No. 20 Ole Miss at Kentucky: 27-13 — Ole Miss wins (Nate Donohue)
Kentucky will hope to recreate the most electric moment of their 2024 season, when they shocked the AP No. 6 Rebels in Oxford for their only SEC win.
The Wildcats, unfortunately, will need a miracle in this one. In Week 1, they defeated Toledo by only a single score, 24-16. Kentucky’s air attack was miserable: quarterback Zach Calzada threw for only 85 yards along with an interception.
Kentucky will lean heavily on its ground game. Last week, transfer running back Dante Dowdell rushed for 129 yards, including a 79-yard touchdown run. Fellow running back Seth McGowan added 78 yards on 18 attempts.
Against a Rebel front seven consisting of edge rushers Da’Shawn Womack and Suntarine Perkins, the Wildcats will have more trouble running the ball than they did against Toledo. However, the Rebel defense allowed 191 rushing yards against Georgia State last week, including a few long gains. The Wildcats’ only hope is to pound the run until the Rebels wear out.
This game will be an important test for the Rebel offense. Simmons threw two sloppy interceptions against a porous Georgia State defense last week. Of course, he also added 342 passing yards and 3 touchdowns, yet his performance was far from perfect: he chased the big play too often and failed to go through his progressions multiple times.
The Rebel ground game was stellar against the Panthers. Ole Miss averaged 6.7 yards per carry and amassed 295 yards and four touchdowns. Even if Simmons stumbles against an SEC defense, the Rebel rushing attack should still keep Ole Miss above water. Despite some errors from Simmons, the Rebels will win this one convincingly.
No. 15 Michigan at No. 18 Oklahoma: 28-17 — Oklahoma wins (Dylan Liggett)
No. 15 Michigan opened its season with an unremarkable 34-17 victory over New Mexico. The Wolverines looked best on the ground: junior running back Justice Haynes piled up over 159 yards rushing and three touchdowns, while five-star freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood completed 67.7% of his passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns.
Michigan’s defense looked a little weaker than typical, but if the Wolverine offense can continue to hammer the run and the defense can pick up its play a bit, Michigan could very well defeat the Sooners on Saturday.
If No. 18 Oklahoma wants to win come Saturday, they need to play exactly how they did last week against Illinois State. Transfer quarterback John Mateer broke a school record. He threw for 392 yards and three touchdowns, surpassing Baker Mayfield’s record for the most yards thrown in a debut game for the Sooners.
The Sooners ran the ball well, too, and they played lockdown defense. They have a new team leader in Mateer who can clearly take over the game. With the added advantage of a home field night game, expect Oklahoma to dominate come Saturday night.
Iowa at No. 16 Iowa State: 27-20 — Iowa State wins (Will Wright)
Few rivalries cut through a state the way the Cy-Hawk does. While most rivalry showdowns take place in November to add fuel to the playoff chase, Iowa and Iowa State have no need for extra buildup: the game itself is enough.
This year, the No. 16 Iowa State Cyclones who enter with momentum. At 2-0 with a Top 25 win already on the résumé, Matt Campbell’s team looks sharp, confident and determined to earn its third straight win over its in-state rival. Quarterback Rocco Becht has settled into a rhythm, and the Cyclone defense is playing with the kind of energy that makes the team dangerous in big games.
Iowa, meanwhile, looks familiar: the Hawkeyes, though talented and disciplined, are still fighting their own reputation on offense. In their season opener, the Hawkeyes managed just 48 passing yards against Albany, which highlights ongoing concerns about quarterback play and explosiveness.
But when it comes to running the football, Iowa remains true to its identity. The Hawkeyes accumulated 310 yards on the ground last week, bludgeoning their way to a comfortable win.
That sets up the defining question of Saturday’s showdown in Ames, Iowa: Can the Cyclones stop the Hawkeyes on the ground? If Iowa State clogs the rushing lanes and forces Iowa to throw, the Cyclones hold the upper hand. If not, the Hawkeyes may very well grind their way to another ugly, hard-fought victory — the kind this rivalry has produced time and time again.
Either way, the winner will not just walk away with a trophy. They will own bragging rights across the state for the next 365 days. And in the Cy-Hawk rivalry, that means everything.
No. 12 Arizona State at Mississippi State: 38-14 — ASU wins (Wilson Engeriser)
No. 12 Arizona State has made plenty of headlines leading up to this matchup: For instance, ASU’s attempt to recreate Mississippi State’s famous cowbell noise by pumping it through their speakers during practice and with ASU’s head coach Kenny Dillingham’s quips during a press conference.
“We have to stay about an hour and 20 minutes away from the stadium this week because that’s the nearest hotel that’s not a casino,” Dillingham said.
Media sensationalism aside, Arizona State has the upper hand in this game, while MSU is a far cry from the AP Top 25. ASU’s offensive success channels through its quarterback, Sam Leavitt. Leavitt had over 250 yards passing, 73 yards rushing and four total touchdowns in their win against Northern Arizona this past weekend.
With the departure of running back Cam Skattebo to the NFL, a big question remained about ASU’s run game. Leavitt had one explosive 52-yard touchdown run last week, where he eluded three defenders and outran two others. However, outside of Leavitt, ASU only ran the ball 14 times, a massive dropoff from Skattebo’s 22.5 rushing attempts per game one year ago.
Leavitt’s favorite receiving target, Jordyn Tyson, returned this year after a 1,100-yard and 10-touchdown season. Tyson picked up right where he left off with 12 receptions for 141 yards and two touchdowns.
While Northern Arizona was an FCS opponent, the Sun Devils’ defense still looked ferocious. Their front seven notched three sacks and eight tackles for loss, while the secondary added five pass deflections and an interception.
Last week, Mississippi State beat Southern Miss 34-17 to earn bragging rights for the second-best team in the state. However, the game was closer than the score indicates. The teams were tied at 10 at halftime before State was able to pull away.
Quarterback Blake Shapen carved up the Golden Eagles’ defense. He threw for 270 yards and a touchdown on a 76.5% completion percentage and only took one sack. The passing attack was boosted by the wide receiver transfers of Brenen Thompson from Oklahoma and Anthony Evans III from Georgia.
MSU’s rushing game was not explosive; their longest rush was only 16 yards. However, the Bulldogs averaged almost five yards per carry, with running backs Davon Booth and Fluff Bothwell complementing each other well in the backfield.
While both teams have strengths and weaknesses, ASU has better experience and skill. There is a reason that ASU is ranked as one of the top teams in the country, and this game will highlight the discrepancy.
Oklahoma State at No. 6 Oregon: 48-17 — Oregon wins (Aidan Poniatowski)
The No. 6 Oregon Ducks and Oklahoma State Cowboys –– two Power 4 teams fresh off big wins against FCS opponents –– will meet in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday afternoon.
Oregon, coming off a College Football Playoff berth and a perfect regular season in 2024, is looking to keep up last season’s momentum. The transition from current Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel and redshirt sophomore quarterback Dante Moore was seamless: Moore delivered 213 passing yards and 3 touchdowns without an interception in the Ducks’ 59-13 win against the Montana State Bobcats.
Oklahoma State, meanwhile, had a big win to match, defeating the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks 27-7 last week. However, the win took a toll, as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback Hauss Hejny injured his foot and will miss multiple weeks.
Head coach Mike Gundy and the Cowboys are hungry to get back into winning form. The Cowboys won only three games last season, none of which were against in-conference opponents.
It also appears that the Cowboys are quite salty. On Monday, Gundy called out the Oregon Duck’s coffers, highlighting the disparity between Oregon’s $40 million annual football budget and Oklahoma State’s $7 million budget divided across three years.
“From a nonconference standpoint, there’s coaches saying they should (play teams with similar budgets),” Gundy said.
Oregon head coach Dan Landing fired back in his own press conference on Monday.
“We spend to win,” Lanning said. “Some people save to have an excuse for why they don’t … I can’t speak on their situation; I have no idea what they got in their pockets over there.”
Lanning insinuated that Gundy was being hypocritical, considering the Cowboys’ Week 1 matchup.
“I’m sure UT-Martin maybe didn’t have as much as them last week and they played them,” Lanning said. “So we’ll let it play out.”
Oregon enters the game as 28.5-point favorites. The Ducks outperform, or perhaps “outspend,” the Cowboys in every metric. While a successful day for Cowboys backup quarterback Zane Flores would be a great story, a 136-yard outing with no touchdowns thrown last week against UT-Martin does not inspire confidence.
Expect Lanning and the Ducks to dominate in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday.
