Thank you, Missouri football, for maintaining your Thursday-night-opener tradition.
A freed-up Saturday meant I could watch college football from Lee Corso’s farewell to Utah and UCLA’s late-night, Pac-12 throwback. It was glorious.
There aren’t many days off in football season, so I was more than happy to take one filled with the reigning national champions teaching the new Longhorn on the block a lesson, Thomas Castellanos’ Crimson triumph in Tallahassee and former Mizzou coordinator Blake Baker’s play-calling masterclass for LSU in Clemson.Â
But, I didn’t just spend my day (three days, if you count the Friday and Sunday games) indulging in the matchups of the day. That’s not, despite my best wishes, what I was hired here to do.Â
So, here’s what I learned about every 2025 Mizzou opponent from my CFB marathon:
Kansas: Offense dominant vs Wagner, Fresno State
This Kansas offense, with quarterback Jalon Daniels fully healthy, is intriguing and has made the Border War revival an even-more fascinating matchup. The Jayhawks have averaged 507 yards of offense over their two games.
This will be a major test — a bigger test than some of you likely are hoping for — for Mizzou’s defense this upcoming Saturday.Â
Ball State transfer Cam Pickett and Alabama transfer Emmanuel Henderson Jr. have combined for 260 receiving yards and five touchdowns. The run game looks solid between Daniels’ mobility and lead back Daniel Hishaw Jr.
Something else to know before Saturday is a potential injury to linebacker Bangally Kamara.
Alabama: Tide stunned by FSU, ultra-mobile QB
Well, then.
Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, a mentor to Eli Drinkwitz, had Alabama’s defense in disarray in a stunning 31-17, FSU win.Â
The Tide didn’t have an answer to quarterback Thomas Castellanos’ spellbinding legs. FSU’s run game feasted.
It’s worth operating under the assumption that Florida State isn’t even remotely close to its lackluster 2024 self, and Alabama will figure out some struggles before its Oct. 11 visit to Mizzou, but this was a very interesting turn of events and one that puts the Crimson Tide under intense scrutiny for the remainder of the year.
I’m now highly intrigued about the Beau Pribula matchup. Alabama couldn’t stop Castellanos. Will the Crimson Tide have similar struggles against Pribula’s elite mobility?
Familiar QB strong as Auburn beats Baylor
Jackson Arnold had quite a day in Waco.
The quarterback looked like a changed man (in other words, not the one who fumbled last year’s Mizzou-Oklahoma game away) now that he’s out of Norman and part of what may be a much-improved Auburn offense. He rushed for 137 yards and two touchdowns.
There were still significant pressure issues and the Tigers didn’t exactly light Baylor up with their strong group of wideouts, but Arnold navigated it well and was extremely impressive in the run game in a 38-24 win over Baylor.
Mizzou’s first road game — all the way in mid-October — is definitely not going to be easy.
South Carolina QB Sellers is still great. His supporting cast? Let’s see
A 24-11 win over Virginia Tech showed the Gamecocks have some issues to navigate. First and foremost: The South Carolina offensive line was atrocious.Â
Sellers is the real deal, and he did a tremendous job making plays under pressure, but his downfield options were drop-prone and the run game wasn’t getting much help up front. That’s not a great recipe for long-term success.
The defense doesn’t seem to have had much of a dropoff despite losing five NFL Draft picks.
I still expect this to be a close matchup in Week 4 in Columbia, but I feel better about Mizzou’s chances now than I did entering Sunday.
Jury out on key Texas A&M positions
I blindly assumed two things about Texas A&M entering the season. One: The run game would be good with three talented returners and a mobile QB in Marcel Reed; Two: Despite an NFL-exodus along the defensive line, head coach Mike Elko would have no issue finding replacements up front.
That was not the case in Week 1. The rushing offense took the backseat as wide receivers KC Concepcion and Mario Craver were the most impressive players on the field for the Aggies, and the Aggies’ rush defense was questionable in their 42-24 win over UTSA.
Mississippi State has dudes at RB
Ohio State versus Texas took the bulk of my 11 a.m. Saturday attention. But any time I switched the channel to the game in Hattiesburg, Mississippi State was running the you-know-what out of the ball.
Running backs Fluff Bothwell and Davon Booth will be vitally important to the Bulldogs this season. They went for 26 carries, 122 yards and three touchdowns and provide a dangerous 1-2 punch out of the backfield. This is not likely to be a great Bulldogs squad this year, but Booth and Bothwell look like talented players.
Has Arkansas offense improved?
This game was a little bit of an afterthought as it overlapped with Bama-FSU. Take it with a grain of salt as the opponent was Alabama A&M, yes, but Year 2 of quarterback Taylen Green and offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino appears to have got off to a good start.
Green had six touchdown passes and 322 passing yards before taking his leave in the third quarter. That was spread around 10 receivers.
Still, Green took a couple sacks, which was the obvious Achilles Heel last year. We’re a long, long way away from the Battle Line game, but that’s already something to watch.
Oklahoma comfortable, not exceptional
There isn’t much to glean from OU’s 35-3 win over Illinois State. New QB John Mateer was productive with 392 passing yards, and the Sooners’ defense was as advertised and dominant.Â
But, the offense stalled out quite frequently, despite Mateer’s strong numbers. The run game was poor with Jaydyn Ott mostly held out with a shoulder injury. We’ll see where OU goes as his recovery continues.
Opponents we did not watch
Sorry to Vanderbilt-Charleston Southern, Louisiana-Rice and UMass-Temple, but those games did not get any TV time in my household. I’ve missed college football, but not that much.
Vandy comfortably took care of Charleston Southern — a 1-11 FCS team last season. Little to learn there, other than the Commodores being a little penalty prone in a 45-3 win.
The Ragin’ Cajuns, who Mizzou will host in Week 3, lost 14-12 at home to Rice. Even more notably, starting quarterback Walker Howard left the game with an injury.
Mizzou’s homecoming opponent, UMass, fell 42-10 at home against Temple.
