College football Week 2: ACC, Big 12 kick off and Notre Dame plays its first conference game

The ACC and Big 12 open their modified 2020 schedules this week.

Welcome to Before The Snap, For The Win’s college football show where we’ll break down the sport’s trending storylines, examine each week’s biggest matchups and track the College Football Playoff and Heisman Trophy races.

Week 1 of the 2020 college football season is in the books, but not every team — of the teams playing this fall, of course — has taken the field yet. So this episode of Before The Snap is a different kind of preview as we enter Week 2 and the Power 5 conferences begin their modified schedules.

We’ll break down a variety of things to keep in mind this season that are strictly football, as well as related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and look ahead to the upcoming week.

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The ACC and Big 12 kick off their schedules this week, while the SEC’s start date remains September 26.

Miami takes on UAB on Thursday, but after that, it will almost feel like a regular college football Saturday with so many games throughout the day, including No. 1 Clemson’s opener against Wake Forest (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) and No. 10 Notre Dame’s ACC debut against Duke (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC).

Because of the health risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic, the conferences that are playing football this fall have modified their schedules beyond the delayed start dates. The ACC will play an 11-game schedule that allows for one nonconference game, while the Big 12 is playing a 10-game schedule, also with one nonconference matchup.

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