Saturday Meal Plan: Week 1
The Saturday Meal Plan is a helpful guide put together for you to maximize the results of your college football diet. Just enough to leave you feeling full, but not so much you spend your entire Sunday in the bathroom.
The menu for this opening Saturday features a couple solid games for dinner, but to be honest, the breakfast and lunch slates are a bit light. Still, it's the first Saturday of the season.
If you'd been starving in the desert for the last seven months you'd eat whatever somebody put in front of you once you got out.
BREAKFAST
Notre Dame vs. Navy - CBS 9am ET
Saturday opens a bit earlier than usual tomorrow, as Notre Dame and Navy look to continue their rivalry, and will be doing so in Ireland this season. Which means we'll get to see if Brian Kelly gets into the spirit and turns green rather than purple on the sideline.
You can also watch this game streaming live online at CBSSports.com. We'll have a pre-game show with Dennis Dodd live from Dublin, along with a halftime and post-game show featuring Gregg Doyel in Columbus and Bryan Fischer in Dallas.
Syracuse vs. Northwestern - ESPN2 Noon ET
The Journalism Bowl! Yes, the studio analysts, play-by-play announcers and beat reporters of tomorrow will meet on the gridiron and fight to see who realizes their dreams of being a professional athlete are over first.
Penn State vs. Ohio - ESPN Noon ET
What had to be the longest offseason in the history of Penn State football finally comes to an end, and it will be interesting to see what the Nittany Lions actually have left at this point. Ohio is no pushover, so this one could be pretty suspenseful.
Illinois vs. Western Michigan - ESPNU Noon ET
It wouldn't be the first Saturday of the season if we didn't have a couple Big Ten/MAC matchups for you to sample in the morning. The Tim Beckman Era begins in Champaign, and just like Ohio in State College, Western Michigan is capable of shocking some people.
LUNCH
#17 Nebraska vs. Southern Miss - ABC/ESPN2 3:30pm ET
This game may not look like much, but the last time Southern Miss shared a field with the Cornhuskers it was the Golden Eagles who emerged victorious with a 21-17 win in 2004. Of course, beating Nebraska in a home opener is another matter.
#23 Florida vs. Bowling Green - ESPN 3:30pm ET
The biggest problem Florida has had the last few seasons since Tim Tebow left to become the focal point of ESPN programming has been its quarterbacks. So how does Will Muschamp plan on solving this problem in his second season in Gainesville? Why he's going to rotate his quarterbacks of course! This could be fun.
Boston College vs Miami - ABC/ESPN2 3:30pm ET
This game has the potential to be such a trainwreck that Bravo is considering running a Watch What Happens Live after it ends. I hear Luther Campbell will be a guest!
Northern Illinois vs. Iowa - ESPNU 3:30pm ET
This game will be played at Soldier Field in Chicago, and if you've ever seen a football game played at Soldier Field and the condition of the turf in the stadium, then you know Iowa running backs won't be getting a second of sleep on Friday night.
DINNER
#3 LSU vs. North Texas - ESPNU 7pm ET
There was a chance that this game would be postponed thanks to Hurricane Isaac, but unfortunately for North Texas it didn't happen. This shouldn't be a game in which LSU misses Tyrann Mathieu all that much.
#14 Clemson vs. Auburn - ESPN 7pm ET
The last time we got a taste of Clemson the Tigers were getting 70 points put up against them. They're going to want to get that taste of their mouths and ours, and they'll try to do so with Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and a ton of points. This game has a chance to be the most entertaining of Saturday's slate.
#2 Alabama vs. #8 Michigan - ABC 8pm ET
Our special this week takes place down in Arlington where Nick Saban and his defense continue their mission to destroy everything that's fun in college football. The target this week? Denard Robinson.
LATE NIGHT SNACK
#5 Oregon vs. Arkansas State - ESPN 10:30pm ET
The Oregon offense against a team coached by Gus Malzahn? Oh the points there will be. This game might last six hours.
Arizona vs. Toledo - ESPNU 10:30pm ET
Rich Rodriguez's debut at Arizona isn't a bad option if you feel the need to come up for air while watching Oregon.
