Week 0 College Football Playlist

Well, we made it. It is Week 0 and it is time to satisfy the hunger that has been brewing for the last seven and a half months. The only problem is, I know a lot of you are not super hyped for Nebraska and Northwestern, or Nevada and New Mexico St. If you’re like me you’ll watch it because “hey it’s football” but I would not argue with someone that says they have no interest. If you are in that group or if you’re like me as well and the appetizer this weekend won’t be enough to get you to the main course next week; you’re going to need some bread to hold you over. Lucky for you, I over the last two summers (primarily late July and August) have been impatient and started to watch old games/seasons. These rewatches have primarily consisted of Notre Dame (duh) and Colt’s games considering it’s me. I’ve also been able to slide in some college classics unrelated to the Irish. I’ve compiled a list of seasons/games that are accessible easily through youtube or other online mediums, that may be just what you need to get you to September 3rd.

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2010 Season

The first few on this list are full seasons. You probably won’t have time to watch all of these games but I think these seasons as a whole give good context while also providing good individual games to select from. The last time we had a season with a new coach before this 2022 season was 2010. Depending on your age this may or may not feel like yesterday. For me, it feels like quite some time ago, but regardless I think both views can lose sight of just how different things were the last time this program went through a change like this. 2010 was a rollercoaster, to say the least. If you don’t want to watch Notre Dame lose, I get that. There are wins like Utah, USC, and Miami that are pretty satisfying to watch. But going through the heartbreakers like Michigan St, Michigan, Navy, and Tulsa give you good perspective heading into a season with a new Head Coach. The level of concern for the 2022 season before and after watching 2010 is night and day. It is a credit to what Brian Kelly did for this program and gives insight into just how much hope there is in Marcus Freeman and what he can do. If you’re looking for just pure enjoyment a lot of these games may not be for you, but I think it’s a very interesting viewing heading into 2022.

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2012 Season

As part of this year’s off-season agenda, I decided to go through Brian Kelly’s first few seasons. Being that this year will be Marcus Freeman’s first, I thought it would give valuable insight to watch the beginning of the previous regime. This will be the only other full season I’ll recommend, seeing as we don’t have a whole lot of time before the season starts. This season as a whole offered a lot of exciting endings to watch. Even though a lot of the games were stressful, they were entertaining and still kept me on the edge of my seat 10 years later even knowing the outcome. If I had to recommend specific games I would say Oklahoma and Stanford. Even though most of the games in this season came down to the wire, quarters 1-3 in a lot of these games were offensive snoozers. That was another interesting thing, seeing how badly Notre Dame could play offensively and still pull out the win. Yes, I did try to rewatch the Alabama game I could not get past the first quarter. With the new Manti Te’o documentary (another recommendation if you haven’t seen it) the intrigue surrounding this season can be explored in many different ways.

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2008 #1 Texas vs #7 Texas Tech

I found myself watching games from before my high school years this summer due to a random wave of nostalgia for this period. I specifically remember this day very vividly because I finished this game at my friend’s house after our football team’s banquet. I wanted Texas Tech to win so badly and when Michael Crabtree broke that tackle and tightroped down the sideline into the end zone I lost my mind. Then the chaos with the fans rushing and tearing down the goalpost, only to be pushed back for one final kickoff. It was college football at its finest. I had also forgotten that Texas Tech blew a massive lead and watching Texas fight back ahead, only to lose it was quite enjoyable.

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2006 #1 USC vs #2 Texas

Is there any better way to celebrate the start of college football season than by watching one of the greatest (argued by many to be the greatest) college football games of all time? I’d argue no. This game speaks for itself and I highly recommend giving it a rewatch if you have not already. With all the changes going on in college football going back to that game, to a time like that, was pretty refreshing. Everything about this screams the mid-2000s BCS era. The height of the USC dynasty, and a reality that seems so far away now.

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2021 #14 Notre Dame vs Virginia Tech

I found it useful to go back to last season to refresh myself on some things. Like I said I am not going to recommend any other full seasons so if I had to choose a key game to go back and watch it would be Virginia Tech. This is primarily to give us a refresher on Tyler Buchner before he becomes the full-time starter. With very little practice tape and no spring game, this is the best look we have at his in-game situation. Granted he makes some freshman mistakes in this game but I believe there is a good amount of positive that can be taken as well.

I hope this does the job for you. If you’re an NFL fan you can always go back to some classics from your pro team. I for one have watched a lot of Manning, and Luck era games, and needless to say I miss it.