College Football’s Best Quarterback Matchup for Each Week of the 2024 Season

College football season begins this Saturday, with a Week Zero ACC matchup between Florida State and Georgia Tech in Ireland. The four-game lineup is just a quick appetizer for what lies ahead in September, especially when it comes to quarterback talent.

Georgia’s Carson Beck, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Texas’ Quinn Ewers are a few of the proven stars returning at prominent schools, and young QBs such as Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava and Kansas State’s Avery Johnson can’t wait to prove themselves.

Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel and Ohio State’s Will Howard are seeking national championships after late-career transfers. Others have waited their turn and have the opportunity to prove themselves as upperclassmen, like USC’s Miller Moss.

• Best QBs in College Football: Ranking Every FBS Starter From No. 1 to 134

Get your calendars out. Here are the can’t-miss quarterback matchups for each week of the 2024 college football season:

Week Zero: DJ Uiagalelei (Florida State) vs. Haynes King (Georgia Tech)

The sole game between Power 4 teams in Week Zero is an ACC affair that will be played in Ireland at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. Uiagalelei, the former Clemson and Oregon State starter , makes his Seminoles debut, taking over the job held by Jordan Travis in 2023. The program hopes that the former blue chipper will have a similar late-career surge. King, who played previously at Texas A&M, is coming off a solid first season at Georgia Tech in which he threw for 2,842 yards and 27 touchdowns. Hopes for Tech to take a jump from last year’s seven-win campaign largely ride on his arm.

Week 1: Graham Mertz (Florida) vs. Cam Ward (Miami)

Florida’s schedule, cited by many as the toughest in the nation , starts with a bang against intrastate rival Miami. This big matchup pits Mertz, a former Wisconsin player coming off a quietly strong season for the otherwise-disappointing ’23 Gators, against one of this season’s most significant QB transfers in Ward. The former Washington State and Incarnate Word passer has put up prolific numbers throughout his college career and is a major reason Miami enters the season with hype as a potential College Football Playoff contender.

Other matchups : Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) vs. Cam Miller (North Dakota State), Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee) vs. Mark Bronowski (South Dakota State), Garrett Nussmeier (LSU) vs. Miller Moss (USC)

Week 2: Dylan Raiola (Nebraska) vs. Shedeur Sanders (Colorado)

Sanders thrived against Nebraska last year, throwing for 393 yards and two touchdowns in a 36-14 win for Colorado. Although the Buffaloes flamed out down the stretch in 2023, Sanders and the program enter this season with renewed optimism and sky-high expectations. Nebraska will look to make a statement in its second game with blue-chip freshman Dylan Raiola under center . A revenge win over the Buffs in front of a national audience would put Matt Rhule’s rebuilding Huskers on the map.

Other matchups: Jalen Milroe (Alabama) vs. Byron Brown (South Florida), Grayson McCall (NC State) vs. Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee), Alex Orji (Michigan) vs. Quinn Ewers (Texas)

Week 3: Avery Johnson (Kansas State) vs. Noah Fifita (Arizona)

Even after losing quarterback Will Howard to Ohio State, the outlook of Kansas State’s season hasn’t changed much, given the hype around first-year starter Avery Johnson, a dangerous dual-threat QB who led the team to a Pop-Tarts Bowl win over NC State. He’ll take on Noah Fifita, one of last year’s breakout star quarterbacks , in a dual of Big 12 championship favorites. Fifita stayed in Tucson despite coach Jedd Fisch’s departure for Washington and leads Arizona into its first Big 12 season, which should feature a wide open conference title race.

Other matchups: DJ Uiagalelei (Florida State) vs. Seth Henigan (Memphis), Brock Vandagriff (Kentucky) vs. Carson Beck (Georgia)

Week 4: Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma) vs. Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee)

The Sooners and Volunteers each break in a first-year starting quarterback with serious potential. Both rank in the top nine of Athlon’s preseason SEC quarterback rankings , in a league that is brimming with passing talent. This Sept. 21 showdown between two second-year players should be a fun showcase of the league’s top young QB talent.

Other matchups: Byron Brown (South Florida) vs. Cam Ward (Miami), Blake Shapen (Mississippi State) vs. Graham Mertz (Florida)

Week 5: Jalen Milroe (Alabama) vs. Carson Beck (Georgia)

Keep your schedules clear on Sept. 28. This is one of the best slates of quarterback matchups all season, headlined by the SEC championship rematch between Heisman candidates Milroe and Beck. This game proved to be Nick Saban’s final career win last December. Now it has the chance to be the first signature victory for his replacement, Kalen DeBoer, who seeks to blend his wide-open spread offense with Milroe’s gifts as a runner.

Other matchups: Cam Rising (Utah) vs. Noah Fifita (Arizona), Cam Ward (Miami) vs. Kyron Drones (Virginia Tech), Aidan Chiles (Michigan State) vs. Will Howard (Ohio State), KJ Jefferson (UCF) vs. Shedeur Sanders (Colorado)

Week 6: Dillon Gabriel (Oregon) vs. Aidan Chiles (Michigan State)

In another universe, this quarterback battle would have taken place in the Civil War between Oregon and Oregon State. Instead, former Beavers coach Jonathan Smith took the job at Michigan State, bringing his prized former quarterback recruit Chiles — the backup to Uiagalelei in Corvallis last season — with him to East Lansing to helm the new-look Spartans offense. Oregon will be a heavy favorite behind Gabriel, the top preseason Heisman contender , but this game should be a great measuring stick for Chiles’ and Smith’s rebuild.

Other matchups: Graham Mertz (Florida) vs. KJ Jefferson (UCF), DJ Uiagalelei (Florida State) vs. Cade Klubnik (Clemson)

Week 7: Dillon Gabriel (Oregon) vs. Will Howard (Ohio State)

This matchup pits the two highest-profile quarterbacks who transferred this past offseason. The ways in which the teams use them should be very different, however. Gabriel will have one of the nation’s top assortments of passing targets and will be throwing the ball a ton. Ohio State, meanwhile, has two Athlon All-America running backs to feed and probably won’t put up the same passing numbers, though he’s proven to be effective during his time at Kansas State. There’s a reason he was Ryan Day’s pick to lead one of the most talented offenses in the country.

Other matchups: Garrett Nussmeier (LSU) vs. Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss), Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma) vs. Quinn Ewers (Texas), Miller Moss (USC) vs. Drew Allar (Penn State), Byron Brown (South Florida) vs. Seth Henigan (Memphis), Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) vs. Avery Johnson (Kansas State)

Week 8: Quinn Ewers (Texas) vs. Carson Beck (Georgia)

The SEC delivers matchups between potential Heisman quarterbacks on an almost-weekly basis. Week 8’s matchup in Austin pits Beck (+800 per Covers ) against Ewers (+1000) as players with the second- and third-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy. These two teams are also the favorites to win the SEC in 2024. Games like this are why the SEC jumped to expand with Texas and Oklahoma.

Other matchups: Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee) vs. Jalen Milroe (Alabama), Noah Fifita (Arizona) vs. Shedeur Sanders (Colorado), Rocco Becht (Iowa State) vs. KJ Jefferson (UCF)

Week 9: Will Howard (Ohio State) vs. Dylan Raiola (Nebraska)

Howard and Raiola will enter this game on very different ends of the career spectrum. Howard established himself as a top-flight signal caller at Kansas State and joins an Ohio State team in championship-or-bust mode. Raiola is just beginning his career as a top freshman looking to revive a once-proud program. His performance against a stacked Ohio State defense will be one to watch.

Other matchups: Jalen Milroe (Alabama) vs. Brady Cook (Missouri), Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss) vs. Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma), Cam Ward (Miami) vs. DJ Uiagalelei (Florida State), Avery Johnson (Kansas State) vs. Jalon Daniels (Kansas)

Week 10: Drew Allar (Penn State) vs. Will Howard (Ohio State)

Penn State has been on the fringes of college football’s elite for years. The expanded College Football Playoff should be a coup for the Nittany Lions, but they’ll need improvement from Allar, who threw for 2,631 yards with 25 touchdown passes and just two interceptions but struggled to hit on explosive plays with just 6.8 yards per attempt. James Franklin hired former Kansas OC Andy Kotelnicki , one of the architects of the Jayhawks’ impressive turnaround. The head-to-head matchup with Howard and a star-studded Ohio State defense will be the biggest test Allar faces in the regular season.

Other matchups: Alex Orji (Michigan) vs. Dillon Gabriel (Oregon), Taylen Green (Arkansas) vs. Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss), Will Rogers (Washington) vs. Miller Moss (USC), Carson Beck (Georgia) vs. Graham Mertz (Florida)

Week 11: Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss) vs. Carson Beck (Georgia)

Plenty of ink has been spilled about Beck, but Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart is also firmly in the mix for college football’s highest honors. The former USC QB has thrived under Lane Kiffin and has put himself in the conversation to challenge Eli Manning’s school records . Ole Miss has just one win over Georgia since the start of the BCS era (1998), something Dart and Kiffin will aim to change on Nov. 9.

Other matchups: Garrett Nussmeier (LSU) vs. Jalen Milroe (Alabama), Brady Cook (Missouri) vs. Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma), Drew Allar (Penn State) vs. Will Rogers (Washington), Jalon Daniels (Kansas) vs. Rocco Becht (Iowa State)

Week 12: Carson Beck (Georgia) vs. Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee)

When Georgia hosts Tennessee, it will be the Bulldogs’ third game in four contests against teams ranked in the top 15 of the preseason AP poll, with rival Florida as the lone unranked foe. That is the kind of grueling stretch created by the new SEC. Tennessee was an afterthought on Georgia’s schedule for years after Phil Fulmer’s heyday, but under Josh Heupel , the Vols have fielded one of college football’s most explosive, fast-strike offenses. Beck could be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, while Iamaleava — 6-foot-6 with plenty of athleticism and a huge arm — is the type of QB prospect that NFL scouts likely will assess when he’s draft-eligible in 2026.

Other matchups: Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) vs. Cam Rising (Utah), Miller Moss (USC) vs. Dylan Raiola (Nebraska)

Week 13: Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma) vs. Jalen Milroe (Alabama)

Of the two SEC newcomers , Oklahoma has been the more consistent power for years. Following a breakout 2023, Texas enters the league with much higher expectations, but Oklahoma took a solid step forward as well, going 10-3 with a win over the Longhorns. Brent Venables probably doesn’t mind flying under the radar entering the ’24 season, but by November all attention will be on the Sooners if they put together a strong start to the season. The last three weeks of the season for Arnold and the Sooners: at Missouri, vs. Alabama and at LSU. The Tide are Oklahoma’s biggest home opponent of the year, and Arnold’s counterpart, Milroe, is plenty battled tested after his roller-coaster 2023.

Other matchups: Haynes King (Georgia Tech) vs. Grayson McCall (NC State), Jalon Daniels (Kansas) vs. Shedeur Sanders (Colorado), Kaidon Salter (Liberty) vs. TJ Finley (Western Kentucky)

Week 14: Miller Moss (USC) vs. Riley Leonard (Notre Dame)

The Notre Dame-USC rivalry survives the Trojans’ move to the Big Ten, and this game is a showcase between two quarterbacks on very different paths. Moss waited his turn and made the most of his opportunity when Caleb Williams elected to sit out the Holiday Bowl, throwing for 372 yards with six touchdown passes in a win over Louisville. Lincoln Riley has given him the keys to the offense in 2024. He’ll face Riley Leonard, a Duke transfer who will try to lead Notre Dame to the College Football Playoff. Leonard is a weapon with both his arm and legs but struggled to stay healthy in his final season with the Blue Devils. This game could prove to be a referendum on both USC’s Lincoln Riley and Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, especially if this game has Playoff ramifications.

Other matchups: KJ Jefferson (UCF) vs. Cam Rising (Utah), Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss) vs. Blake Shapen (Mississippi State), Will Howard (Ohio State) vs. Alex Orji (Michigan), Dillon Gabriel (Oregon) vs. Will Rogers (Washington)

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