I’m more than excited to bring back a tradition as old as time; the weekly recap of the top college football matches from the weekend. In this week’s case, the action extended all the way to Monday with Bill Belichick’s first game as a collegiate head coach at North Carolina.

 I’d also like to announce that these weekly recap’s are now a joint affair in the Kent Stater Sports Department, as Demetri Manousos will be joining me in covering the next six months of America’s greatest pastime. 

With that being said, it’s time to break down the action and put a few teams under the microscope in this week’s rendition of the recap roulette. 

Buckeyes lock down Arch Manning and top-ranked Longhorns in Columbus 

 A lot was riding on this top five matchup between Ohio State and Texas. Not only was this their second meeting of 2025, a rematch of last season’s Cotton Bowl, this was the headliner of Lee Corso’s final “College Gameday” on ESPN.

In a theme that encapsulated this week, defense was the name of the game with both teams combining for just 21 points. In the end, it seemed the bright lights and play calling of Buckeye defensive coordinator Matt Patricia got the best of Texas sophomore quarterback Arch Manning, who threw for an unimpressive 170 yards and one interception on a day where the Longhorns just couldn’t get it done on fourth down. 

Ohio State won by a final score of 14-7 and certified themselves as fan-favorite repeat champions this season.  QB Julian Sayin performed solidly in his first career start, throwing a deep ball touchdown to junior wide receiver Carnell Tate and airing out 126 passing yards as the Buckeyes called a conservative game on offense.

Moving forward, OSU is favored to win each game left on the schedule, and for good reason, as this team has serious chops on both sides of the ball.

Seminoles use transfer portal to start 2025 season with win over No. 8 Alabama

After a disastrous 2-10 season, Florida State picked up 23 transfers in the offseason along with new offensive coordinator and former head coach, Gus Malzahn. The new-look Seminoles offense, which had just one returning starter on offense, scored on each of its first three drives in the first half to take a 17-7 lead into halftime.

Florida State was forced to punt on its first drive of the second half, but a 64-yard pass on the first play of the Seminole’s next drive set up a short touchdown run to stretch the lead to 24-10.

Alabama scored the next 10 points, but Florida State’s run game added another touchdown, and the defense forced an Alabama turnover on downs. Nine straight FSU runs bled out the clock and sealed the 31-17 victory. 

The win earned the Seminoles a spot in the top 25 for the first time since week 2 of last season, with a No. 14 ranking heading into next week. After a fifth loss in its last 10 games, Alabama slid all the way down to No. 22 and is now in danger of being unranked for the first time since the end of the 2007 season.

Bayou Bengals win first season opener since 2019, take down No. 4 Clemson on the road

The LSU Tigers placed a big emphasis on starting 1-0 for the first time in six years, and though this may have been the team’s toughest week 1 opponent in that span, they finally got the job done.

Both offenses struggled, but a Clemson fumble and recovery set up the offense deep inside LSU territory. Clemson, however, gained no yards on the ensuing possession, and was forced to kick a field goal to take an early 3-0 lead. LSU later tied the game with a field goal of its own, but the home Tigers took the lead back the next drive with a 13-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run on fourth and goal.

Clemson took a 10-3 lead into halftime, but had a complete collapse in the second half with a missed field goal, an interception, two punts and two turnovers on downs. Though it was a grind, LSU managed to tie the game in the third quarter with a touchdown before taking a 17-10 lead early in the fourth quarter with another.

The SEC Tigers leaned on the defense to close out the game, and eventually walked away with the victory, which was enough to land them at No. 3 in the new AP rankings. As for Clemson, it dropped to No. 8 and will look to regroup against Troy before starting its conference schedule.

Beck, Hurricanes, avenge woeful 2024 finish in exhilarating plays against Notre Dame

Both the Miami Hurricanes and senior transfer quarterback Carson Beck are coming off a disappointing end to last season. The “U” dropped crucial games to Georgia Tech and Syracuse that kept them out of the 12 team playoff. As for Beck, he started off strong but finished the season with question marks about ball handling and suffered an elbow injury in the SEC Championship, before declaring for the NFL Draft and then transferring to Miami. 

After the Irish led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter, Beck threw a dime to freshman wideout Malachi Toney and followed it with another touchdown pass to senior CJ Daniels, the latter being a one-handed highlight reel snag à la Odell Beckham Jr. 

At the end of the third quarter, Miami led 24-10 before Notre Dame would embark on an ambitious comeback that resulted in freshman quarterback CJ Carr tying the game on a rushing touchdown. However, it was too little too late as Beck would lead the Hurricanes on a go-ahead drive that put Miami up 27-24 with a game-winning field goal.

The win pushed the Hurricanes to a No. 5 ranking in the AP Poll, and placed them in the mix with other contenders for a chance to compete for the national championship. Furthermore, with Clemson’s loss to LSU, the Tigers will be playing catch-up in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings for the rest of the season. 

Looking ahead 

All eyes will be on No. 18 Oklahoma as the Sooners take on No. 15 Michigan, who left fans with a lot to be desired in the win against New Mexico. 

This week brought exactly what fans were hoping for, and even if the games weren’t exactly abundant in the scoring department, they still brought entertainment and enthusiasm for the opening of a great Fall tradition. Moving forward, who knows what to expect?

Gage Wellman is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected] or @GageWellmanKSTV on X.

Demetri Manousos is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].