TWIF Notes 9/8/25

Welcome Back!

What an entertaining 2nd weekend of college football! There wasn't a lot expected, but that's when the upsets often happen.

This week continues 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

Texas- The Longhorns, and QB Arch Manning, got back in the winning column, and chances are that they will be 4-1 when they roll into Dallas for the Red River Shootout with Oklahoma.

Alabama- Ditto for the Crimson Tide getting back in the winning column, as ULM did not present much resistance. We should have a better idea of how good the Tide is after their next 2 games: Wisconsin and at Georgia, with an off week in between.

Oklahoma- The Sooners topped Michigan, and look like they might be a threat in the SEC. They should be 5-0 going into Dallas to face Texas, with only Auburn being a legitimate threat in that span.

Missouri- The Tigers won the reincarnation of the Border War, falling behind to Kansas before coming back to secure the 42-31 victory. Mizzou actually has 4 more home games before they ever leave Faurot Field, starting the season with 6 home games in a row, and only South Carolina and Alabama look like possible losses.

Vanderbilt- The Commodores took down Virginia Tech 44-20 on the road after falling behind 10-0, and even trailing 20-10 at the half. But Vandy shut out the Hokies in the 2nd half to win going away.

Mississippi State- The Bulldogs, who finished 2-10 and last in the 16-team SEC (0-8) defeated Arizona State- who was Big 12 champion and CFP participant last year- by a score of 24-20.

The SEC- The conference went 4-0 vs fellow P4 teams this week and are 8-2 overall. 

Oregon- The Quack Attack has scored 128 points in 2 games while allowing only 16, and one of those was against a P4 foe- Oklahoma State this past weekend. 

Illinois- The Fighting Illini stomped Duke at Wallace Wade Stadium to the tune of 45-19, and they have a chance to be 6-0 when they host Ohio State in Memorial Stadium on Oct 11, assuming they can get by USC at home, and Indiana and Purdue on the road before then.

Michigan State- The Spartans battled Boston College to a draw through 3 quarters and 1 OT period before pulling out the win in the 2nd OT when they were able to convert the 2-pt try after their TD and the Eagles were not. The victory increases MSU's chances of making a bowl game after missing out the last 2 years, and avenges last year's loss in Chestnut Hill.

Purdue- The Boilermakers are 2-0 for the 1st time since 2021, but they'll get their 1st test when they host USC this weekend.

Baylor- The Bears got their 1st win with a thrilling 2OT victory over SMU 48-45. 

Iowa State- The Cyclones became the first 3-0 team, as they won the Cy-Hawk trophy for the 3rd time in 4 years, winning back-to-back for the 1st time since 2011-12. They have 1 more game- at Arkansas State- before they finally get an off week.

The American- The AC had a record of 2-2 against P4 foes this past weekend (wins by USF over Florida, and Army over Kansas State), and are 3-5 overall against P4s, both of which are a better winning percentage than the ACC.

USF- The Bulls open the season with perhaps the hardest 3 opponents of anyone in the FBS, but through the 1st 2/3, they are 2-0 with a game at the Miami Hurricanes on tap. Could they pull a 3rd straight upset and stamp themselves as the G5 team to beat? The road won't be easy, though as they still have games at UNT, Memphis, and Navy, and host UTSA, but they do avoid Tulane and Army.

Army- The Black Knights got their 1st win of the '25 season by going on the road and defeating Kansas State 24-21, and this after losing to FCS Tarleton State last week. When Army doesn't turn the ball over, they are tough to beat, as they dominated the TOP 40:32 to 19:28.

Temple- Though they've only beaten UMass and FCS Howard, the Owls are 2-0 for the 1st time since 2019, when they opened up with wins against Bucknell and Maryland. They lost their 3rd game that season, and I expect a similar result this season, as they host Oklahoma.

UNLV- The Rebels are the 2nd team to reach 3-0, as they dismantled UCLA to put a P4 pelt on their wall. I expected somewhat of a drop off after losing HC Barry Odom to Purdue, but Dan Mullen has so far just continued the success from the last 2 seasons. UNLV has a great chance to be 6-0 when they host Air Force, and a win there would have them at 7-0 when they travel to Boise State.

Texas State- The Bobcats helped their cause (and the Sun Belt's) by besting UTSA from the American Conference. Winning these types of games can only help their reputation when it comes time to decide the G5 representative in the CFP.

Southern Miss- The Golden Eagles broke an 11-game losing streak by getting by FCS Jackson State 38-20. Their next task is to break their 14-game FBS losing streak, and their 9-game SBC losing streak.

Ohio- The Bobcats, after losing by 3 to Rutgers last week, got their 1st win by 7 over West Virginia. If they play Ohio State just as close this weekend, we'll know they have a team that might make the CFP, assuming they win the MAC. There appears to have been no drop off after former HC Tim Albin left to take over Charlotte, as Brian Smith has made the transition from OC to HC appear seamless.

Jacksonville State- The Gamecocks took down Liberty 34-24 to take an early lead in the CUSA race. JSU is looking to repeat as conference champs.

Missouri State- The Bears got their 1st ever win against an FBS team (as an FBS team) with a 21-20 win over Marshall in Huntington, WV. They better not celebrate too much because a disappointed SMU comes to Springfield this weekend.

Losers

Florida- The Gators lost in an upset to USF, and now HC Billy Napier is back on the hot seat. And life isn't going to get any easier, with games at LSU and at Miami the next 2 weeks, and then after a bye week, games versus Texas and at Texas A&M, along with a home game against possibly improved Miss State. Then they get Georgia, at Kentucky, and at Ole Miss before finishing the season at home against Tennessee and FSU. Good luck, UF!

Michigan- While one loss to a quality team- Oklahoma- certainly doesn't derail any plans the Wolverines have for winning the Big Ten or making the CFP, it certainly showcased where their problems lie, and it continues to be offense. UM simply has to execute better in the passing game to keep defenses honest, because right now, if I were a DC planning for this team, I would sell out against the run and trust my DBs to cover 1-on-1 and dare the Wolverines to beat me through the air.

Iowa- The Hawkeyes new-look offense looks a lot like the old one, as they were held to just 83 yards through the air (with an INT) and 214 total yards, and they were also only 5-14 on 3rd downs and 1-2 on 4th. There is still a lot to do to improve on that side of the ball, but they have a decent chance of being 5-1 when they host Penn State on Oct 18. The offense doesn't have to be great; if they could just be average, then with this defense, they would be guaranteed 10 wins.

UCLA- The Bruins are now 0-2 after losing to UNLV, though they nearly came back to tie/win. They even outgained the Rebels as they went 4-5 on 4th downs, but they lost the turnover battle 2-0. I'm not sure UCLA will win a conference game this year, though I'd give them even chances at Northwestern and against Maryland. But first, they need to win vs New Mexico this weekend.

The ACC- The conference was 1-6 vs P4 opponents this past weekend, and are 4-10 in that category the 1st 2 weeks. Only NC State was able to get a win, and that was against fellow ACC member Virginia, where the ACC was guaranteed a win (and a loss!) in a rare intra-conference non-conference matchup. This delivers a serious blow to the perception of the ACC, as Clemson trailed Troy 16-0 before coming back to win, SMU lost to Baylor (who had already lost to Auburn in week 1) in 2 OTs after leading for much of the game, Louisville trailed JMU 14-6 halfway through the 3rd quarter before pulling away to win by 14, UNC got their 1st win, but sleepwalked their way over Charlotte, winning the 2nd half 3-0, Syracuse needed OT to get past UConn, and Duke, VT, BC, and Stanford all lost to Illinois, Vandy, Mich State, and BYU, respectively.

Arizona State- The Sun Devils came back from a 17-0 deficit to tie Mississippi State, and even took a 20-17 lead with 1:41 left to play, but they allowed the Bulldogs to score a late TD with about 30 seconds remaining, and were unable to mount a comeback. 

Kansas State- The Wildcats lost to Army, and it looks like this just could be HC Chris Klieman's worst team in Manhattan (they were 4-6 in his 1st season in 2020).

Oklahoma State- The Cowboys were slaughtered by Oregon by a score of 69-3, and aside from Tulsa, I'm not sure they'll win another game, meaning a 2nd straight 0-9 Big 12 record. Could this be the last season in Stillwater for HC Mike Gundy? OSU has an off week before facing Tulsa at home on a Friday night, so maybe they can get things turned around, but I'm not overly optimistic at this point.

West Virginia- The Mountaineers are the only P4 team to lose to a MAC team, falling 17-10 to Ohio as they were only able to muster a FG after the 1st quarter. I assumed it might be a bit rough this 1st year under new/old HC Rich Rodriguez, but I didn't expect this much tough sledding. It may be a struggle for them to find any wins in their remaining schedule, as they host Pitt this weekend in the Backyard Brawl before opening Big 12 play at Kansas.

The Big 12- As illustrated above, the Big 12 lost 4 high-profile games, severely damaging the perception of the conference, and only the loss to Oregon was not an upset.

Oregon State- The Beavers are 0-2 for the 1st time since 2020, and they still have 4 games against P4 opponents, so they'll need to win all of their other games (including 2 vs Washington State) if they hope to make it back to a bowl, unless they pull an upset or 2. 

UTSA- The Roadrunners started the season with high hopes, and they can still win the AC, but they are 0-2 with losses to in-state opponents Texas A&M and Texas State. However, they should be 5-2 when they travel to New Orleans to take on Tulane the night before Halloween.

Marshall- The Thundering Herd became the 1st FBS team to lose to new FBS member Missouri State, as they were outscored 14-3 in the 2nd half in a 21-20 loss. Marshall dominated statistically, but had trouble getting the ball in the end zone.

The MAC- The Mid-American Conference is only 3-17 against FBS teams, the worst of the FBS conferences, as they are 1-13 vs P4 teams, and only 2-4 against fellow G5 teams.

Miami, Oh- It's not surprising that the Redhawks are 0-2; after all, they've played 2 Big Ten teams. The surprise is that they haven't really been competitive, being outscored 62-17.

Eastern Michigan- The Eagles have reached a new low by losing to FCS Long Island University, as the Sharks achieved their 1st ever win over an FBS team. EMU never led, as they traded scores with LIU. The problem was that the Sharks got TDs, while the Eagles settled for a FG on one of their drives.

Akron- The Zips have been outscored 78-0 in their 2 games against Wyoming and Nebraska, the 1st time they've been shut out since 2023, and their 1st back-to-back shut outs since 2019.

UMass- The Minutemen lost to FCS Bryant on a FG with 4 seconds left. This was after UMass built early 13-0 and 20-3 leads, but the missed XP after their 1st TD turned out to be the difference in the game.

Sam Houston- The Bearkats are the 1st team to fall to 0-3, but in fairness, they've had a tough opening stretch- at WKU, UNLV at home, and at Hawaii. They get an off week before taking on Texas in Austin, and then another before traveling to Las Cruces to play NMSU.

CUSA and the Sun Belt- These 2 conferences are a combined 0-18 against P4 teams, and are just 5-27 (a 15.6% winning pct) against FBS teams.

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!