September 8, 2025
There are fifteen games scheduled this week featuring teams from the Big Ten College Football Conference. Two of those games will be played on Friday, September 12th, and thirteen will be played throughout the day on Saturday, September 13th. Welcome to the third week of the college football season! Here is your Big Ten Preview.
Friday, September 12, 2015
6:30 P.M.
Indiana State (2-0) @ (22) Indiana (2-0)
Right now, the Hoosiers are 2-0 overall and expecting to pick up win number three Friday night against an undefeated Indiana State team. Is Indiana worthy of that #22 national ranking? Honestly, I think it’s too early to tell, and Indiana State isn’t really going to be the team to test them.
When I look at the Hoosiers, I like what I see. At home against Kennesaw State last week, Indiana amassed 593 yards of total offense and scored 56 points. Quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, completed 18 of 25 passes for 4 touchdowns and 245 yards.
Running back, Lee Beebe ran for 90 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, and Maryland transfer, Roman Hemby, picked up another 64 yards on 9 carries. Defensively, the Hoosiers looked good as well. They played with good awareness and high energy.
Like I said before, Indiana State isn’t a good test for them, this is more of a tune-up game/possible trap game, but the Hoosiers should get their third win at home Friday night.
10:00 P.M.
UCLA (0-2) @ New Mexico (1-1)
I’m going to ask the question that everyone is thinking. Is this the week that UCLA finally gets their first win of the 2025 season?
In Week 1, UCLA lost 43-10 to a Utah team that was nationally ranked at #20. Last week, they played UNLV, and they lost again, 30-23, but the interesting thing is that the Rebels are 3-0 now, and I think UNLV might’ve been a much better team than the Bruins expected. I’m not making excuses for them, I’m just saying.
New Mexico beat Idaho State last week for their first win of the season, but it was a closer game than the final score would lead you to believe. In their first game, the Lobos showed a lot of heart in the Big House against Michigan, and yes, they did lose to Michigan 34-17, but New Mexico played hard. I think it was a 17-10 ball game at the half.
If UCLA expects to win this week, they’ll need to clean up their act. In that loss to UNLV, the Bruins were penalized 14 times for 129 yards, and they turned the ball over twice. That’s crazy! If they can protect the football and play mistake free, they should win, but it’s not going to be easy. New Mexico is scrappy, and they’re not going to lay down for the worst team in the Big Ten when they already stood up to Michigan.
Saturday, September 13, 2025
12:00 P.M.
Central Michigan (1-1) @ (23) Michigan (1-1)
Michigan is looking to get back on track this week after a 24-13 loss to the Sooners, but in order for the Wolverines to that, they’ll need a better performance from their quarterback, Bryce Underwood, who completed just 9 of 24 passes last week. In general, the offense needs to start fast this week, and they need to do a much better job on 3rd down.
Central Michigan began their season with a win but took an ass whooping from Pitt last week. In their 45-17 loss to Pitt, Central Michigan was penalized 9 times for 75 yards. They were also held to just 40 rushing yards.
Michigan is home this week, and a loss to Central Michigan would be totally unacceptable.
Towson (2-0) @ Maryland (2-0)
The Maryland Terrapins are currently 2-0 overall. They beat Florida Atlantic in Week 1, 39-7, and last week, they beat Northern Illinois 20-9. Quarterback, Malik Washington, threw for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns, and tight end, Dorian Fleming, caught 4 balls for 70 yards and 1 touchdown. Senior receiver, Jalil Farooq, caught 5 passes for 55 yards.
On the ground, Nolan Ray and DeJuan William split the rushing duties. Combined, they rushed for 71 yards on 21 carries.
Towson is 2-0. They beat Norfolk State 27-7, and last week, they beat Morgan State 27-22. The Towson Tigers are playing with confidence, and they think they can steal one in the shell.
Houston Christian (1-1) @ Nebraska (2-0)
Last week, Houston Christian lost to Eastern Kentucky 20-10. Nebraska is 2-0 overall and they’re going to be much harder to beat than Eastern Kentucky was. Nebraska looked good last week against Akron. They won 68-0! Quarterback, Dylan Raiola, completed 24 of 31 pass attempts for 364 yards and 4 touchdowns. Running back, Emmett Johnson, averaged 10 yards per carry, and Jacory Barney Jr. caught 7 passes for 132 yards. Nebraska had 728 yards of total offense and pitched a shutout! It’s going to be a long day for Houston Christian.
(4) Oregon (2-0) @ Northwestern (1-1)
I think this is the first game of the season featuring two Big Ten teams. Northwestern bounced back rather quickly from a Week 1 loss to a pretty good Tulane team by destroying Western Illinois 42-7. This week, the Ducks are coming to town. Oregon is ranked fourth nationally, and they made a statement last week after beating Oklahoma State 69-3. Oregon is playing with a chip on their shoulder, and rightfully so. It seems like Penn State and Ohio State are getting all the attention.
Wisconsin (2-0) @ (19) Alabama (1-1)
Alabama started this season ranked eighth nationally but then fell significantly after losing to Florida State 31-17. The Crimson Tide redeemed themselves with a Week 2 win over Louisiana Monroe. Alabama won big last week 73-0.
Wisconsin is 2-0 after victories over Middle Tennessee State and Miami Ohio. The Badger defense held Miami to 117 yards of total offense and just 34 yards rushing. Miami didn’t convert a third down for the entire game, and Wisconsin possessed the ball for almost 40 minutes.
This game is super interesting. Was Alabama’s loss to Florida State an early season fluke? How good is Wisconsin? No one expects Wisconsin to win this game on the road, but hey, this is college football. No one expected Florida State to beat Alabama either. Alabama quarterback, Ty Simpson, is hot. He was 17 for 17 last week, and in two weeks, he has thrown for almost 500 yards and 5 touchdowns. Alabama has the edge here, but don’t count the Badgers out until the final whistle.
3:30 P.M.
Youngstown State (2-0) @ Michigan State (2-0)
The Youngstown State Penguins are 2-0, and they have something special going on with quarterback, Beau Brungard. He made Robert Morris look silly last weekend after rushing for 264 yards and 4 touchdowns from the quarterback position, but Brungard and the Penguin offense will face a much faster defense this week.
Michigan State beat Boston College last week in overtime for their second win. Wide receiver, Nick Marsh, showed everyone just how tough he can be when running after a catch. He caught 5 balls for 68 yards and 2 touchdowns. Quarterback, Aiden Chiles, finished the day with 231 yards passing and 4 touchdowns. The Spartans defense played the run well and held the Eagles to only 67 yards on the ground.
I don’t think this is going to be a blow-out victory for Michigan State, but I do expect them win. Youngstown State’s offense will challenge the Spartans, but defensively, they don’t have enough.
Villanova (1-0) @ (2) Penn State (2-0)
I don’t know man, I think Penn State is a little overrated. They beat Nevada in Week 1, 46-11, and they beat Florida International last week 34-0, but I wasn’t impressed with that win at all. Florida International played the Nittany Lions tough, and they were only losing 10-0 at halftime. I feel like if Penn State doesn’t beat Villanova this weekend by 60 points, it’s a loss.
USC (2-0) @ Purdue (2-0)
Interesting. This is the first conference game for both teams, and at this point, both are undefeated. The winner of this game will be 3-0 overall and 1-0 in Big Ten play-that’s not a bad start at all, but who will it be? They said this was a rebuilding season for Purdue, and they were picked to finish dead last in the Big Ten, which is a big deal because the Big Ten has eighteen teams now.
USC isn’t the USC of old, well, not yet anyway, but they do have a lot of speed on offense, and their quarterback, Jayden Maiava is pretty good. USC has a little bit of an edge in this game, but I expect Purdue to play hard, especially at home.
Norfolk State (1-1) @ Rutgers (2-0)
When Rutgers looked at their 2025 schedule before this season started, I’m pretty sure they said to themselves, “Hmm, we can start this season with three wins.” Well, they beat Ohio (but almost blew it), they beat Miami (Ohio), and Norfolk State will be victory number three. There it is, they expected to be undefeated heading into their Week 4 showdown against Iowa, and that’s exactly how it’s going down.
7:00 P.M.
Ohio (1-1) @ (1) Ohio State (2-0)
Ohio is a good football team, and they’re competitive, but the Buckeyes are on a level right now that no other team seems even close to. The Buckeyes opened their season with a game against Texas, who at the time, was ranked #1. They won 14-7, and Arch Manning was a none factor. In their game against Grambling State, we got to see how deep with talent their roster really is, and believe me, it’s deep. Quarterback, Julian Sayin is only going to get better. Parker Navarro will be fun to watch, but don’t expect him to run around like he did against Rutgers. Ohio State’s defense will make him earn every inch.
Western Michigan (0-2) @ (9) Illinois (2-0)
Wow! The Fighting Illini are 2-0 and ranked 9th nationally. They blew out Western Illinois in their 2025 opener, 52-3, and then in Week 2, they went on the road to face Duke for an early season test. They beat Duke 45-19! There’s a lot of experience on this Illinois team. I think they brought back seven seniors on defense and seven on the offensive side as well, including underrated quarterback, Luke Altmyer. So, it’s two games and zero turnovers, and the offense is averaging well over 400 yards per game. Wide receiver, Hank Beatty, caught 8 balls for 128 yards against Duke, and we should see more of Altmyer to Beatty this weekend.
7:30 P.M
UMASS (0-2) @ Iowa (1-1)
UMASS hasn’t won a game yet, and I don’t think this week is going to be any different. Iowa lost a close game to Iowa State last week, so in a sense, I feel like it’s back to the drawing board for the Hawkeyes. Iowa is going to win at home this week, but more importantly, they need this game to fine tune things before heading to New Jersey for a Big Ten match up against Rutgers next week. It’s a good opportunity for quarterback, Mark Gronowski and the rest of the Iowa offense to gel and find some consistency.
10:30 P.M.
Minnesota (2-0) @ Cal (2-0)
After wins against Buffalo and North Western State, the Gophers are Golden at 2-0. Defensively, Minnesota has allowed only 193 yards of total offense in two games, and Buffalo was considered to be one of the best teams in the MAC.
Minnesota running back, Darius Taylor, had 30 carries for 141 yards against Buffalo, but there are rumors about him being injured, and as of now, Taylor’s status for this week’s game against Cal is unknown. If he can’t go, Grant Washington should see significant playing time.
California defeated Texas Southern 35-3 and Oregon State 34-15. Cal’s quarterback, Jaron Sagapolutele, completed 26 of 37 passes for 259 yards against Texas Southern, and against Oregon State, he threw 30 passes and completed 20 for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Sagapolutele is young. He’s only 18 years old, and I expect Minnesota to attack that inexperience. They’ll try to confuse him by disguising coverages, and they’ll use different blitz packages to keep the pressure on all day. Minnesota wants to rattle him and force him to make mistakes, and at the end of the day, I think their game plan will be successful. Minnesota wins on the road and extends their winning streak to three games.
Predictions Straight Up
Indiana, Michigan, Maryland, Nebraska,Oregon, Alabama, Michigan State, Penn State, USC, Ohio State, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota
My Picks Versus The Spread
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