Lived Up To The Hype?
The college football season opening weekend lived up to all the hype, in some sense, even though the most hype-worthy entities didn’t. Let’s take a look back at the week that was in college football - week one, 2025.
Week One Players of the Week
Kinder’s Texas Bowl Player of the Week - LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier - In the most difficult of environments to start a season, Nussmeier led his #9 ranked Tigers to a win over the homestanding #4 Clemson Tigers. Nuss put together an early Heisman Trophy-like performance in that big win, completing 28 of 38 for 230 yards and one massive go-ahead TD pass in the fourth quarter.
National Player of the Week - Georgia Tech QB Haynes King - I don’t know that a QB took more of a beating in week one than King, but the dual threat King was still aces against Colorado on Friday night. King finished with 143 yards through the air and 156 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in the YellowJackets 27-20 win over Coach Prime and CU.
Week One Teams of the Week
Kinder’s Texas Bowl Team of the Week - TCU - No one, and I mean, NO ONE even mentioned TCU heading into Monday night’s contest at North Carolina. Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick was all the rage, even more so after North Carolina walked the ball down the field on the first drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead. Sonny Dykes’ Horned Frogs then went on a 48-7 run in Kenan Stadium to make a statement for all to hear - TCU is back, BABY!!
National Team of the Week - Florida State - This past summer, transfer QB Tommy Castellanos had plenty to say about Alabama, but, most importantly, what HE thought HE could do to the Alabama defense. “They don’t have Nick Saban to save them”, he reiterated and Alabama fans everywhere scoffed, laughed and wondered if Castellanos would make it out alive. Not only did he make it out alive, he dominated the game in the 31-17 win over Alabama as he said he would, giving Florida State fans hope that 2025 would go the way of 2023, and not the way of 2024. But, the physicality, the speed and the playmaking were all assets that the Seminoles didn’t display in 2024, yet flashed and flourished last Saturday. Suffice to say, it was one heck of a turnaround for the Noles, to say the least.
Week One Kudos
…to USF and head coach Alex Golesh. Man, what a performance! I watched that team dominate what should be an excellent Boise State team for a full 60 minutes. Boise State didn’t tap out but it was close given what the Bulls were doing to the Broncos.
…furthermore, to USF QB Byrum Brown. In the 34-7 blowout win over formerly #25 Boise State, Brown was magnificent, completing 16 of 24 passes for 210 yards, 43 yards rushing and two TDs. Brown was fully healthy, something he was not in 2024 and it showed.
…to TCU WR Jordan Dwyer who piled up 136 receiving yards on nine catches and a touchdown in TCU’s 48-14 win over North Carolina.
…to Tulane and head coach Jon Sumrall who stood on business against Northwestern for the city of New Orleans.
…to Miami DE Rueben Bain and DE Akheem Mesidor, who were disruptive as all get out against Notre Dame. The two combined for 11 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 2.0 TFL and a pick.
…to Ohio State LB Arvell Reese who was a taller, longer, faster version of Houston Texans LB Christian Harris. Reese is a first round pick if he can stay healthy.
…to Miami, FL WR C.J. Daniels with the catch of the year in week one - it’s going to be tough to beat that TD catch this year.
…to South Carolina’s punt return team getting a Beamer Ball TD in front of the originator himself, Frank Beamer, on hand to watch his son (Shane) coach against Beamer’s alma mater and former team Virginia Tech.
…to Utah QB Devon Dampier, who has turned Utah back into a force overnight; he took UCLA’s defense to the woodshed…and that’s being nice.
…to Cal true freshman QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele who dimed throws all over Corvallis in the Bears win over Oregon State. 20 of 30 for 234 yards and three touchdowns.
…to Oklahoma QB John Mateer who put up sick numbers and would’ve been player of the week had he done it against someone other than Illinois State - 30 of 37 for 392 yards, three TD and one TD rushing.
…to Texas A&M PR/WR KC Concepcion - what a debut! 80-yard punt return the first time he touched the ball. A 31-yard receiving TD and 72 yards receiving.
…to Texas A&M WR Mario Craver - what a debut, part two! He was QB Marcel Reed’s main target on Saturday in the win over UTSA - eight catches for 122 yards and two TD.
…to Ohio State QB Julian Sayin who wasn’t mentioned at all going into the gargantuan Ohio State v. Texas game, yet he was the one who looked like a future number one overall pick, not the other guy who got all the hype.
…to Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar for his impressively cool performance against Syracuse. After leaving App State, going to UCLA and then eventually landing at Tennessee, Aguilar showed his big arm OFF in the 45-26 win over the ‘Cuse.
…to the Greatest of All-Time Lee Corso who nailed everyone of his GameDay picks, including his last headgear pick of Ohio State over Texas.
Week 2 Preview
#14 (1-0) Michigan at #18 (1-0) Oklahoma
These two teams haven’t stared at one another from across the sideline since January 1st, 1976 so there’s PLENTY of intrigue in this matchup. That intrigue centers around two outstanding signal callers, one a true freshman wunderkind (Michigan’s Bryce Underwood) and a savior transfer (Oklahoma’s John Mateer). The Sooners need this game to validate this program while Michigan needs a win to prove that it's not a shell of a program after the Sign Stealing-gate of 2023. It’s not a top 25 matchup heavy weekend, so this one will have ALL the eyes on it on Saturday night in Norman.
(0-1) Baylor at #16 (1-0) SMU
The old SWC matchup is one that Baylor MUST have after getting steamrolled at home by Auburn. SMU continued rolling right along with a cupcake 42-13 win over East Texas A&M. The Bears couldn’t stop the run and lost the physical battle in McLane Stadium. Do that again this week and the Bears are staring 0-2 in the face. The Mustangs will be a handful to say the least for the desperate Bears.
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