2025 Games of the Slot: Week 2
Breaking down which game to watch at each time slot this weekend
Week One was an all-timer. One for the ages, filled with overreactions, underreactions and tales of woe and glory based on just one week of games. Are certain teams (Florida State, Auburn) back? Are certain ones (Alabama) fading into obscurity? And will Arizona State ever actually be shown on TV?
Week One is great. It’s our return to football after a long, long offseason. Week Two is when we start really learning. What was real? What should we be skeptical about? And which teams and players are really going to be fun this year.
So, which games should you watch to maximize the fun? Let’s get into it. As always, all times are in Eastern.
Friday Night
Game of the Slot: James Madison at Louisville (7 p.m., ESPN2)
This is a rare evenly matched Group of Six against Power Four matchup.
The visiting Dukes have playoff potential. Alonza Barnett III doesn’t quite look up to full strength yet, but Matt Sluka was more than capable in James Madison’s 45-10 win over FCS Weber State last week. I was left more impressed by the JMU defense, which forced three Wildcat turnovers and held Weber State to just 148 total yards on the day. If that’s going to continue to be a trend and JMU fields a strong defense, Louisville can get surprised.
Louisville is what we expected at this point. A solid offense headlined by tailback Isaac Brown, who couldn’t be stopped in the Cardinals’ 51-17 win over FCS Eastern Kentucky. Miller Moss also looked like a perfect fit for Jeff Brohm’s offense. Louisville will be dangerous, but I’m questioning the presence of that higher gear. If they have it, they should be able to put James Madison away. If they don’t, the Dukes might get a serious playoff notch.
Multi-Box Games: Northern Illinois at Maryland (7:30 p.m., Big Ten Network); Eastern Washington at Boise State (9 p.m., FS1); Western Illinois at Northwestern (7:30 p.m., Big Ten Network)
So, yeah. This bunch of games isn’t the most inspiring. At least there’s some solid intrigue in NIU-Maryland, where Maryland’s true freshman quarterback Malik Washington will get his first test against what should be an average or better defense. Boise State got embarrassed by South Florida last week, but has their bounce-back game against a very solid FCS program in Eastern Washington that might be able to replicate the offensive scheme that gave the Broncos issues. Finally, it’s time to find out how bad Northwestern really is. They looked atrocious, as you could’ve convinced me Preston Stone didn’t really know how to throw a football against Tulane. Could a Power Four FCS upset be on the horizon?
Saturday - 12 p.m. EST
Game of the Slot: Iowa at Iowa State (FOX)
It’s El Assico time!
Iowa enters the Battle for the Cyhawk as the clear underdogs, especially after highly-touted transfer quarterback Mark Gronowski totalled a whopping 44 passing yards in a win over FCS Albany. Like always, the Hawkeyes are going to run the ball and Xavier Williams is a great guy to do that. The defense, coordinated by Phil Parker, is always stout. It’ll be the toughest unit to square up with Iowa State thus far.
On the home side, Iowa State is one of the biggest arrow-up programs across the board. They got exactly zero Big 12 title votes in the SID Sports Season Preview and have morphed into a possible CFP contender over the offseason. The defense is strong. Rocco Becht has looked like the nation’s best quarterback. They’re playing balanced, complimentary football that’s hard to beat.
But a rivalry throws all that away. This may be the most interesting CyHawk in recent years.
Multi-Box Games: Illinois at Duke (ESPN); Baylor at SMU (The CW); Virginia at NC State (ESPN2); Liberty at Jacksonville State (CBS Sports Network)
There are two programs that have been steadily building and feel ready to make that jump. Who of Illinois or Duke is legit? Both play similar brands of defense-first and chunk-play oriented ball that should be a great foil. Baylor-SMU, on the other hand, has classic Big 12 shootout written all over it. As the Bears try to rebound following a shocking loss to Auburn and SMU erases the collective memory of their CFP dud, both teams have a lot to prove. Speaking of a lot to prove, how’s an early season Anxiety Bowl? Both coaches at Virginia and NC State have underachieved as of late, but Virginia at least looks like an arrow-up program. Finally, we get a CUSA matchup that could have conference title implications. The Flames are clear favorites, but Charles Kelly’s Gamecocks still looked strong in their debut last week despite a loss to UCF.
3-4 p.m. EST
Game of the Slot: Kansas at Missouri (3:30 p.m., ESPN2)
The Border War returns after over a decade. Hatred has been renewed.
Kansas, as I detailed ahead of kickoff last week, is a program I’m keeping an eye on. Jalon Daniels and Darin Hinshaw both have been rolling early on, as Kansas needs them to do if they’re going to surprise. I don’t feel comfortable calling anything either way on the Kansas defense, as they’ve gone up against FCS Wagner and a debut of the Last Chance UNLV program. Let’s see how they do against Missouri before saying the Jayhawks are legit contenders.
Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz talked about a quarterback battle, but Beau Pribula is the clear answer. We knew he’d be dynamic on the ground, but he looked like a true solid passer with 283 yards, two scores and no picks, all while going 23-of-28 passing. Pribula will be hard to contain because of his dynamic playmaking ability on the ground and in the air. We’ll see if Kansas is up to the task. Otherwise, we’ll see a true quarterback duel between Daniels and Pribula.
Multi-Box Games: Texas State at UTSA (3:30 p.m., ESPN+); West Virginia at Ohio (4 p.m., ESPNU); South Florida at Florida (4:15 p.m., SEC Network)
Okay, we’re getting funky with this slot. Non-diehard college football fans may not know this, but Texas State and UTSA despise each other. With both fielding solid teams this year and competing for conference titles, this should be a fun, hate-filled watch. You read the second game right. West Virginia is traveling to Ohio, and the Bobcats may be favored in this one. Parker Navarro is an absolute beast of a player and he might be able to take down Rich Rodriguez’s Mountaineers on his own. Finally, it’s time for South Florida to put up or shut up. Two hype trains meet in a collision between USF fresh off of dominating Group of Six darling Boise State and Florida with D.J. Lagway already balling out. I fully expect Florida to dominate, but I’m not selling USF short again.
Wondering where these rankings are coming from? Check out this week’s SID Sports Top 25!
6-8 p.m. EST
Game of the Slot: Michigan at Oklahoma (7:30 p.m., ABC)
This one’s all about establishing trajectory.
Michigan ended 2024 strong, but the season was marred with an anemic offense that simply couldn’t move the ball one inch. That’s all supposed to change with true freshman phenom Bryce Underwood under center. And of the new starters across college football, Underwood was among the most comfortable. But that was against New Mexico. Now, he’ll get a real test against a Brent Venables defense. I’m also watching to see if a reworked Michigan defense can hang with this new-look Oklahoma offense.
Speaking of that new-look offense, Sooner quarterback John Mateer looks like he hasn’t missed a beat since coming over from Washington State. He’s the focal point of Ben Arbuckle’s offense next to Jadyn Ott, and I think they may be the better unit compared to Michigan’s defense. Oklahoma does have its hands full with Underwood and tailback Justice Haynes, who single-handedly sent New Mexico’s rush defense tumbling to the bottom of the nation.
Honestly, this is a game you throw your hands up and say we have no idea how it’s going to turn out. Literally anything can happen and I’d think, “sure, that makes sense.” So buckle in for some nonsense because this will be fun.
Multi-Box Games: Georgia Southern at USC (7:30 p.m., FS1); Boston College at Michigan State (7:30 p.m., NBC/Peacock); Western Kentucky at Toledo (7 p.m., ESPN+)
By this point, you know I’m not a big believer in USC. So it would be objectively hilarious if former Trojan coach Clay Helton marched his solid Georgia Southern team into the Colosseum and beat his old program and Lincoln Riley. With question marks across the USC offense, it is a possibility. Our next game has an interesting matchup of down-ballot Power Four teams looking to get a footing. Watch the quarterback battle between Dylan Lonergan and Aidan Chiles. If either team is going to get their footing, they’ll need their guy to take a step. Finally, we get a great Group of Six matchup between Western Kentucky and Toledo. Watching the Hilltopper offense work against the Rocket defense may be one of my favorite schematic matchups of the weekend.
West Coast After Dark
Game of the Slot: Stanford at BYU (10:15 p.m., ESPN)
Not the best game on the surface, but hold on for the storylines.
BYU is starting true freshman Bear Bachmeier, the first true freshman to get the starting job under center in program history. He’s not originally a BYU commit, though, as he went through Spring ball at Stanford. That’s pretty fun, right?
We have to hunt for that intrigue, but I think this game has a chance to be fairly even. The BYU defense is the clear top unit in the game and should dominate the Stanford offense. But Bachmeier is a true freshman. If Frank Reich’s staff can dial up some interesting looks, the Cardinal have a path to get into this game.
Multi-Box Game: San Diego State at Washington State (10:15 p.m., The CW); UC Davis at Washington (11 p.m., Big Ten Network); Weber State at Arizona (10 p.m., ESPN+)
We only have one other FBS-FBS game late and it should be a decent one. San Diego State’s Sean Lewis runs a lightning-quick offense that will give the Wazzu defense fits. That’s the big ticket matchup here, but the inverse - Wazzu offense against SDSU defense - will determine the game. There isn’t much chance that Washington gets upset, so just tune into this one if you want to see Demond Williams and Jonah Coleman light up the scoreboard. I am interested to see if Arizona’s offense can recapture their high-level output we saw in Noah Fifita’s freshman season. If that’s gone against Weber State, Brent Brennan’s job may firmly be in danger.
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