Takeaways from Week 2 of the 2025 College Football Season + Predictions for Week 3

I didn’t get to make a full set of picks for week 2, but of the picks I made, I was way wrong about several teams, especially Arizona State.

Clemson looks to be overrated even though they found a way to win. Alabama bounced back nicely along with Texas, and Ohio State and Tennessee were two other schools to score 70+ points in their games.

But the most impressive guy to me this week was Oklahoma’s John Mateer. That dude is a baller. I’d be willing to call him the Heisman frontrunner right now. Oklahoma was limited to 24 points and it looked like they’d score way more, but he was a playmaker yesterday. That’s what guys like Joe Burrow or Bryce Young or Jayden Daniels did. They didn’t have the best statistics necessarily, and are part of good teams, but they were always playmakers. Keep in mind that the gaudiest stats don’t always get the award either.

Sherrone Moore will now serve his two-game suspension for this season, missing games against Central Michigan and Nebraska, but it isn’t all a bad thing if I were to put myself in his shoes. He doesn’t get to lead the team or be around them this week, but he can still be innovative and creative with schemes and wrinkles to think about. He can still study film at home or wherever he is. I think they should still win the games for which he is suspended, as Nebraska hasn’t seen a defense like Michigan’s.

A few days passed since the above text and I think plenty of fans agree that John Mateer is the frontrunner for the Heisman right now, so it isn’t as hot of a take as I initially believed. As the first quarter of the season nears its end, it seemed unfathomable that Texas could be starting down having two losses as the preseason number 1 at the halfway point in the season should they stumble to Oklahoma particularly. The last team to do that was USC in 2012 I believe.

Week 0 and 1 I went a combined 84-12 with my picks, and week 2 with only the top 25 I was 17-6. Not bad, but it brings my total to 101-18, a shade above 85% for the season.

My week 3 picks are below, and there are quite a few good games, headlined by the SEC traveling to Notre Dame and a battle between Georgia and Tennessee.

September 11 (1 game):

NC State (-7.5) def. Wake Forest, 27-24

September 12 (5 games):

22) Indiana (-48.5) def. Indiana State, 73-14
Syracuse (-37.5) def. Colgate, 51-10
Colorado def. Houston (-4.5), 31-28 (X)
Arizona def. Kansas State (-1.5), 34-30
UCLA (-14.5) def. New Mexico, 35-14 (X)

September 13 (64 games):

4) Oregon (-26.5) def. Northwestern, 41-6
Georgia Tech def. 12) Clemson, 27-24
13) Oklahoma (-20.5) def. Temple, 48-20
19) Alabama (-20.5) def. Wisconsin, 31-21
23) Michigan (-27.5) def. Central Michigan, 38-7
Nebraska (-42) def. Houston Christian, 55-3
Maryland (-29) def. Towson, 41-10
Virginia (-26.5) def. William & Mary, 42-14
Baylor (-47.5) def. Samford, 52-6
Memphis (-4.5) def. Troy, 27-20
Buffalo (-23.5) def. Kent State, 45-17
24) Auburn (-24.5) def. South Alabama, 41-14
25) Missouri (-27.5) def. Louisiana, 45-10
Ball State (-1) def. New Hampshire, 27-26
Delaware def. UConn (-7.5), 30-23
2) Penn State (-47.5) def. Villanova, 42-7
6) Georgia (-3.5) def. 15) Tennessee, 34-20
21) Texas Tech (-23.5) def. Oregon State, 41-17
USC (-20.5) def. Purdue, 55-21
Rutgers def. Norfolk State, 38-17
Michigan State (-23.5) def. Youngstown State, 41-10
North Texas (-5.5) def. Washington State, 34-27
SMU (-27.5) df. Missouri State, 48-21
Pitt (-7.5) def. West Virginia, 30-24
North Carolina (-22) def. Richmond, 38-10
Cincinnati def. Northwestern State, 37-7
UTSA (-17) def. Incarnate Word, 42-20
Toledo def. Morgan State, 48-3
14) Iowa State (-21.5) def. Arkansas State, 38-17
7) Texas (-40.5) def. UTEP, 45-3
5) Miami (FL) (-17.5) def. 18) South Florida, 41-27
Bowling Green def. Liberty (-5.5), 30-27
Nevada (-8.5) def. Middle Tennessee, 35-21
Mississippi State def. Alcorn State, 48-7
Florida International (-1.5) def. Florida Atlantic, 30-26
Kennesaw State (-10) def. Merrimack, 27-20
Marshall (-14.5) def. Eastern Kentucky, 34-20
Charlotte (-3.5) def. Monmouth, 38-31
1) Ohio State (-28.5) def. Ohio, 52-3
9) Illinois (-27.5) def. Western Michigan, 42-10
17) Ole Miss (-6.5) def. Arkansas, 38-35
Virginia Tech (-5.5) def. Old Dominion, 28-21
Jacksonville State def. Georgia Southern (-2.5), 31-27
Georgia State def. Murray State, 38-34
Appalachian State (-3.5) def. Southern Miss, 35-27
Rice def. Prairie View A&M, 41-14
3) LSU (-6.5) def. Florida, 31-21
8) Notre Dame (-6.5) def. 16) Texas A&M, 28-26
Kentucky (-26.5) def. Eastern Michigan, 31-17
Iowa (-34.5) def. UMass, 41-7
Louisiana Tech (-10.5) def. New Mexico State, 27-17
East Carolina (-9.5) def. Coastal Carolina, 38-28
11) South Carolina (-2.5) def. Vanderbilt, 31-28
20) Utah (-23.5) def. Wyoming, 38-14
Duke def. Tulane (-1.5), 34-31
TCU (-39.5) def. Abilene Christian, 51-10
Navy (-13.5) def. Tulsa, 35-21
UAB (-11.5) def. Akron, 37-26
Air Force (-3.5) def. Utah State, 27-23
Fresno State (-35) def. Southern, 45-14
Minnesota (-2.5) def. California, 27-20
Boston College (-14.5) def. Stanford, 34-20
Arizona State (-18.5) def. Texas State, 41-24
Hawaii (-38.5) def. Portland State, 49-7