This season is shaping up to be one of the most interesting in recent memory. We are two weeks into the 2025-26 College Football Season. Many teams had a lot of question marks going into this season, such as whether Arch Manning would live up to the hype. Was Bryce Underwood worth all of that money? How would teams like Colorado, Boise State, and Miami look after losing their top players to the draft? And quite possibly the biggest, will Bill Belichick succeed as the head coach of the UNC Tar Heels? We’ve already seen great upsets, rivalries, and game winners, and we are excited to see what the rest of the season brings.
Week 1:
#8 Alabama @ Florida State
This was one of the most surprising games and biggest upsets of week one to everyone besides the Seminoles’ new transfer quarterback, Tommy Castellanos, who said that the Crimson Tide “Don’t have Nick Saban to save them” and “I just don’t see them stopping me.” In a media day interview. Many people took his comments as delusional confidence. They thought there was no way a team that went 2-10 the previous season could beat the eighth-best team in the nation, but Tommy backed it up. Alabama started the game with a 9-minute touchdown drive, but the Seminoles responded with 24 unanswered points, a 9-yard Castellanos run, a 32-yard Micahi Danzy run, a field goal, and a 4-yard Caziah Holmes run. The Crimson Tide tallied on a field goal and another passing touchdown to cut the lead to 7, but Florida St. responded with another rushing touchdown to make the final score 31-17. This was a clean football game with only 1 turnover, a fumble from FSU’s Jaylin Lucas. The Seminoles dominated the ground game with 230 rushing yards to Alabama’s 87. Tommy Castellanos quieted all the doubters with a great game, 9/14 passing with 152 passing yards, 78 rushing yards, and a rushing touchdown. Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson also had a pretty decent game, going 23/43 with 254 passing yards and 2 passing touchdowns. Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard also had a great game, catching 8 passes for 146 yards. The real standout from this game was the FSU defense that had 3 sacks, 7 tackles for loss, and 5 pass deflections. The Seminoles hope to bounce back from their rough season last year and seem to be off to a great start.
#1 Texas @ #3 Ohio State
This was the most anticipated matchup of Week 1, the number one-ranked team against the defending national champions. The top storyline surrounded Arch Manning, who, before this game, had never started away from Austin, Texas. On the other side of the field was Julian Sayin, who made his first career start. Ryan Day mentioned that he didn’t want his team fighting to defend their national championship, but to establish the identity of this year’s team right out of the gate. The game started with a couple of defensive stops, with the first score coming in the second quarter by CJ Donaldson, who made an impressive string of runs to propel the Buckeyes down the field and score. After halftime, the third quarter was marked by punts and an Ohio State interception, which led to the fourth quarter being much more exciting. The Buckeyes capitalized on their defense and scored with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Carnell Tate. Arch Manning answered right back with a quick drive down the field, ending in a 32-yard touchdown pass to Parker Livingstone to cut the lead down to seven. Unfortunately, the Longhorns couldn’t keep the Buckeyes from taking the win and moving themselves to number one in the AP Poll. Some say that Arch Manning was overhyped and shouldn’t have been the highsman favorite with how little he had played before this game.
Week 2:
#15 Michigan @ #18 Ohlahoma
This was one of the more intriguing matchups of Week 2. The buzz centered around Michigan’s freshman QB Bryce Underwood, as this was his first true test. On the other hand, the Sooners were led by junior John Mateer. To start, Oklahoma scored in the first quarter on its first drive. Mateer threw to wide receiver Deion Burks for a nine-yard touchdown. After exchanging punts through the second quarter, Michigan crept towards the goal line, but had to settle for a field goal attempt at the 32-yard line. Kicker Dominic Zvada missed it, which gave Oklahoma a turnover on downs. They wasted no time putting together an 80-yard drive, which culminated in Mateer taking the ball himself and scoring to increase the lead to 14 points. Post-halftime, Michigan received the ball on the Sooner’s 25-yard line. With just one play run, Michigan scored on a 75-yard run from the junior running back, Justice Haynes. At the 10-minute mark in the third quarter, the Sooners answered back with a five-play drive and a touchdown to make the score 21-7, Oklahoma. To end the third quarter, Michigan scored twice on field goals, cutting the lead to eight points. Finally, in the fourth quarter, OU kicked a 21-yard field goal and won the game. This was a big win for the Sooners, as it propelled them to the 11th spot in the week three AP Rankings.
South Florida @ #13 Florida
The biggest upset of the week happened at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. Unranked USF beat the 13th-best team in the nation in one of the toughest environments in all of College Football, “The Swamp.” Both schools were coming off wins; Florida beat LIU, and USF beat the then-ranked Boise State. This was a gritty, low-scoring game with the teams trading field goals throughout the first half, with the score being 9-6 with Florida leading at halftime. Both teams had a slow start to the second half, with them trading punts until USF’s James Chenault intercepted DJ Lagway’s pass halfway through the third quarter. South Florida’s quarterback, Byrum Brown, threw a 66-yard touchdown to wide receiver Keshaun Singleton to give the Bulls a 13-9 lead. On the following drive, a bad snap resulted in a Florida safety, increasing USF’s lead to 6. Two and a half minutes into the fourth quarter, DJ Lagway threw a passing touchdown to give the Gators a one-point lead. With two minutes left in the game, Byrum Brown led the Bulls 87 yards down the field, and kicker Nico Gramatica made the game-winning 20-yard field goal as time expired. USF becomes the first team with 2 top 25 wins in just two weeks. Florida head coach Billy Napier is in the hot seat as more and more fans and media want him out of Gainesville after his disappointing season last year and his slow start to this one. Even though it is early in the season, this game can have big implications for both teams’ playoff chances.
