8:00 AM ET Anthony OlivieriESPN.com WHEN DAN LANNING walks out onto the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where his Oregon Ducks will face Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, it’ll be hard to forget from where he came: a $1,200-a-month job under Nick Saban just seven years ago. Lanning remembers the eyebrows that were raised when

1:30 AM ET PITTSBURGH — Finally, blessedly, the Backyard Brawl returned to college football on Thursday night. Fans saw a game to tell their grandkids about, but were also reminded of the emotion, hatred and yes — profanity-laced chants — that go hand-in-hand with this lost rivalry. Eleven years separated the most recent matchup between

8:30 AM ET Jeff Thorne was ready to drive 13½ hours from Illinois to New Jersey in January to see a friend, until his son, Payton, took the wheel. Riding shotgun, Jeff, a successful Division III coach at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, was weighing two potential leaps to the Division I level: a

7:30 AM ET ESPN staff After an offseason filled with coaching feuds and conference realignment, the first full slate of college football is here. The Week 1 schedule is filled with top matchups, from the defending champions going against their former defensive coordinator to a top-five showdown in Columbus, Ohio. The Backyard Brawl is officially

6:43 PM ET Vanderbilt freshmen Daniel Martin and Maurice Edwards are no longer with the program and are expected to enter the transfer portal. Commodores coach Clark Lea didn’t specify the reason for the players’ departures, but said in a statement that it’s his responsibility to ensure “a strong ecosystem” exists around the program. Neither

8:13 AM ET Pete ThamelESPN The Big 12 plans to engage in discussions with Fox and ESPN about the league’s next television contract, the conference announced Wednesday. The conference said in a release that it would “be entering into discussions with its multi-media partners to explore an accelerated extension of its current agreements.” Sources had

7:30 AM ET Week Zero and the Bottom 10 are a marriage made in confusing, loser heaven. Just where did Nebraska land after their Big Ten opening loss to Northwestern? And where do the annual Bottom 10 powerhouses rank in the preseason standings? Inspirational thought of the week: I can’t say that I’m sorryFor the

4:31 PM ET Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed senior Spencer Petras will start Saturday in the Hawkeyes‘ season opener against South Dakota State. Petras and junior Alex Padilla both received snaps during spring practice and fall camp. “It’s a long evaluation and we evaluate everything to our guys, starting in January,” Ferentz said Tuesday. “Obviously

Aug 29, 2022 Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas — Max Duggan has started 29 games as TCU’s quarterback, and Chandler Morris had 531 yards of total offense in his only full game last fall. New Horned Frogs coach Sonny Dykes still hasn’t said which of them will take the first snap in the season opener

7:00 AM ET College football kicks into high gear this week, but the action at sportsbooks has been piling up for months. John Murray, executive director of the SuperBook, said after two seasons hampered by COVID-19, the betting handle on college football has returned to pre-pandemic levels at his books. “The public action is back,”