T-minus 39 days and counting. The first college football game is just a little more than a month away. Thank goodness.

That must mean football weather is only three months away.

This year we don’t have the Summer Olympic Games to hold our attention because they don’t start until September, about the time key conference games will be going on.

The first college football games are slated for Aug. 26 as Florida State meets Brigham Young in Jacksonville, Fla.; New Mexico is at Texas Tech; Iowa faces Kansas State in the Eddie Robinson Classic in Kansas City, Mo.; and Mississippi Valley goes to Louisiana Tech.

That makes sense. A Big Ten and Big 12 team are playing in the Eddie Robinson Classic in Missouri the same day Southwestern Athletic Conference school Valley meets Louisiana Tech.

Something tells me Eddie didn’t make the call on that one.

On Aug. 27, Georgia Tech hosts Virginia Tech in the Black Coaches Association Classic.

Less than a week later on Aug. 31, Arizona State is at San Diego State; McNeese is at Miami; Southeast Missouri State visits Marshall; Baylor is at North Texas; Ohio is at Iowa State; and Auburn hosts Wyoming.

Auburn decided they would play Wyoming after backing out of an early game with Florida State last year.

Also on the final day of August, Wisconsin hosts Western Michigan, while Appalachian State is at Wake Forest.

A full schedule of games are slated for Sept. 2, highlighted by Alabama at UCLA, Southern Mississippi at Tennessee and Texas A&M&160;at Notre Dame.

Ole Miss hosts Tulane as Deuce McAllister begins his run for the Heisman, while the Nick Saban era begins in Baton Rouge, La., with LSU hosting Western Carolina.

Alcorn opens its season at Grambling on Sept. 2

It may sound a little bit crazy, but that’s a pivotal game for Alcorn coach Johnny Thomas.

I would classify the Grambling game as a must-win situation for Thomas.

The following week, Alcorn hosts Alabama State at 6 p.m. on fireworks night.

If Thomas loses to Grambling, there will be fireworks all right. They’ll be coming from the home side stands.

Thomas is 8-13 after two seasons as coach at his alma mater, and Brave fans were becoming a bit impatient by the end of last season.

A win over Grambling would get Alcorn fans behind the team for its home opener, while a loss would have Brave fans ready to express their opinions early against Alabama State.

Thomas needs to decide on a quarterback early.

Senior Surhaver Fair and junior Damion Ford are battling for the starting position. And there is nothing that causes more controversy than who should be the starting quarterback.

If things go bad everybody wants the other guy. Fans do not have much patience for a quarterback if they feel someone just as good is standing on the sidelines.

The team can also be divided on such an issue which is why the sooner a starting quarterback is named, the better.

Thomas was excited about his team’s performance in the spring.

Let’s hope that enthusiasm will still be there in October. Another losing season in Lorman will not be tolerated.

Joey Martin is sports editor of The Democrat. He can be reached by calling 446-5172 ext. 232 or at joey.martin@natchezdemocrat.com.