Buffalo Rumblings
There were some prospect performances that would disappoint by all accounts, but the first week of college football certainly lived up to its own hype with multiple highlight matchups over the course of the weekend. The featured game of the week shined a spotlight on No. 1 Texas traveling to “The Shoe” to face Ohio State. Some were thinking it may have been fireworks in Columbus, but it ended as a 14-7 rock fight with the Buckeyes stealing one at home. Junior quarterback Arch Manning, a player who has plenty of hype entering 2025, did not play well. The 17-of-30 170-yard passing line was inflated a good bit late in the game. First-time college defensive coordinator Matt Patricia had Manning and the Longhorns solved all afternoon.
Eighth-ranked Alabama closed as 14-point road favorites over unranked Florida State in Tallahassee. The wrong team looked favored as the Seminoles punched the ‘Tide in the mouth early and that continued over the course of four quarters with a 31-17 final for the Seminoles over the talent-heavy Crimson Tide. Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson waited his turn multiple years sitting behind future NFL quarterbacks. But it looked a bit fast for Simpson who held the ball and seemed a tad late to read the field. Florida State looked like a completely different team coming off of 2-10 a year ago while Alabama not matching physicality in a marquee game was a shock to the system.
It was a Tigers vs. Tigers contest in Clemson and another low scoring bout at that. Clemson’s offense had some dysfunction to it and LSU’s defense looked completely revived in another grinding battle with two well-oiled defenses. Ninth-ranked LSU took down No. 4 on the road, 17-10. Clemson didn’t have a rush over 7 yards in the game. Garrett Nussmeier looked calm and collected despite a middling statline, while Cade Klubnik on the other side looked sped up and out of sync.
Sunday night’s top 10 matchup between No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 10 Miami brought some excitement with the ‘Canes getting out to a sizeable lead before allowing the Irish to get back into the fight towards the end of it. Miami’s front was unblockable at times and the ‘Canes’ offensive line owned their territory as well. Brand new Irish starting quarterback CJ Carr flashed some, but he mostly looked uncomfortable and wasn’t able to overcome some of his offensive line’s shortcomings. Miami came out on top 27-24.
There were plenty of impressive prospects who put quality performances on display this past week. Let’s talk three players who only helped their stock with their performances.
Reese stood out in a massive way as he helped lead the Buckeyes to victory on Saturday afternoon. Ohio’s defense is led by the likes of star safety Caleb Downs, Sonny Styles, and Davison Igbinosun, but it was Reese flashing all over the place for...
