Northwestern is on a quarters system, which means they will have played three games before students arrive on campus for the first day of class. While that can negatively impact attendance, coaches and players agree there are benefits to classes starting later than they do at most schools.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald called it a "huge" advantage and a selling point during recruting because a player can prepare for as many as 20 games during the course of his career without worrying about taking a class.

"That's like being in the NFL," he said. "That's ridiculous. I promise you, our guys love it."

Because players are limited by the NCAA to only 20 hours per week of football-related activities, they have spare time on their hands.

"I remember back in my day I would go back and watch "Doogie Howser" and "The Wonder Years,"" Fitzgerald said. "Now they can play video games against each other on their phones."