It wasn’t chalked up as a great week for college football after a monster slate of matchups back in Week 1. This past weekend did deliver some interesting story lines to track with early coaching hot boards hitting the media waves for some teams while others have a reassurance of potential College Football Playoff (CFP) hopes.
Thirteenth-ranked Florida has one of (if not) the most difficult schedules in the entire country. Some had hope that they’d overcome the hurdles due to their talent and threaten
for a spot in the CFP by year’s end despite the difficulty. However, just one game in, Florida has already fallen to a non-Power 4 unit with South Florida going into “The Swamp” and stunning the Gators in their house. Florida stalled on multiple opportunities deep inside of South Florida territory. The Bulls made them pay for it at the buzzer with a chip shot field goal to win.
South Florida is now a real threat to be the Group of 5 representative in the CFP at year’s end if they can take care of business within their conference. The Bulls go to Miami for a visit to the top-five ranked Hurricanes for yet another monster matchup with a shot to pull an upset.
The one ranked matchup on the day was in Norman, OK with an unorthodox matchup between the 18th-ranked Sooners and No. 15 Michigan. Michigan has one of the young future studs of the sport in Bryce Underwood. But in his first true road start in a hostile environment, Underwood looked a bit sped up without the proper receiving and offensive line help to get their offense over the finish line. The Sooners looked hungry and played as one on defense en route to a comfortable-looking 24-13 win. The offense was fueled with a new look offense under the tutelage of new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle — an import from Washington State.
Let’s talk a few prospects who impressed in Week 2 action.
Oklahoma QB John Mateer puts offense on his back
It was an impressive first taste of John Mateer on the big stage for Oklahoma. The Sooners ball carries had 21 carries for 64 yards outside of Mateer on the afternoon. However, the junior signal caller had himself an afternoon in both facets. He took 19 carries for 74 yards and made multiple plays with quick twitch and effort to will himself for hidden yards.
There’s some inconsistency to Mateer’s accuracy and he tends to spray the ball some. That will need to be cleaned up as he continues to grow as a prospect. The Michigan defense certainly presents some problems as a traditionally stout unit with talent to boot. But Mateer was the best player on the field plenty on Saturday night as he took his new team over the top for a big early season win.
Texas A&M EDGE Cashius Howell has remarkable in game achievement
Howell had one of the more impressive performances you’ll ever see — and it all happened on one singular series. The senior edge rusher for the Aggies had sacks on back-to-back-to-back plays. There aren’t many who can say they’ve had solo sacks in a full game, let alone three straight plays.
He had a productive 2024 with the Aggies as a transfer and is off running this season as well. Howell is certainly one of the better pass rushers in the SEC and country as a whole. As we get into SEC play, Howell is certainly worth keeping an eye on as a pass rusher moving forward.
USC WRs Ja’Kobi Lane & Makai Lemon are must-see television
The USC Trojans may be a middling team in 2025, but they may have the best 1-2 punch at receiver of any team in college football outside of Ohio State. A premier program in the country, USC is still capable of generating talent. They worked hard to retain Lane and Lemon in the offseason after losing Zach Branch to Georgia and Duce Robinson to Florida State. Lane and Lemon remained with the Trojans and are balling out to start the season.
Lane has six receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown in two games where he didn’t play all snaps. Lemon has 11 receptions for 248 yards in the first two contests to go with two scores of his own. Both players are expected to have massive seasons in 2025. The Trojans may be throwing the ball a lot if they finish with an average record, as expected. Don’t be surprised if Lane and Lemon allow the Trojans to play spoiler once or twice in a top-heavy Big Ten.
