College football is the ultimate sporting temptress, seducing us each summer, after the languid vacation season, with an extended, frenzied opening week of top-25 collisions, riveting debuts and sneaky-good fare.
So, after the television networks finished maneuvering the schedule to maximize Thursday-Monday ratings, an idea began to germinate. What if I traversed the South, the sport’s heart and soul, for #5GamesIn5Days?
No flights, mind you. Too pricey on a holiday weekend and too unreliable anytime. Just a rental car with — God bless technology — SiriusXM radio for yet more college football.
Two people had to approve.
“Do it!” my wife said.
“Do it!” my boss said.
And so I did.
Five days, five games, four states, 1,316 miles, two celebrity coaching debuts and untold volumes of adrenaline.
Norfolk State University Head Football Coach Michael Vick on the side lines before tonights kick off. Making his coaching debut in a game against Towson in Norfolk, Virginia, Aug. 28, 2025. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot)
Day 1: Norfolk
Patience as an athlete. Patience as a dad. Michael Vick is quite accustomed to one of life’s great virtues.
But patience as a coach? As the coach of a modestly resourced, floundering college football program?
That’s a different skillset, and Vick knew it when he decided last winter to start his coaching journey as Norfolk State’s big whistle. But little could he have imagined how quickly and often the Spartans would test him in Thursday’s season opener against Towson in front of a home crowd itching to party.
More than 19,000 strong, the fans never had reason to cut loose. The Tigers scored on their first three possessions and pitched a shutout for more than three quarters en route to a 27-7 victory.
“A lot of room to grow — for everybody,” Vick said.
No question.
In the first quarter, a Kamren Reese hold erased an 80-yard Jason Wonodi kickoff. Dyral McMillan’s second-quarter hold nullified a 13-yard touchdown pass from Otto Kuhns to Taron Biles-Walker.
NSU rushed for a meager 39 yards, one fourth of last season’s average, and, after drawing within 13-7 early in the fourth quarter, yielded touchdowns on two of Towson’s final three series. Vick even acknowledged that he failed to understand a nuanced injury timeout rule.
But throughout the proceedings, Vick never broke character. From the moment he jogged onto the field with the Spartans prior to kickoff until he met with reporters nearly four hours later, he was typically understated.
There was no hyping the crowd or pronounced scoldings of players. Arms often crossed, he paced the sideline, listening and talking on his headset.
Why, the state troopers serving as part of his security detail smiled more broadly than Vick as the opening kickoff approached.
“It felt natural,” Vick said. “… Outside of the beginning of the game, having some jitters and not knowing what to expect, once we kicked the ball off, everything settled down.”
Vick’s postgame remarks to the Spartans were equally stoic. He gathered them in the gym bleachers of the Gill Health and PE Building and quietly explained the importance of playing all four quarters and finishing the season stronger than they started.
There were no histrionics or fireworks, and after completing his talk, Vick summoned them from the bleachers and onto the court for a brief prayer.
“They’re a little distraught in that locker room,” Vick said. “They’re a little upset, but they’ve got to let this one sting.”
As a former college and NFL star starting his coaching path at an HBCU, Vick is often compared to Eddie George and Deion Sanders, whose first jobs were at Tennessee State and Jackson State, respectively.
When we spoke this spring about Vick, George recalled Tennessee State losing the first four games of his inaugural season. Whether Vick’s 2025 is as trying as George’s 2022 remains to be seen, but George’s words ring as sage advice.
“If you want to preach (accountability), you damn sure better be living it,” said George, now at Bowling Green. “It’s not a bunch of words on a wall. It’s not an acronym. It’s a lifestyle…
“It didn’t feel like work (at 0-4). It was, hey, this is a challenge. It was spiritual warfare more than anything else … and I had to have the faith and tenacity and gumption to see this thing through and rely on my instincts and my staff.”
An artist’s rendering of The Grounds, the under-construction entertainment district at Wake Forest’s stadium.
Day 2: Winston-Salem
The lazy take is that Wake Forest, an elite academic institution with the fewest undergraduate students (about 5,500) among the Power Four, is indifferent about football. Indeed, the Deacons’ correspondingly small fan base and inherent economic challenges are amplified by a new ACC revenue-sharing formula that distributes media rights based largely on football viewership.
And heaven knows Wake’s 10-9 victory over Kennesaw State on Friday, the first game of Jake Dickert’s coaching tenure in Winston-Salem, won’t convert any skeptics.
“Winning ugly is the prettiest way to do it,” Dickert said.
Over a recent seven-year span, Wake Forest invested $100 million in football facilities, the centerpiece of which is a $38 million on-campus operations center that opened in 2022. Off campus, school and Winston-Salem officials are teaming on an entertainment district adjacent to Allegacy Stadium and Joel Coliseum.
Strolling across Deacon Boulevard from the arena parking lots to the stadium, fans are engulfed by the project’s construction sites, evidence of a commitment that helped lure Dickert from Washington State to replace Dave Clawson.
Clawson resigned of his own accord last winter after an 11-year tenure highlighted by seven bowl appearances and an ACC division title but capped by back-to-back 4-8 seasons. Two days later, athletic director John Currie announced Dickert’s hiring.
“From the Board of Trustees to President Wente, John Currie on down, we’re invested in winning,” Dickert said at the ACC’s preseason media event. “I wanted to hear it, I wanted to see it… I came here because I believed that we can win. … From Day One, I’ve had a belief in Wake Forest.”
But like Clawson, who started his Deacons tenure with a pair of 3-9 seasons, Dickert will need time. The roster virtually flipped after Clawson’s exit, and safety Nick Andersen and tailback Demond Claiborne may be the program’s lone all-conference talents.
Andersen recorded a team-high nine tackles and two pass break-ups Friday, but Claiborne was shelved for the night after sustaining a rib injury early in the first quarter.
“Adversity came right away, and we responded to it,” Dickert said of Claiborne’s absence.
Wake sold 30,789 tickets for Friday, almost capacity. But there were probably 10,000 no-shows, and by the time the Deacons foiled Kennesaw’s final drive in the waning moments, the stadium was virtually empty.
The logic behind the future entertainment district — Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock has mentioned the concept as a potential revenue stream for the Hokies — is the combination of shops, bars, restaurants and condos will draw people to the stadium and arena.
“As we work to build this thing to a championship program, that fourth down at the end of the game is going to be deafening in two years,” Dickert said. “It was quiet tonight… This stadium needs to become deafening in those moments, and it will, I promise you that. We’re going to build this thing.”
Where it wasn’t quiet Friday was 1,600 miles to the west as Georgia Tech and Colorado went deep into the night trading punches. So, given Wake-Kennesaw’s aesthetic challenges, I spent as much time watching the Yellow Jackets and Buffaloes on the laptop as I did eyeing the Deacons and Owls in-person.
Listening to Colorado’s radio call, I pulled up to my Winston-Salem hotel just as Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King was racing 45 yards with 1:07 remaining to give his squad a 27-20 victory.
“A-C-C! A-C-C!” chanted the traveling Jackets fans as coach Brent Key and his players headed for the tunnel.
The Smokin’ Pig outside of Clemson offered ideal pregame fare.
Day 3: Death Valley Junior
A mid-Saturday morning pitstop at a Blacksburg, South Carolina, QuikTrip along I-85 said it all. Clemson fans. LSU fans. Virginia Tech and South Carolina, too.
Say hello to college football season, y’all, with all the accompanying passion and, yes, traffic snarls. But I needed more vibes, sights and smells.
I needed Lee Corso and The Smokin’ Pig.
First, Corso. The beloved granddaddy of ESPN’s College GameDay was making his final appearance and headgear pick on the set prior to Ohio State’s visit from Texas. So while stuck in I-85 traffic, I fired up the broadcast on the ESPN app.
The outpouring was genuine and so richly deserved. And how perfect is this? Dapper in a tuxedo, the 90-year-old Corso correctly picked the Buckeyes to beat Texas and, as X noted, each of the programs where Corso coached — Maryland, Louisville, Navy, Indiana and Northern Illinois — plus his alma mater Florida State, won Saturday.
Now for The Smokin’ Pig, a roadside joint on Clemson Boulevard in Pendleton.
So. Much. Orange. Overalls, t-shirts, skirts and long dresses.
So. Much. Meat. Pork, brisket and chicken.
Plenty of cornhole — of course, the boards were orange — and football talk, too, the latter centered on No. 4 Clemson’s prime-time collision with No. 9 LSU.
To-go order secured, I moseyed toward Death Valley, passing a Cowboy Cadillac open-air tour bus loaded — pun intended — with yet more orange-clad football crazies. About that Death Valley stadium moniker that Clemson and LSU share, along with their Tiger mascots.
No stranger to verbal missteps, LSU coach Brian Kelly posited this summer that Clemson is “Death Valley Junior.” Ok then.
Is Kelly still sore about his 1-3 mark against Clemson while Notre Dame’s coach? Does he have an aversion to orange?
The snark became moot late Saturday night as LSU dominated the second half, quieted the Death Valley throng of 81,500 and prevailed 17-10 in what Clemson coach Dabo Swinney accurately called “a heavyweight fight.”
ACC media had generously voted three Clemson offensive linemen to the preseason all-conference team, and suffice to say, the group underwhelmed. Cade Klubnik rarely had a clean pocket, Clemson averaged 1.6 yards per rush, and LSU bogarted possession for 37:10.
“Nowhere near to what we’re capable of offensively,” Swinney said. “… That’s the biggest disappointment.”
Kelly’s postgame gabfest outside LSU’s locker room was enough to make any Virginia Tech fan wince.
August 30, 2025: LSU Tigers cornerback Mansoor Delane (4) celebrates an interception against the Clemson Tigers during the second half of the NCAA Football matchup at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, SC. (Scott Kinser/CSM) (Credit Image: © Scott Kinser/Cal Sport Media) (Cal Sport Media via AP Images)
First, he said cornerback Mansoor Delane (an interception and a fourth-down pass break-up) received the game ball. Then he shouted out LSU’s offensive line, mentioning center Braelin Moore by name.
Moore and Delane transferred to LSU during the offseason from Virginia Tech.
College football’s expanded playoff offers grace to royalty such as LSU and Clemson. Setbacks that once banished quality teams from national title contention have become learning experiences instead of permanent scars.
Case in point, Ohio State last year. The Buckeyes lost their annual regular-season finale to blood rival Michigan — at home! — but rebounded to win the national championship with a 14-2 record.
So, Clemson need not fear for its playoff life.
That said, 2025 carries weighty repercussions for both of these Tigers, with Saturday an immediate yardstick.
LSU had not won a season opener since Joe Burrow and Co. went 15-0 en route to the 2019 natty. Moreover, that remains the lone CFP appearance for a program that aspires to far more.
From 2014-20, Clemson earned seven consecutive CFP bids, claiming two championships in the process. But Clemson has not advanced in the playoff since 2019.
Plus, Clemson went 0-3 against the SEC last season, falling to Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, the latter in the CFP’s opening round.
As Saturday night became Sunday morning, Swinney got defensive when reminded of his program’s now four-game losing streak versus the SEC. Well, he’s not going to appreciate this, either: Clemson has lost three consecutive season openers — to Duke, Georgia and LSU — while scoring a grand total of 20 points.
Strolling from the stadium to my trusty rental sled, I saw scores of sad Clemson fans wandering aimlessly. Hopefully they called it a night before I checked into a Suwanee, Georgia, hotel at 3 a.m.
South Carolina linebacker Fred Johnson (0) celebrates an interception during an NCAA college football game against Virginia Tech, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Day 4: Atlanta
Saturday’s most startling result was Florida State’s 31-17 beatdown of visiting Alabama, and while motoring toward Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday morning for Virginia Tech’s Aflac Kickoff Game versus South Carolina, I heard former Seminoles quarterback Danny Kanell reveling in the result during a radio appearance.
Watching the game from field level, Kanell had watched his alma mater, one of the nation’s most putrid offenses last season, outrush the No. 8 Crimson Tide 230-87. FSU broke seven runs of at least 10 yards, Alabama one.
Listening to Kanell, I wondered if Virginia Tech could similarly own the trenches against a ranked SEC opponent. The answer was an emphatic “no,” as Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks held the Hokies without a touchdown in a 24-11 victory.
“I’d be lying to you if I told you this one wasn’t extra special,” Beamer said afterward.
Ya think?
Much as Beamer tried to minimize them prior to kickoff, the emotions of competing against his alma mater, the school where he played and coached for his beloved dad, were natural and inescapable.
Beamer’s parents, Frank and Cheryl, received a standing ovation from both fan bases during pregame ceremonies, and game officials presented them with a commemorative football signed by Shane and Tech coach Brent Pry. South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers doubled down on the sentiment after the game, handing the game ball to Frank Beamer.
“I’ll remember just the gratitude that I have for my time at Virginia Tech, growing up, playing there, coaching there,” Shane said. “The gratitude that I have for the unbelievable fan base and people in this program here at Carolina and my family this year. I’m very blessed.”
Frank Beamer and his assistants mined Hampton Roads for talent like no other staff — think Michael Vick, Darryl Tapp, Tyrod Taylor, Vince Hall, Xavier Adibi and Bryan Randall — and Shane occasionally lures a 757 prospect to South Carolina.
Case in point, sophomore linebacker Fred Johnson of Norfolk. Leading undefeated Maury High to a state championship in 2023, he was the Virginia Class 5 Defensive Player of the Year, and as Beamer projected last month, he emerged as a starter this season.
Johnson wasted no time making a splash, recording a game-high 10 tackles and intercepting a first-quarter Kyron Drones pass in the end zone. Rather than take a knee to secure possession at the 20-yard line, Johnson ran the ball out of the end zone, reaching only the 2, a miscue Beamer forgave.
“Poor coaching that he didn’t go down,” Beamer said. “He was awesome, first of all. Fred’s a big-time player. Being from Virginia … he was amped up. That’s what the players said (on the) sideline. One of them said, ‘Man, he’s on a frickin’ mission today,’ and that’s the way he played. So happy for him. That was really cool. What a play…
“That was a big stop obviously in the red zone to keep them from getting points there. You know, it’s something that we talk about not bringing that thing out and going down. I think he kind of got caught up in the moment. … He was a heck of an offensive player in high school. I guess he just envisioned running that thing back 102 yards for a touchdown, too.”
Jet-setting throughout the weekend, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips watched the Tech-South Carolina game before heading south for the day’s nightcap between Miami and Notre Dame. Showcasing their offensive and defensive lines, the Hurricanes prevailed 27-24, joining rival Florida State in conquering a top-10 nonconference opponent.
The only other league to author two such Week 1 victories in the last 40 years was the SEC in 2018.
One game remained on the week’s docket, college football’s most-acclaimed coaching debut in memory.
North Carolina quarterback Max Johnson (14) looks to pass during the second half of an NCAA college football game against TCU, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
Day 5: Chapel Hill
Bill Belichick’s first game as North Carolina’s coach, a 48-14 home loss to Texas Christian, was an unsightly mess that has been, and will be, parsed incessantly. But enough.
Late in the third quarter, long after most spectators had understandably abandoned Kenan Stadium, a wonderful story emerged. Tar Heels senior quarterback Max Johnson flipped a 2-yard touchdown pass to his brother Jake, a redshirt junior tight end.
Max and Jake hail from a quintessential football family. Their dad, Brad, quarterbacked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl championship. Their uncle, Mark Richt, was an accomplished coach at Georgia and Miami.
Max Johnson played two seasons each at LSU and Texas A&M before earning the starting job at North Carolina last season. But in the third quarter of the Tar Heels’ opener at Minnesota, Johnson sustained a gruesome broken right femur.
David Teel: TCU routs inept North Carolina in Bill Belichick’s first game as college coach
As ESPN’s Andrea Adelson gracefully chronicled last month, Johnson forged through a grueling rehab that included five surgeries, which made merely suiting up Monday night a personal triumph. But throwing a touchdown pass to his brother as well?
That’s storybook stuff.
“We threw a couple touchdowns together when we were at Texas A&M,” Johnson said. “I honestly didn’t know he was in the game. I know the play was called, we had a tight end in there. I didn’t know it was Jake at first. Once I threw it to him, it was a special moment just to celebrate again. Felt like we were little kids again playing Pee Wee football.”
South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez won the starting quarterback role during preseason camp, but was injured late in the third quarter on a strip sack that TCU returned for a touchdown. Johnson completed 9 of 11 passes for 103 yards in relief.
“I just want to give God all the credit,” Johnson said. “I’m so blessed just to be here and playing this game I love. … I couldn’t see myself a year ago being where I am now, but I always trusted that I had my faith in Christ, and that motivated me to get my leg healthy.”
Day 6: Homeward bound
Talk radio and the pods teemed with Week 1 chatter Tuesday. Might Miami and Florida State finally collide in an ACC championship game? Are Belichick and his staff ill-suited for the college game? Does LSU now rate as the SEC favorite? Just how bad is Alabama?
Premature questions all, but in this sport, overreaction is a way of life.
Welcome back, college football. We missed you.
David Teel: david.teel@virginiamedia.com
