The first “real” college football of the 2025 season is upon us. The offering is five FBS games to feast your eyes on throughout Saturday. A season full of narratives is about to begin with the inaugural game of 2025 taking place in Ireland.
One of the more wide-open leagues in the nation last year was the Big 12. The league is once again back to looking open for the taking in 2025 with two of the league’s potential favorites facing off in what could prove to be an important game when November and
December rolls around.
We’ve got multiple 2026 NFL Draft hopefuls participating in action on Saturday. The marquee game features a majority of the players to watch. Let us know who and what you’re watching on the very first college football Saturday of the year in the comments!
QB Battle: Kansas St QB Avery Johnson vs. Iowa St QB Rocco Becht
It’s picture perfect for the first game of the year to be a rivalry called “Farmageddon” — and it’s being played across the ocean. A host of interesting matchups will present themselves, but everyone loves a good quarterback duel. Two of the better underclassmen quarterbacks in the nation are set to face off in Johnson and Becht.
Johnson is one of the more dynamic athletes in the country who needs to prove that he’s more of a football player than just an elite athlete with traits for the position. Becht will have to prove his worth due to a probable step back in skill position talent after the program had a pair of Day 2 NFL draft selections (Jayden Higgins & Jaylin Noel) at the receiver spot in the most recent class.
Eyeball the Trenches: Kansas St IOL Sam Hecht vs. Iowa State IDL Domonique Orange
Hecht enters his second year as a starter at center for the Wildcats after tallying a Second-Team All-Big 12 bid for his 2024 campaign. He’ll have quite the competition across from him in this matchup.
Domonique Orange is one of the strongest interior players in the country who projects as an NFL nose tackle. The Cyclones list Orange at 6’4” and 325 pounds. He’s got length and stopping power that could cause some major problems for a 285-pound Hecht. He’s a big man who could move.
2025 will be an opportunity for him to prove his worth in creating even more splash plays. This individual matchup will have huge stakes for who ultimately takes control of this game. A dominant performance from Orange could push the chips one way.
Kansas St. WR Jayce Brown vs. Iowa St. DB Jeremiah Cooper
One of the sleepers of the 2026 wide receiver draft class is certainly Wildcats speedster Jayce Brown. Brown is entering his true junior season after he racked up over 800 yards through the air a year ago. He’s shifty and speedy. Brown is likely a slot at the next level due to his build, and he’s a headache for opponents in college.
Cooper had a high tally of tackles in 2024 (48) and came down with a pair of interceptions. Cooper may see some work on Brown in this game, which is worth eyeballing to see how the true senior measures up to Brown’s talent.
Other Names to Know
- QB Maverick McIvor Western Kentucky
- QB Jalon Daniels Kansas
- RB Dylan Edwards Kansas State
- TE Garrett Oakley Kansas State
- TE Sam Roush Stanford
- IOL Bryce Foster Kansas
- CB Collin Wright Stanford
- LB Desmond Purnell Kansas Sate
- LB Austin Romaine Kansas State
- S VJ Payne Kansas State
- S Gunner Maldonado Kansas State
- S Jay Green Stanford
- EDGE Dean Miller Kansas
Game of the Week
No. 22 Iowa State vs. No. 17 Kansas State
Saturday, 12 p.m. EDT
ESPN
College football season is upon us, and it starts with a very high stakes Big 12 conference game out in Dublin, Ireland. Both the Cyclones and Wildcats have hopes of securing a Big-12 title in 2025 — an outcome that’s well within the range of possibilities for both teams. Stud established quarterbacks are looking to take the next step in their development as the comings and goings of the offseason have landed both teams in the top 25 polls to start the season.
The conference championship a year ago featured two teams with a pair of conference losses at the most. A loss in this game already puts one of these squads behind the eight ball. The Wildcats are favored by 3.5 points on the Vegas betting line making this one something of a coin flip game by the books.
The X-factors in this game have been mentioned above starting with the signal callers. Beyond that, battles around the field taking place when Kansas State is on offense will matter a ton. The Cyclones have one of the best projectable defensive tackles in the country to handle while the Wildcats may have a perimeter/speed advantage with the aforementioned Brown and wideout and lightning fast back Dylan Edwards.
An inaugural game of any season should have meaning, and this matchup certainly presents that in a big way.
