Though the college football season does not officially start for another three weeks, it seems like it has been going on for a while now.
Name, image and likeness ruled the news for much of the off-season before College Football Playoff expansion talk took over the conversation for a little while in June. Then the NIL took back the spotlight for a few weeks after the NCAA changed its bylaws, allowing student-athletes to begin receiving compensation.
However, the NIL quickly became old news when word leaked on July 21 that Oklahoma and Texas were going to leave the Big 12 and join the SEC, which officially happened last week.
So, what is going to happen this week?
Who knows!
We do not know what is going to happen early in the week. But the good news is we will at least be able to talk about actual football by the end of the week.
By Friday, Clemson and most of the college football teams will have started fall camp. Obviously, conference realignment talk, NIL and CFP expansion will not totally go away, but at least some on-the-field talk will be sprinkled in between all the off the field news.
Though those things are important to follow and to watch for, what will be happening on the field is also important, especially at Clemson where in four weeks the Tigers will be opening the season at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte against Georgia.
The Tigers have a lot of work to get done in those four weeks before their likely top 5 matchup.
This will be perhaps the biggest season opener in the history of Clemson Football. The game will have CFP implications riding on it, as the winner definitely grabs an early favor.
But before we can really talk about any of that, we have to first focus on what is going to take place in camp.
The No. 1 goal for Clemson is to keep quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei healthy. With Taisun Phommachanh still recovering for a torn Achilles in the Spring Game, the Tigers still do not know who the backup quarterback will be.
Speaking of health, COVID-19 will be likely be something to watch, as well. Head coach Dabo Swinney told us, at his media outing on July 20, he was not sure what percentage of his players have been fully vaccinated and he will have a better idea once camp begins.
COVID-19, especially with the new variant going around, has been a big topic since NFL camps began last week. Several players, who have not been vaccinated, have had to sit out of practice due to positive tests and contact tracing. It has coaches concerned that unvaccinated players could hurt their teams and cost them a game or two if they are not vaccinated during the regular season.
Back on the field, the Tigers have to worry about who will be the starting running back, who will start at left tackle and right tackle, will Justyn Ross be totally cleared to play and can the secondary rebound after Ohio State’s Justin Fields threw for a record six touchdowns in the Sugar Bowl last January.
It is going to be nice to talk about what is actually happening on the field instead of all the news off of it.
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