College Football kicked off on August 23rd in Dublin, Ireland. Let’s make some predictions and look at some of the top storylines as we get ready for the 156th season of NCAA college football.
Heisman Trophy winner: Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State
Smith was exceptional in the 2024-2025 season, recording 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns on 76 receptions. He was already considered one of the best receivers in college football, but his playoff performance sent him to the moon. He had 5 touchdowns and a legendary game clinching reception in the national championship on 3rd and 11 vs Notre Dame. Smith is very obviously set for a Heisman level season, but I have some concerns, mostly about Ohio State’s QB situation. Sophomore Julian Sayin was recently named the week 1 starter. He got a few snaps last season, but he’s ultimately an unknown. Luckily, Smith is the type of receiver who elevates their quarterback, so he should be fine.
Bednarik Award: Colin Simmons, LB, Texas
After doing my research for this section, I’d narrowed it down to two players. Simmons (obviously) and Dylan Stewart from South Carolina. I couldn’t decide, until I saw that Simmons posted Ohio State’s previously mentioned quarterback on his instagram. That made the decision easy. In all seriousness, Simmons was a monster on the line last season, finishing the year with 9 sacks and 31 tackles. Simmons is only a sophomore too, so I expect big improvement from him this season.
Overrated: Alabama?
Everything about this feels so wrong, but it’s the hard truth: The days of Alabama domination are over. They enter the season ranked 8th overall, which would be considered low at any point in the last 15-20 years, but now, it could be considered too high. I’m far from sold on Deboer as a coach, as well as their quarterback Ty Simpson. Ryan Williams is obviously a high point on the roster, along with their strong offensive line, but my concerns still run deep. They match up against Georgia, LSU, South Carolina, and Tennessee over the course of 6 weeks, not to mention rematches against two of their four losses last season, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. I think they’ll finish around 9-3, but their losses to other top teams will stop the Tide from making the playoffs.
Underrated: Georgia Tech
Tech isn’t a team you think of often. The glory days under Paul Johnson in the late 2000s and throughout the 2010s, seem like decades ago after the disaster of Geoff Collins tenure. But there is hope again in Atlanta again! After the breakout 8 OT loss vs Georgia, people started to pay attention to the Yellow Jackets again. Tech returns 9 starters, including RB Jamal Haynes, QB Haynes King, and WR Malik Rutherford. That’s not all though, they made a key move in the transfer portal. The Yellow Jackets acquired FIU standout receiver Eric Rivers, who finished his 2024 campaign with 1172 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. Tech might not be a national title contender, but I think we could see them ranked by the end of the season.
National Champion: Texas
Is Texas finally back? After years of Longhorn fans insisting so, the answer is finally yes. The Longhorns are absolutely loaded. Heisman contender and football golden boy Arch Manning, returning star RB Quintrevion Wisner, up and coming WR Ryan Wingo, preseason 1st team All Americans LB Anthony Hill Jr and S Micheal Taaffe, and previously mentioned LB Colin Simmons, All of those names, and I’ve definitely missed some serious talent. Picking the #1 ranked team in America isn’t exactly a hot take, but it’s the right one, and that’s all that matters.
WEEK 0
Rough day for the Johnson family
Kansas State QB Avery Johnson’s season didn’t get off to the hottest start. His first quarter was abysmal, with Johnson and the Wildcats offense accumulating -3 passing yards in the first quarter. Yikes. After the rain stopped, Avery picked up the pace and finished the game with 273 yards and 3 total touchdowns in Kansas State’s 24-21 loss to the Iowa State Cyclones. So why was it a bad day for the family? Avery’s dad and older brother were caught on camera getting into a fist fight in a parking lot. No context has been provided for the incident so far.
Hawaii’s YouTube kicker walks off Stanford
The story of Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa might be the best in college football. Matsuzawa is from Japan, where American football isn’t very popular. After moving to the United States, Matsuzawa took a liking to the sport and decided that he wanted to learn how to play. Being a former high school soccer player in Japan, he decided to become a kicker. How did he learn how to? YouTube. He attended Hocking College in Ohio (a JUCO school), and worked his way to Hawaii. All of this came full circle when he drilled a 38 yard game winning field goal vs Stanford. Absolutely electric.
Top 5 games of Week 1
1.Texas @ Ohio State
Lee Corso’s last game on College Gameday deserved a matchup of this quality.
My pick: Texas
2.LSU @ Clemson
Winner is the real “Death Valley”
My pick: Clemson
3.Notre Dame @ Miami
Notre Dame looking to get back to the national championship vs Miami trying to bounce back after their 2024 collapse
My pick: Notre Dame
4.Alabama @ Florida State
Florida State comes into this season looking to bounce back from their abysmal 2024 campaign, which won’t be hard to do considering how truly awful they were last year.
My pick: Alabama
5.Georgia Tech @ Colorado
How will Deion’s Buffalos bounce back after losing Heisman winner Travis Hunter and star QB Shedeur Sanders? Will Georgia Tech prove me right? We’ll find out Friday.
My pick: Georgia Tech
