Five Games We’re Watching… and some things we watched
A full slate of games is on tap for college football fans this weekend, with a number of games falling squarely in the “Too Close To Call” category. Cherished traditions, clashes between blue bloods, and games which could be playoff previews mark the schedule this week as college football ramps up.
- Rutgers (0-1) at Boston College (0-1)
6 p.m. CT | Friday, Sept. 11 | Alumni Stadium | Chestnut Hill, Mass. | ESPN2
Rutgers Game Notes | BC Game Notes | Live Stats
Early in the season, both Rutgers and Boston College face a non-conference game that could be considered a must-win for both teams. Last week, the Scarlet Knights opened the season with a tough 37-21 loss to UMass, while Boston College’s season opener was a 34-15 setback at Cincinnati.
Coach Greg Schiano is in his 18th season overall at Rutgers, and in the seventh season of his second stint “On The Banks.” A 2006 Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year finalist, Schiano is vying for his 100th career win as a head coach. Across the sidelines leading Boston College is 2012 National Coach of the Year Bill O’Brien. On paper, this figures to be one of the closest games of the week; however, a far more important note is that this will be the 13th annual Red Bandanna game, falling on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
During the attacks, 1999 Boston College graduate Welles Crowther, a former varsity lacrosse player, was working as an equities trader in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He used a red bandanna to cover his nose and mouth, guiding over a dozen survivors down flights of stairs to safety before losing his life when the tower collapsed.
On Sept. 8 of this year, Crowther was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
BC will wear special Red Bandanna-themed uniforms, while Rutgers will honor all of those whose lives were lost on that tragic day with “Never Forget” lettering on their pants and a “37” decal on their helmet, honoring the 37 Rutgers University alumni who lost their lives on 9/11.
- #11/10 Oklahoma (1-0) at NR/#24 Michigan (1-0)
11 a.m. CT | Saturday, Sept. 12 | Michigan Stadium | Ann Arbor, Mich. | FOX
OU Game Notes | Michigan Game Notes | Live Stats
Coach Kyle Whittingham’s debut at the University of Michigan dominated the media cycle in week 1 – and not for the reasons that the 2008 National Coach of the Year would like. But with the controversy of the season-opening win in the rear-view mirror, Whittingham and the Wolverines shift their focus to a visiting blue blood program – coach Brent Venables’ Oklahoma Sooners.
While OU and UM are two of the winningest programs in college football history – Oklahoma ranks fifth all-time with a .723 winning percentage, while Michigan ranks fourth at .732 – the two programs have only met on the gridiron twice; with the Sooners winning both meetings. Last season, the Sooners won a 24-13 contest in Norman; and the first-ever meeting came in the 1976 Orange Bowl, where a pair of Lifetime Achievement Award winners squared off. The legendary Barry Switzer led the Sooners to a 14-6 victory over Bo Schembechler and the Wolverines on Jan. 1, 1976. This week’s meeting will be the first-ever in the Big House.
Michigan has traditionally played well against Southeastern Conference member schools – the Wolverines have a 27-15-1 record all-time against current SEC members (LSU is the only program which Michigan has never played).
Meanwhile, the Sooners have won their last five true road games against Big Ten opponents, and enter this marquee matchup after a season-opening 51-0 win over UTEP.
The game is OU’s second-ever game played in the state of Michigan with the first coming back on Sept. 26, 1947, when the Sooners topped the University of Detroit 24-40 in Bud Wilkinson’s first game as the head coach at OU.
- Mississippi State (1-0) at RV/RV Minnesota (1-0)
2:30 p.m. CT | Saturday, Sept. 12 | Huntington Bank Stadium | Minneapolis, Minn. | CBS
MSU Game Notes | UM Game Notes | Live Stats
Minnesota and Mississippi State square off in another one of the week’s matchups that projects to be one of the closest of the week. The first-ever meeting between the two universities, Saturday’s contest actually marks the first time an SEC team has travelled to face the Golden Gophers since Vanderbilt made the trip north in 1959. The only previous time Minnesota hosted an SEC team was in 1939, when the Gophers hosted Tulane. That 1959 matchup with Vanderbilt was the last time Minnesota faced a team that was a member of the SEC at the time of the game, while the last time Minnesota faced a team that is currently in the SEC was in 1986, when the Gophers visited Oklahoma. (Isn’t conference re-alignment fun?)
In his third season at Mississippi State, Jeff Lebby opened the season by leading the Bulldogs to a 62-13 win over Louisiana-Monroe, while Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck picked up a 59-7 win over Eastern Illinois in the opening week.
While the two teams have never played, the game will be a bit of a homecoming for several Bulldogs as three former Minnesota Vikings offensive linemen and the sons of two other Vikings players are part of the Bulldogs program (h/t Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune).
One key narrative in the game is the battle for supremacy between the Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences in college football. Minnesota has won three of its last four meetings against SEC teams – most recently a 31-24 win over Auburn in the 2020 Outback Bowl.
Of note from the opening week – Mississippi State’s penalty-free first half against ULM was its first half of football without a penalty in the last four seasons, while Minnesota fifth-year senior Javon Tracy – who entered the game with zero career punt returns – became the first Gopher ever to score two punt return touchdowns in one game.
- RV/RV Memphis (2-0) at RV/RV Boise State (0-1)
5:00 p.m. CT | Saturday, Sept. 12 | Albertsons Stadium | Boise, Idaho | USA
Memphis Game Notes | Boise State Game Notes | Live Stats
Saturday’s game between Charles Huff’s Memphis squad and Spencer Danielson’s Boise State squad is a matchup between two teams who could represent the G6 schools in the College Football Playoff this year.
It is the second all-time meeting between the two schools, with Memphis taking a 35-32 win in Memphis back in 2023.
The Huff era at Memphis is off to a fantastic start, with Huff earning National Coach of the Week honors after the season-opening win at UNLV, followed by a dominant 42-24 home win over Arkansas State. The Broncos went down to the wire in a season-opening loss at No. 2 Oregon, falling 34-27 to the Ducks in Eugene.
The Tigers posted over 500 yards of total offense while snatching four interceptions in the win over Arkansas State, while running back Jaylin Carter was named American Conference Offensive Player of the Week after his 183-yard, four-touchdown performance in the win.
Meanwhile, Danielson and the Broncos were held to 274 yards of offense in the season-opening loss, but were tied at 27-27 with the Ducks midway through the fourth quarter of the season-opening matchup. Working in the Broncos’ favor is their historic dominance in home openers. Boise State is 27-3 in home openers since joining the FBS ranks in 1996 – a 90.0 percent clip that just outpaces the 89.6 percent winning percentage that Boise State has posted at home since 2000. Danielson is 14-1 on the blue turf during his tenure.
- #1/1 Ohio State (1-0) at #4/3 Texas (1-0)
6:30 p.m. CT | Saturday, Sept. 12 | DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium | Austin, Texas | ABC
Ohio State Game Notes | UT Game Notes | Live Stats
In the unquestioned marquee game of the week, Ryan Day leads the top-ranked Buckeyes into Austin for a matchup against Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns.
The sixth all-time meeting between the two schools, Ohio State holds a 3-2 advantage in the series. The Longhorns will be looking for their first win against Ohio State since Mack Brown led the Longhorns, as the Buckeyes won tightly-contested matchups in the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Both teams have been ranked inside the top-10 in each of the prior meetings.
The respective resumes of both programs are well-documented for those who haven’t lived under a rock; but for the benefit of the rock dwellers, we’ll paint the picture.
Ohio State has the highest winning percentage in college football history at .737, while Texas ranks seventh at .705. Day is 25-6 in 31 non-conference games at Ohio State, with seven top-ten victories – including a win last year against the then-top-ranked Longhorns.
Under Sarkisian, Texas has turned in three straight 10-win seasons, marking the first time the Horns have recorded three consecutive 10-win seasons since registering nine straight from 2001-09. Texas has posted 10 wins against top-25 opponents over the last two seasons – the most of any FBS program. And perhaps most importantly going into Saturday’s matchup – the Longhorns are 20-1 at home under Sarkisian since 2023.
This game could very well be the game of the year.
Other Things To Watch.. And Some Things We Watched
- BEAR BOWL – Two teams coached by the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant will square off, as the Alabama Crimson Tide head north to Lexington to face the Kentucky Wildcats.
- BIG IN THE BIG 12 – Arizona travels to BYU for a matchup between two teams that could compete in the Big 12 championship game.
- BORDER WAR – Missouri and Kansas square off in Lawrence in the last scheduled installment of the rivalry until 2031.
- FBS UPSETS? – Three ranked FCS teams square off against FBS opposition and could prove to be tough tests – No. 1 Montana State travels to Nevada, and the Bobcats are looking for another FBS win after knocking off New Mexico during the 2024 season. No. 5 Illinois State heads to Northern Illinois, and No. 21 Villanova heads to Louisville in games that we will be watching closely. Three FCS teams knocked off FBS teams last weekend – could history repeat itself one week later?
- LIFE IN THE DEUCE – Two-time defending Division II national champion and top-ranked Ferris State heads west for a matchup with No. 9 Central Washington. Ferris State has established a true dynasty under head coach Tony Annese, having won four national championships in the last five seasons. The Bulldogs have won 32 consecutive games dating back to a season-opening loss in 2024, and have won 30 consecutive home games. Since 2023, Ferris State is 116-7 in regular-season matchups.
- D3 POWERHOUSES COLLIDE – Top-ranked North Central College heads to Iowa for a matchup with No. 9 Wartburg on Saturday in the first meeting for the two schools since the 2023 Division III Semifinals. That matchup – the only previous meeting between the two schools – was won by North Central 34-27. With a win, North Central head coach Brad Spencer would tie the legendary Walter Camp – the “Father of American Football” – as the quickest coach in NCAA history to reach 60 wins.
- FROM THE NAIA – Four top-25 matchups take place in the NAIA this weekend – the state of Montana will feature No. 5 Montana Tech traveling to No. 18 Montana Western; No. 17 William Penn traveling to No. 11 Benedictine, No. 16 St. Thomas (Fla.) traveling to No. 23 Georgetown, and No. 24 Southwestern hosting No. 21 Evangel.
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