyout”.

#9 LSU @ #4 Clemson: Clem -4, O/U 57.5 - Saturday 7:30 pm ET ABC

Texas @ Ohio State may be a “bigger” game in terms of the preseason rankings, but LSU @ Clemson is the official 4th & Forever game of the week because of how big this game will be for the winner, and how brutal it will be for the loser. These are two of the biggest programs in the sport; they both have faltered in the past five years, but both are now legitimate national title contenders in 2025.

For Clemson, Dabo Swinney is looking to change the rapidly growing narrative that the sport has simply passed him by in the transfer portal + NIL world. Other than back-dooring their way into the 12-seed in the first-ever 12-team playoff and getting squished by Texas, it’s been a rough run after the days of two national championships and yearly playoff appearances in the late 2010s. We all know that Dabo refused to take any transfers for a while, but he’s changed his stance just in time to have his most loaded roster since the Trevor Lawrence years. QB Cade Klubnik is back and is earning some preseason praise as a potential Heisman contender (most of which stems from him looking pretty good in the second half of a game they lost by two touchdowns), and he’ll have what some are calling the best receiving corps in the country - Antonio Williams, Bryant Wesco, and TJ Moore in particular - to throw it to. On the defensive line, TJ Parker and Peter Woods are not only projected first-rounders, but projected top ten picks in next year’s draft. This team doesn’t have NFL talent at every position, but is admittedly very loaded at a few key spots, and we’ve seen top-heavy teams go on deep runs before. 

LSU also returns its starting quarterback in Garrett Nussmeier, whose name you will also find on some preseason Heisman watch lists, and he’ll also have a good group of receivers to distribute the ball to, including Kentucky transfer Barrion Brown, who might be the fastest man in college football. The offensive line has a couple of key guys to replace, but has plenty of talent to do it with. Additionally, the defense last year looked like it was finally taking a step forward after a brutal few years post-Joe Burrow. Just as Clemson does, this team has a ton of NFL talent on it and is a popular dark horse national championship pick for a reason.

But the talent on both sides is not the primary reason that this game intrigues us - it’s the discourse that will take place around whichever team takes the loss here. If Clemson loses to yet another top program, and this time at home, it’ll continue to be difficult for Dabo Swinney to fight the allegations that his program just isn’t what it once was. If LSU loses, it will be the fifth (!!) consecutive season the Tigers have started 0-1, and considering how much hype this team has been getting in the offseason, it may have some people in the Bayou calling for Brian Kelly’s head - and I don’t mean that entirely figuratively. Will all of this outrage and criticism be fair to the losing team and head coach after just one game? Of course not, save for a blowout. But college football is the most irrational sport in the entire world, and that is why we love it. Two great teams filled with future NFL talent at a great venue on a Saturday night, where the losing fanbase might collectively run into traffic after the game? Sign us up.

Virginia Tech @ #13 South Carolina: SC -8, O/U 52.5 - Sunday 3:00 pm ET ESPN in Atlanta

While it may not be quite as big as the three aforementioned Saturday games, we’ve got two Power 4 squads matching up on Sunday as Shane Beamer takes on his dad’s old squad at the Benz. The Gamecocks narrowly missed the playoffs last year, but bring back starting QB LaNorris Sellers, who, if you listen to South Carolina fans, is sort of like if Cam Newton was good at football. After a shaky start and a minor injury in 2024, Sellers started looking like a potential future first-rounder in the home stretch of the season and now enters 2025 as a Heisman sleeper looking to lead South Carolina to its first ever playoff berth.

VT returns QB Kyron Drones, who’s looking to finally live up to the hype he earned early in his first season in 2023 after spending most of 2024 very banged up. He’s an exciting player when healthy, and might just be good enough to put the team on his back a few times and take a better team down to the wire. But he’ll have to deal with former five-star sophomore Dylan Stewart, who is just a freak nasty stud muffin off the edge for the Cocks. All in all, these quarterbacks should make this a great thing to rot on your couch to on a Sunday afternoon.

#6 Notre Dame @ #8 Miami: ND -2.5, O/U 49.5 - Sunday 7:30 pm ET ABC

A top ten Catholics v Convicts matchup gets the primetime ABC slot on Sunday, which seems sacrilegious, but Notre Dame uses religion to mask their moral transgressions, so what do they care? $4 million dollar man QB Carson Beck is the new gunslinger for the Canes but spent the offseason rehabbing his UCL, so we’re interested to see how much gun he’ll be slinging. Even if he comes out in his 2023 UGA form, no man is capable of overcoming Mario Cristobal’s decisions in crunch time. Call it beating a dead horse but Cristobal is anemic at clock management and has literally lost Miami games because of it. Until he proves otherwise, we’re going to mention it because it’s hilarious, absurd, and infuriating if you’re a Canes fan or have an IQ above a sixth grader’s. Miami has to replace its entire receiving corps, and they’re hoping Ray Ray Joseph can lead the charge. Luckily, if the passing game falters, RBs Mark Fletcher and Jordan Lyle are back to form one of the nation's best tandems. DC Corey Hetherman comes in from Minnesota after Lance Guidry was fired for allowing Syracuse and Iowa State to score 42 points each in their final two games (both losses). He’s got way more talent to work with, so maybe the defense will cease being a sieve.  DE Rueben Bain Jr. went through another offseason of garnering a ton of hype, but his production of 3.5 sacks last year doesn’t add up. He’s back and is theoretically a terror off the edge, but we’ll wait and see there, and with the other 95% of this Miami team.

Notre Dame was last seen getting blown off the field by Ohio State, which is understandable, but hope springs eternal in South Bend. Irish fans will be the first to tell you that too. And that Rudy is the greatest movie ever created. And that they have the best helmets in college football. And that there’s not a more original, historic stadium in college football than theirs. Except last I checked, the Four Horsemen didn’t play on turf or under the lights? Alright, we’re off the rails here. RB Jeremiyah Love is one of the best backs in the nation which will help new QB CJ Carr ease into the offense. Remember what we mentioned above about the incessant “Ryan Williams is 17” broadcast talk from last year. Well, here’s the first of 500 times you’ll hear this: CJ Carr is former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr’s grandson. How weird is that? Whoa, crazy. How’d Michigan let him get away? Blah Blah Blah. He’s good and has an above-average crop of wideouts to throw to which is not something we’ve been able to say about Notre Dame since…Golden Tate? Marcus Freeman has to replace a lot on his defense but he’s shown us time and time again why he’s the best in the business, so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Notre Dame is favored here, but this is another Week 1 tilt where we wouldn’t be surprised with any result unless the outcome was decided on Mario Cristobal managing the clock appropriately. 

The Other Week 1 Games to Watch

Everyone and the mothers will be watching the games above, but true college football heads know that it’s the games you don’t see coming that often provide us with the absurdity that we all know and love in this sport. Things really kick off on Thursday, starting with #25 Boise State’s trip down to Tampa to take on USF (+6.5). Boise is the favorite to claim the G5 spot in this year’s playoff once again, but USF is on the shortlist of contenders themselves with star QB Byrum Brown and a good amount of talent elsewhere returning after an injury-riddled 2024. Boise returns QB Maddux Madsen as well, but teams from not-the-south traveling to play in the southern summer heat sometimes give us some unexpected results. Speaking of unexpected results, will NC State (-14.5) really lose to ECU again? This time, they match up in Carter Finley on Thursday night after ECU took down the Pack in the Military Bowl last year. Pack QB CJ Bailey is a budding star, but I was also promised we’d have flying cars by now. Or that State would win 10+ games and their first ACC Championship since 1979. Elsewhere on Thursday night, which quietly has a pretty loaded slate, QB Dylan Raolia, Elsewhere on Thursday night, which quietly has a pretty loaded slate, QB Dylan Raolia, who proclaimed God blessed him to look exactly like Patrick Mahomes and that it has nothing to do with the fact he cuts his hair and wears the same stuff as him, looks for a sophomore year breakout as Nebraska and Cincinnati face off in Arrowhead Stadium for some reason., looks for a sophomore year breakout as Nebraska (-6.5) and Cincinnati face off in Arrowhead Stadium for some reason. Huskers coach Matt Rhule had his best seasons in year at Temple and Baylor, but that was years ago so we’ll see if he can bring Nebraska out of the mud for the first time this millennium. This is a fun nightcap as we get the ball rolling in Week 1. 

The headliners on Friday happen simultaneously at 8 pm ET, as Auburn (-2.5) visits Baylor and Georgia Tech (-4.5) heads to face Deion and Colorado. This is a huge spot for Auburn, as Hugh Freeze’s tenure has not at all met expectations while still being surrounded by a bunch of Hugh Freezedness, but now has the most talent they’ve had yet in this era. After two years of horrid QB play, former five-star Jackson Arnold comes in from Oklahoma, and he’ll have an unbelievable duo of receivers to throw to in Cam Coleman and GT transfer Eric Singleton Jr. - both of whom may be future stars in the NFL. But playing Baylor on the road may be a tall task for a lot of teams this year - the Bears went 6-0 in their final six regular season games after turning things over to QB Sawyer Robinson, and return a bunch of other talent as well. Much like Auburn, this squad is looking to take the next step and turn itself into a playoff contender, which should make this one fun and intense. Out in Boulder, Deion named Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter the QB over freshman Julian Sayin. As you could imagine, Colorado is loaded with transfers so how they look is anyone’s guess but this is Deion’s first time coaching at this level without his sons or Travis Hunter. Georgia Tech’s offensive game plan is going to be: run with QB Haynes King, handoff to RB Jamal Haynes, and repeat until someone dislocates a shoulder. That philosophy led them to seven wins last year, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it? Well, aside from the shoulder.

On Saturday night, make sure you get a screen to Utah (-5.5) heading to the Rose Bowl to take on UCLA. Utes QB Cam Rising finally qualified for an AARP membership, so the offense is now led by New Mexico transfer Devon Dampier, who could be the breakout star in the Big 12 this year. UCLA of course brought in QB Nico Iamaleava from Tennessee to help fix an offense that ranked 107th in passing last year. New OC Tino Sunseri comes in from Indiana - replacing Eric Bienemy - after their electric playoff run, and he’s a name to watch in future head coach searches. Speaking of Tennessee, they head to Atlanta for a noon kick on Saturday to face Syracuse (+13.5). There are new faces abound on both sidelines, especially at QB with former App State by way of UCLA for 3 seconds, Joey Aguilar replacing Nico, and Notre Dame cult hero Steve Angeli replacing Kyle McCord for the Orange. This should get the second screen treatment opposite the Texas-Ohio State game. Last but certainly not least, we have TCU (-3) heading to Chapel Hill to take on Jordon Hudson and UNC on Monday night. Seriously, if you’re betting on this game please contact us with your rationale if it’s other than “idk, I’m bored”. We’re going to be intently focused on who wins in the trenches and how TCU responds to pressure from the backers on 3rd and long. Lmao as if. Nothing matters in this game except the outcome because it’ll be an indictment on Bill Belichick. UNC has two supposed cupcakes in Charlotte and Richmond after this, so whatever happens here will provide us three weeks of talking points before they head to UCF at the end of September. UNC boosters stuck their neck out to bring in the oldest coach in college football, and they’re about to get what they so desperately desire. Our attention.

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OnlyRans

Wyoming (0-0) @ Akron (0-0): WYO -5.5, O/U 48.5 - Thursday 7:00 pm ET ESPN+

Pick Wyoming -5.5: For my first official OnlyRans pick of the 2025 College Football season, I give you an Akron game! Not that it would’ve mattered anyway, but Akron is disqualified from making a bowl game this year because its Academic Progress Rate (APR) was below NCAA standards. Also, their two-deep is littered with freshmen, and they lose practice time because of the ban. Alright, enough about Akron academics, or the lack thereof.

Mississippi State (0-0) @ Southern Miss (0-0): MSU -13.5, O/U 61.5 - Saturday 12:00 pm ET ESPN

Pick Southern Miss +13.5: I would love it if this got up to 14 points, but I still like Southern Miss here. First, this game is in Hattiesburg, and Mississippi State lost to Toledo at home last year. Second, Southern Miss hired Charles Huff from Marshall, who won the Sun Belt last year. Huff brought with him almost his entire Marshall roster, including QB Braylon Braxton, and turned over 80 players from a horrendous Southern Miss team last year. I don’t know if Southern Miss can win, but they can keep it close, at home, with a reinvigorated fanbase in Huff’s debut. 

South Dakota (0-0) @ #22 Iowa State (1-0): ISU -15, O/U 47.5 - Saturday 3:30 pm ET FOX

North Dakota (0-0) @ #17 Kansas State (0-0): KSU -25.5, O/U 55.5 - Saturday 7:00 pm ET ESPN+

Pick the Dakotas to cover: Correlation does not equal causation, but in 2024 - the first year with the west coast teams - Big 10 schools were 8-20 when they had to travel across 2+ time zones. That pales in comparison to the 6-hour time difference between Dublin and the Central Time Zone which is the same as New York and Honolulu. No idea why Iowa State and Kansas State decided to play the week after instead of taking a bye but that’s not my problem. Iowa State brings in South Dakota which is the preseason #3 FCS team, while North Dakota is a fringe Top 25. 

Alabama -13.5: FSU is coming off a 2-10 season, and I’m supposed to believe they’ll hang with Bama?

South Carolina -8: Quasi-home game for South Carolina in Atlanta. LaNorris Sellers against a Virginia Tech defense that’s returning 3 starters? Hammer.

LSU +3.5: Love that this is over 3 points & dem tiguhs ain’t afraid of no Death Valley. It’s a complete toss-up and Vegas is saying these teams are even on a neutral field, so give me the points.

Tate’s Great Picks

#25 Boise State (0-0) @ USF (0-0): Boise -6.5, O/U 62.5 - Thursday 5:30 pm ET ESPN

Pick USF +6.5: This line opened at Boise -9.5 and has dropped pretty significantly in recent weeks as people have started to remember that USF was pretty good the past couple of years until the entire team was hurt down the stretch in 2024. Boise will be trying to figure out what life is like after Ashton Jeanty, and they’ll be doing so in the August Tampa heat and humidity. I’m taking the Bulls and will be sprinkling a little bit on the ML here as well.

Syracuse (0-0) vs #24 Tennessee (0-0): Tennessee -14, O/U 50.5 - Saturday 12:00 pm ET ABC

Pick Syracuse +14: Tennessee lost a good amount of talent from last year’s team and has had a bit of a tumultuous offseason between Nico Iamaleava’s departure and Boo Carter’s (and his mom’s) shenanigans. New UT QB Joey Aguilar has a habit of making dumbfounding decisions and there are major questions at receiver. I’m betting on a fiery Fran Brown squad keeping this one interesting.

#8 Alabama (0-0) @ Florida State (0-0): Alabama -13.5, O/U 50.5 - Saturday 3:30 pm ET ABC

Pick Alabama -13.5: First of all - love that you can get this at -13.5 rather than at -14. I don’t know how else to say this other than I think Bama is about to put belt to ass on this new-look FSU team. They’re just way, way better.

UT Martin (0-0) @ Oklahoma State (0-0): OSU -19.5, O/U 55.5 - Saturday 7:30 pm ET ESPN+

Pick OSU -19.5: I had to check this like three times to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating, and yes, Oklahoma State is only favored by 19.5 at home against an FCS team. The Pokes might be terrible this year but I will be hammering this.

#6 Notre Dame @ #8 Miami: ND -2.5, O/U 49.5 - Sunday 7:30 pm ET ABC

Pick ND -2.5: Notre Dame brings back a good amount of talent all over the field while Miami replaces a ton, including #1 overall pick Cam Ward. Carson Beck steps in after missing all of spring practice recovering from elbow surgery and has to go up against one of the best secondaries in the sport, without Miami’s top 6 leading receivers from last year. I think the Miami offense gets off to a slow start, has a couple of turnovers, and gets worn down by Jeremiyah Love and the Irish ground-and-pound offense.

Wake Forest & Georgia

Kennesaw State @ Wake Forest: Wake -17.5, O/U 51.5 - Friday 7:00 pm ET ACCN

Damn, it feels good to be writing about Deacs football again. Maybe it’s the hope, maybe it’s the sheer unknown of this team, or maybe it’s the fact they haven’t hurt me…yet. I’ve written about the Deacs in numerous offseason editions, so I’ll spare the “you should know about Demond Claiborne” talk for now.

The big news of the past week is that senior Robby Ashford was officially named the starting QB over Charlotte transfer Deshawn Purdie. Ashford had previous stops at South Carolina, Oregon, and Auburn, and Jake Dickert said in a press conference that he protected the ball better throughout the fall. In other words, they’re going to run the ball down teams' throats with Claiborne and Ashford, and they need a QB who is not going to lose us the game. I’ll be watching how the completely revamped OL looks, especially at the tackle position where Melvin Siani (Temple) and Fa’alli Fa’amoe (Washington State) have drawn rave reviews out of fall camp. I’ll also be looking at the wideouts as Carlos Hernandez (Washington State) is a safe bet to lead the team in receiving while I’d love to see production out of Clawson holdover Micah Mays Jr. The defensive line is almost entirely new, but my breakout pick is DE Nuer Gatkuoth (Colorado State). The linebackers are solid with know entities Dylan Hazen and Quincy Bryant back, while Davaughn Patterson and Rushaun Tongue are set to be household names by the end of the month (at least in Winston-Salem). I think I started this by saying I wasn’t going to do a full preview and then listed off at least 10 players to watch. c'est la vie. 

Now for a quick history lesson on the Kennesaw State Owls. They’re in Conference USA and came up to FBS in 2022, only seven years after the program’s inception. Running a triple option offense, head coach Brian Bohanon built the Owls into an FCS force before a few rough years after the FBS jump which is expected. Bohanon - who is a godfather figure at Kennesaw - was fired after last year’s 2-10 record and the fanbase is pissed. Jerry Mack is the new head ball coach and brings in OC Mitch Militello and DC Marc Mattioli. I’m only mentioning that because there’s way too much alliteration going on there. Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but we have no idea what to expect out of the Owls other than this game better be over by halftime so I can have a stress-free night watching Auburn, Colorado, and Nebraska. Go Deacs, it’s great to be back.

Marshall @ #5 Georgia: UGA -39.5, O/U 55.5 - Saturday 3:30 pm ET ESPN

We’ve got Marshall and Austin Peay for our first two games, so I’ll be honest, I’m not going to spend a ton of time previewing and breaking down Dawgs games until we head to Knoxville. A quick preview of our opponent this week: The one thing we know about Marshall is that we know absolutely nothing about Marshall. After a pretty rocky breakup between the school and former coach Charles Huff, who took 25 players with him to Southern Miss this offseason, the Thundering Herd signed sixty-two new players earlier this year. We have no idea who is going to be playing at basically any position (other than QB Zion Turner, who was pretty good at Jacksonville State last year), what type of offense and defense they are going to be running, or where babies come from. Seriously, where do babies even come from?

Anyway, I’m excited to see our entire team as I always am on opening weekend, but there have been a few key stories everyone’s been tracking throughout fall camp that I’ll be looking to follow on Saturday.

Who gets the start at corner and right guard?

The two most intriguing position battles during camp were at these two spots. At the corner spot opposite of Daylen Everette, junior Daniel Harris and redshirt freshman Ellis Robinson IV have been in an intense competition with each other to earn the Week 1 starting spot. Robinson was the #1 overall player in the country coming out of high school (according to ESPN, at least) and was known back in those days as the only guy that could ever cover Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith when they’d go up against each other - pretty high praise! But Daniel Harris, despite some growing pains, was mostly really good -especially down the stretch - last year, and the word is that they’ve both been fantastic in camp. This is the type of position battle you like to hear about - two super talented guys playing too well to really separate themselves from the other. But it’ll be interesting to see who is announced as the starter and takes the first snap on Saturday.

Similarly, arguably the most exciting news out of camp was that true freshman Juan Gaston is an absolute manchild on the offensive line. He’s 6’7, 350ish and may very well be the first true freshman to start on the OL for Georgia since Cade Mays back in 2018 (who only did so because of injury). It’s possible Kirby gives the starting nod to an older guy in a game like this, but if we go ahead and announce Gaston the starter, that could be an even further sign that we’ve found ourselves a freak of nature up front.

Receivers and Running Backs go brrrrr

If there’s one thing we all remember about the 2024 team for the rest of our lives, it may be the visual of our misfit group of receivers last year dropping ball after ball after ball. But the Dawgs have Colbie Young back, who missed the last 10 games of the season last year, and added the big Noah Thomas and the electric Zach Branch from the transfer portal. With just a couple of additions and a couple of key returnees of guys who didn’t get to play much last year (including London Humphries who looked good but then got Mono and accidentally lost like 20 pounds mid-season), this group all of a sudden looks like it could be one of the best units on the team. I’m intrigued to see what types of groupings we get on the field at once, and how a team like Marshall even attempts to cover something like a Colbie Young, Noah Thomas, and Zach Branch pairing. They’re not just good, but they’re a pretty unique mix of size and speed across the board.

At running back, while we know Nate Frazier is RB1, I’m intrigued by all of the camp hype we’ve been hearing about sophomore Chauncey Bowens and freshman Bo Walker. Games against completely overmatched opponents aren’t always great measuring sticks for running backs in particular, but I’m still excited to see these guys tote the rock.

Gunna Wunna and the QBs

Gunner is the guy, and while I’m obviously excited to see how he looks, I’m more excited for these early season opportunities to see the younger guys. The backup will be second-year Ryan Puglisi, who by all accounts has taken a big step forward in camp this year. Behind him is true freshman Ryan Montgomery, who according to people that have seen multiple practices, is the most ready-to-go freshman we’ve had since Jake Fromm. Excited to see those guys get some run here over the next couple of weeks.

Where in the World Are We?

Rand: I’ve been gallivanting around California all week and by the time you read this, I’ll be on my way to San Jose from Lake Tahoe to hop on a redeye and make it to Winston in time to tailgate. I’ll spend the remainder of my weekend frying my brain like a screaming kid on an airplane whose only remedy is CoComelon on an iPad.   

Tate: Still spending time in Atlanta after my summer of madness, I’ll be at my good friend Cole’s dog’s first birthday party for the games on Saturday. Because How Bout ‘Em.

Have a fantastic Week 1 and Labor Day weekend. We’ll see you on the other side.

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Rand & Tate met a few years ago through a mutual friend who went to college with Rand and high school with Tate. Tate went to Georgia and has spent the last few years collecting championship rings while traveling to watch the Dawgs. Rand went to known CFB powerhouse Wake Forest, and currently pays rent in Charlotte, but is rarely found there with all the work & CFB travel he does.