Florida at Utah tops Thursday’s college football television schedule
After the so-called Week 0, Thursday night kicks off the official first full weekend of the college football season.
It’s a limited schedule, but here are three games worth watching:
Florida at Utah: ESPN has the 8 p.m. kickoff for this rematch in Salt Lake City. Florida beat the Utes 29-26 last season in Billy Napier’s debut as Gators coach. That game was in Gainesville. Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson ran for 106 yards and three touchdowns. He’s now a member of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.
Utah rebounded for a 10-4 season. Behind quarterback Cam Rising, the Utes upset USC 47-24 in the Pac-12 championship game. Rising suffered a torn ACL in Utah’s 35-21 loss to Penn State in the Rose Bowl. His status for Thursday night is uncertain. He’s listed as first-team on Utah’s depth chart. He’s also considered a game-day decision.
As of Wednesday, Utah was a four-point favorite.
Nebraska at Minnesota: Fox has the 8 p.m. telecast. It’s the debut for Nebraska coach Matt Rhule. A turnaround expert, Ruhle was 2-10 his first season at Temple, then 10-4 and 10-3 his last two. He was 1-11 in 2017, his first season at Baylor. He was 11-3 in 2019, his last before moving on to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. The same trend did not materialize there, however.
Minnesota was 9-4 last season under Coach P.J. Fleck. The Golden Gophers were 5-4 in the Big Ten. A berth in the Big Ten title game was ruined by a 13-10 loss to Iowa. Minnesota did beat Syracuse 28-20 in the Pinstripe Bowl.
As of Wednesday, Minnesota was a seven-point favorite.
Virginia’s explosive amd unpredictable 2021 offense — schemed by Robert Anae and run by Brennan Armstrong — was more like basketball motion than football. NC State hopes those two, reunited, can recapture that magic.https://t.co/1FEwbCZ82y
— Luke DeCock (@LukeDeCock) August 21, 2023
North Carolina State at Connecticut: The CBS Sports Network has the 7:30 p.m. kickoff. With Devin Leary at Kentucky, North Carolina State has a new quarterback. Virginia transfer Brennan Armstrong takes over for the Wolfpack. He threw for 4,449 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2021 for the Cavaliers. He slipped to 2,210 yards last season.
Jim Mora Jr. received national coach of the year consideration in 2022. His Huskies went 6-7, including a berth in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. The year before under Randy Edsall, UConn was 1-11. Mora was 46-30 in six seasons at UCLA before being fired after the 2017 campaign.
As of Wednesday, North Carolina State was a 14-point favorite.
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