The first full day of the 2020 season
MWC joins the fray this week, plus the Big Ten
College football Saturdays this season have mostly been over by around midnight Eastern. Maybe 12:30 a.m.
West of Texas, the only FBS program that has been up and running is BYU in Provo, Utah.
That comes to end this weekend with the kickoff of the Mountain West season. The conference postponed fall football Aug. 10, the day before the Big Ten and Pac-12 made similar decisions.
The Mountain West reversed course and decided not long after those Power Five conferences to play an abbreviated season. The Big Ten starting this weekend has drawn the headlines, but the Mountain West will extend the football-watching day into Sunday for fans East of the Mississippi.
The marquee matchups on opening weekend include Mountain West favorite and defending champion Boise State hosting Utah State. Wyoming visits Nevada in a matchup of teams picked to finish second in their respective divisions. Both of those games kickoff at 5 p.m. MT.
The late show includes UNLV at San Diego State, the favorites to win the West Division, and Air Force at San Jose State, both kicking off at 8:30 p.m. MT. Who needs sleep? BEST GAME: No. 17 Iowa State at No. 6 Oklahoma State
Huge game in the Big 12. The Cowboys (3-0) are the only team in the conference with an overall unbeaten record, but they haven’t payed in a while because of a COVID-19 postponement by Baylor last week.
The Cyclones (3-1) have gotten off to the most impressive start in the Big 12, beating TCU, Oklahoma and Texas Tech — after losing a nonconference game to Louisiana-Lafayette.
Oklahoma State should have quarterback
Spencer Sanders (ankle) available to boost its offense.
The game matches two of the best running backs in the conference in Iowa State’s Breece Hall, who leads the Big 12 in rushing, and Oklahoma State All-American Chuba Hubbard.
HEISMAN WATCH: Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
The fifth-ranked Buckeyes open their season at home against Nebraska. Fields was one of the preseason Heisman frontrunners, but then the season went sideways.
Fields will try to make up for lost time as Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, BYU’s Zach Wilson and Alabama’s Mac Jones have had a month’s head start in the Heisman race.
This has a chance to be a grand opening for Fields and the Buckeyes. They are 26-point favorites against the Cornhuskers. Ohio State has won five straight in the series and four of them have been huge blowouts, with the Buckeyes scoring 53 points per game.
NUMBERS TO KNOW 12.3 —
Points allowed per game by No. 9 Cincinnati, tops in the American Athletic Conference. The Bearcats play at No. 16 SMU, which is averaging 42.6 points per game, second in the conference.
13 — No. 2 Alabama’s winning streak against Tennessee. The Tide has won the last four by an average of 34 points.
20.32 — Yards per catch last year by Minnesota receiver Rashod Bateman. The All-American originally opted out of the season, but when the Big Ten came back so did he. The 21st-ranked Gophers host No. 18 Michigan.
1993 — The last time North Carolina State and North Carolina played against each other with both teams ranked. The Tar Heels won that game 35-14. The 23rd-ranked Wolfpack visits No. 14 North Carolina.
ARMY-NAVY MOVED: The Army-Navy football game in December has been moved from Philadelphia to West Point because of attendance limits placed on outdoor events in Pennsylvania.
By playing the game on Army’s home field in New York, the entire Brigade of Midshipmen and Corps of Cadets will be able to attend.
The game is scheduled for Dec. 12. This will be the first time the Army-Navy game will be played at a home site since Army hosted the event in 1943 during World War II.
Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk called West Point a “safe haven” for the Brigade and the Corps of Cadets at a time when “medical conditions and protocols dictate the environment in which we live.”
“History will repeat itself as we stage this cherished tradition on Academy grounds as was the case dating back to World War II,” Gladchuk said Friday.
Philadelphia has long been home for the event, with few exceptions.
Friday’s game
No. 14 WISCONSIN 45, ILLINOIS 7: In Madison, Wis., Graham Mertz threw five touchdown passes to match the Wisconsin record in a commanding first career start and the Badgers beat Illinois to open the pandemic-delayed Big Ten football season.
Mertz set a school record for completion percentage on 20-of-21 passing, finishing with 248 yards. The lone incompletion was a pass that running back Garret Groshek dropped midway through the third quarter.
The redshirt freshman quarterback delivered a buzzworthy performance during the Big Ten’s long-awaited opening night. The Big Ten announced Aug. 11 that it would postpone all fall sports until the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, then reversed itself Sept. 16 by saying it would begin the season in mid-October.
Wisconsin had cutouts in the stands and piped-in crowd noise Friday as it began its nine-game schedule.
But his prime-time outburst still earned raves on social media from a wide range of players including Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and former Wisconsin star J.J. Watt.