TWIF Notes 9/1/25

Welcome Back!

Happy Labor Day!

What a fantastic opening weekend! There were so many dramatic games, upsets, and a few routs.

This week starts my new format for these TWIF Notes. As I've stated before, reviewing every game is just a bit too much for one person who is also working a full-time job, so I am slimming it down a bit to something that I can hopefully do in less than 2 hours, but still give quality content (previous years would take me anywhere from 2-5 hours per TWIF Notes depending on the number of games). I hope you like the new format, and I hope it's as informative as before.

Winners

LSU- The Bayou Bengals held Clemson scoreless in the 2nd half to come back and win 17-10. The biggest takeaway is how much improved the LSU defense appears to be. If the defense can continue to play that well, LSU is a legitimate SEC and National Championship contender (Lee Corso picked them to win it all). This was LSU's 1st season-opening win since their 15-0 run to the National Championship in 2019.

The SEC- Even though they lost 2 high profile games (Texas and Alabama), the conference went 9-2 against FBS competition, including 4-2 against other P4 foes, with wins by Tennessee over Syracuse, Auburn over the Big 12's Baylor (Phil Steele's favorite to win the conference), South Carolina over Virginia Tech, and the aforementioned LSU over ACC favorite Clemson, making them 3-1 against the ACC. Speaking of which...

The ACC- With wins over the SEC, Big 12, and Notre Dame, the conference established itself as legitimate contenders for multiple CFP berths. The ACC was 7-4 vs FBS competition, and 4-3 against P4 opponents (all 3 losses were to SEC teams). They have an opportunity for 1 more win with UNC's game against TCU tonight.

Mississippi State- With their win over Southern Miss, the Bulldogs won just their 2nd FBS game since 2023- when last they played USM. They get a greater challenge when they take on Arizona State, but this time they get the Sun Devils at home, as they lost by only 7 last year in Tempe.

Ohio State- The Buckeyes made it very clear that they are not going away anytime soon. The defense was stifling, and I was less than impressed with new QB Julian Sayin, but he made enough throws to win the game, and managed the game well. He has several more weeks to learn from his first start before he has his 1st road test at Washington the last week of September. I feel he will continue to grow and will ultimately be just fine.

Missouri State- Even though they got blown out by USC, the Bears actually led 3-0 in their very first FBS game- and on the road, too!- and they were within 28-10 before collapsing.

Nebraska- The Cornhuskers have now won 2 opening games in a row, and were able to hold on to defeat Cincinnati in Kansas City. This means NU has won 3 of their last 4 contests as they seem to have momentum. Their next big test is Sep 30 when they host Michigan, and they don't play on the road until Oct 11 at Maryland.

Utah- The Utes destroyed UCLA and their new QB Nico Iamaleava, holding the former Tennessee QB to just 136 yds and 1 TD with 1 INT. Utah dominated the TOP at an almost 2-1 clip, and they appear to be ready to make some noise in the Big 12, with their opener against Texas Tech at home on Sep 20.

Purdue- The Boilermakers got their 1st win since last year's opener, and their 1st FBS win since beating Indiana at the end of the 2023 season. They are likely to get another win next week against an FCS team, but then they host USC, followed by a game at Notre Dame.

Georgia Tech- The Yellow Jackets continue to prove their toughness and resilience as they held on to beat Colorado on the road, 27-20. QB Haynes King is the real deal, and this is a quality team. The Sep 13 game against Clemson in Bobby Dodd Stadium could determine which team gets to go to the ACC title game to face either FSU, SMU, or Miami.

FSU- The Seminoles announced their resurgence with a 14-point victory over Alabama, a complete reversal of the betting line. The game against Miami in Tallahassee on Oct 4 could help solidify their status as a contender. Oh, and Lee Corso got this pick right, too (did he miss any?)!

California- The Golden Bears plastered Oregon State, jumping out to a 24-3 lead and never looking back. While the Beavers aren't expected to be a factor in the CFP or anything, they have been a quality team of late, going 30-21 over the last 4 years. Cal has a chance to be 4-0 when they travel to Boston College for their ACC opener.

Tulane- The Green Wave got to pin a P4 pelt on their wall, even if it was woeful Northwestern. This puts Tulane in prime position to grab the G5 spot in the CFP, especially with Boise State's opening loss.

USF- The Bulls trampled Boise State, scoring 34 unanswered points after falling behind 7-0. USF has 2 tough games on the road in the next 2 weeks- at Florida and at Miami. If they can win one of them, they would have a good talking point come CFP time, assuming they win the rest of their games. Win both? Just imagine...

Rice- The Owls won their 1st opening game since 2018, and they now have a regular season winning streak of 2 games, their 1st back-to-back wins since 2023. 

Fresno State- The Bulldogs bounced back from their opening loss at Kansas in a big way, romping over what is thought to be a quality Georgia Southern team 42-14. 

The Sun Belt West- Teams in the SBC West were a combined 5-2, but the wins were over a MAC team and 4 FCS squads, while the losses were to Rice (yikes!) by last year's division winner Louisiana and to Mississippi State, who finished last in the SEC last year, and came in having lost 14 of their last 17 games.

South Carolina and Miami- Both teams backed up the hype with big wins on Sunday, as the Gamecocks took down Va Tech and the Hurricanes survived a Notre Dame comeback with a late FG. Both appeared poised for bigger things.

Losers

The PAC 12- Or should I say the new Pac 12, as those expected to be the best in the 2026 version- Washington State,Oregon State, Boise State, and Colorado State- went 1-3 this past weekend, with the only win being Wazzu's 13-10 victory over FCS Idaho. The other 3 all lost by at least 17 points. The other 4 teams in the soon-to-be reformulated Pac 12 all won, with Fresno State beating Ga Southern (getting the Bulldogs to 1-1 on the season), SDSU flattening an FCS team, Texas State getting by Eastern Michigan, and Utah State easing by UTEP.

Texas- Losing to Ohio State isn't devastating, but being incompetent on offense for much of the game isn't a good look. Arch Manning seemed to make several throws side-armed for no reason that I could discern, missed open receivers, and his pass catchers didn't help by dropping passes left and right. The UT defense played well, but there is much work to be done on offense. Fortunately for the Longhorns, they play a relatively easy schedule from here on out, and should be 8-1 when they travel to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs. But if the offense doesn't get better, then they may struggle several times between now and then.

Alabama- The Crimson Tide laid a huge egg against FSU, and they've now lost 3 of their last 4 games. This isn't going to sit well in Tuscaloosa, as they haven't seen this level of play since Nick Saban's 1st year, in 2007, when they lost the last 4 games of the regular season to finish 7-6 after the bowl win. One of the losses in that streak was to ULM at home, which just happens to be Bama's next opponent.

Northwestern- The Wildcats were able to muster only a FG and 237 total yards as they lost the turnover battle 5-0 (4 INT, 1 fumble lost). It's going to be a long season in Evanston.

Clemson- The Tigers had the game in their grasp, with a lead at halftime, but were held scoreless in the 2nd half, being held to 31 yards rushing and 261 yards overall. If they don't recover 2 fumbles, this game might not have even been close, as LSU dominated the TOP.

Baylor and the Big 12- The Bears got flattened by an Auburn team that is generally thought to be a bottom half-team in the SEC. That's generally not a problem, except Baylor was expected to challenge for a Big 12 title. This loss hurts the perception of the entire conference, unless Auburn turns out to win 8+ games with a marquee win, like over UGA or Alabama, and perhaps challenge for a spot in the SEC CG.

Kansas State- The Wildcats are another team expected to perhaps make the Big 12 CG, but they lost their opener to Iowa State, and then just barely got by FCS North Dakota (while the Cyclones were destroying their FCS opponent). Suddenly the game against Army in Manhattan is looming large, as the Black Knights will be looking to bounce back from their own loss.

Army- The Black Knights are one of only 2 FBS teams to lose to an FCS opponent this weekend, and it was preventable. Army had a 2 TD lead toward the end of the 3rd quarter, but gave up 14 consecutive points, then settled for 2 FGs in OT, missing the 2nd. Tarleton State made both of theirs to cement the upset win. Army had 3 turnovers, including 2 INTs, as they lost the TO battle 3-1.

Boise State- The Broncos got stomped by USF, hurting not only their own chances of making it back to the CFP, but the loss hurts the perception of the Mountain West as a whole. If their flagship institution gets pounded by a middle-of-the-road American Conference team, then the MWC must not be that good. 

San Jose State- The Spartans lost to a MAC team by 2 points at home, and a middling MAC team at that. Central Michigan hasn't had a winning season since 2021, and have been only 13-23 since then. SJSU was expected to finish in the top 4 of the MWC. 

The Mountain West- The conference is only 5-7 against FBS competition the opening 2 weeks, and only 1-5 against P4 teams, but they are 4-2 vs fellow G5 foes. Those numbers aren't likely to get better next week, as they play a mix of P4 and FCS teams for the most part. The biggest problem is that 5 of the top 7 teams have 1 loss so far.

The Sun Belt East- Only 2 of the 5 teams were able to get a win, and those were JMU over an FCS team and App State over American Conference bottom-feeder Charlotte. However, 4 of the losses were to P4 teams, with Ga Southern's loss to Fresno State seeming the most egregious. ODU played Indiana relatively close, and Georgia State hung with Ole Miss for most of the 1st half before getting stomped the rest of the way

The MAC- The conference was 0-6 vs P4 competition, 3-0 vs the FCS, and only 1-3 against fellow G5 teams, with CMU's big win over SJSU keeping the MAC from being 0-10 against FBS opponents.

Kennesaw State- The Owls could have had a huge upset over Wake Forest, but missed an extra point and a FG on their way to a 10-9 loss. Those missed 4 points were the difference. If they can fix their kicking woes, this could be a team that wins several games this year.

Middle Tennessee- Not only did the Blue Raiders lose to an FCS team, they lost by 20 points, 34-14! MTSU was 0-12 on 3rd down, and had only 153 total yards. I'm not sure this team will win a game this year, and they certainly won't win at Wisconsin next week.

That's it for this week! Come back tomorrow for my updated Power Rankings!

Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!