It’s a full slate of college football for the first time in 2025 — a full weekend featuring the best of what the college landscape has to offer. Some teams choose to slow-roll their way to getting up and going for the season while others have certainly set themselves up with quite the challenge.
There are three matchups between top-10 teams on the docket. It’s a college football fan’s kickoff dream.
The biggest and best matchups get started on Saturday with No. 1 Texas traveling to No. 3 Ohio State
for one of the best tilts to begin a season in recent memory. This is one to watch for NFL Draft fans and college football fanatics alike.
A primetime Saturday bout between the two Tiger schools who refer to their home turf as “Death Valley” are set to battle it out in No. 9 LSU and No. 4 Clemson. Both squads are loaded with talent and want their Death Valley bragging rights. LSU has struggled in recent years with season openers against big-time opponents while Clemson is coming off a season-opener beating against Georgia in 2024.
The Labor Day weekend allows us some Sunday college football as well. No. 6 Notre Dame goes down south to No. 10 Miami. It’s a matchup with plenty of history and will be a standalone to get eyes on with plenty of talent on the field.
The best of the best get it rolling for Week 1. There’s plenty to be mindful of with prospect matchups all over the place. Let us know who you’re watching in the comments below. Here are some player-on-player battles you need to be aware of heading into the weekend.
QBs with resume-building opportunities: Texas’s Arch Manning & LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier
Two of the top quarterback prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft will have two massive opportunities for draft-stock purposes in their respective games. Manning is green when it comes to college starts. But the talent he shows is clearly special with everything you could ever want in a quarterback. His task won’t be easy against a Buckeyes defense that features star safety Caleb Downs and much more. This will be Manning’s toughest test in his third career start.
Nussmeier might be facing the best defense in the country on Saturday night with a very different looking offensive line in front of him in 2025. He’s one of the more calm, composed, and confident players in college football. He’s never seen a throwing window he can’t hit. He’s got a nice plethora of receiving weapons, but it won’t be smooth sledding against a Clemson defense that is stacked at all three levels. That starts with elite defensive tackle Peter Woods manning the middle of the defense and cornerback Avieon Terrell looking to compete to get the ball back for his offense.
Trench Battle in Tallahassee: Alabama C Parker Brailsford vs. Florida State DT Darrell Jackson
This will be quite a fascinating matchup from a size comparison standpoint. Brailsford stands approximately 6’2” and 290 pounds while Jackson is 6’5” and 337 pounds. Brailsford is a high-level athlete lacking those elite traits, but he works angles well and has excellent big man athleticism. Jackson is a towering man with next-level athleticism in his own right to couple with a massive frame and tree trunks for arms.
Brailsford’s draft stock will largely have to do with the limitations from a traits standpoint and how he withstands power. Jackson’s will have to do with how much he can maximize his ridiculous traits. If Jackson shows consistent blowback power on Brailsford to couple with his freaky traits, Jackson is going to be a household name in the scouting circles quickly.
RB1 Showcase Spot: Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love vs. Miami Defense
Perhaps the top projected offensive skill player (outside of quarterback) in the 2026 NFL Draft class is Irish star Jeremiyah Love. He’s got the complete package of what you want in a running back prospect while averaging 7 yards per carry on the season. He’s tracking as a potential top-10 pick at the position — following in the footsteps of Bijan Robinson and Ashton Jeanty.
The Miami defense has plenty of talent in their own right with perhaps the best of the crop being defensive lineman Rueben Bain. Linebacker Wesley Bissainthe is another name to know at linebacker for the ‘Canes. Although, a large reason Miami missed the College Football Playoff a season ago is because of the porous play of the defense.
Game of the Week
No. 1 Texas @ No. 3 Ohio State
Saturday, 12 p.m. EDT
FOX
You talk about potential previews of a national championship game in August — you’re getting it in this game. Two of the most talented teams in the country are clashing in Week 1 and it couldn’t be any more beautiful that it’s a noon kickoff time to get the Saturday started.
Ohio State — the defending national champions — have plenty of turnover starting with their quarterback as they transition to the Julian Sayin era. Life won’t be so bad with superstar sophomore receiver Jeremiah Smith and junior Carnell Tate on the outside making plays. But it’s a monster test for the first start of his career.
Texas has their own potential superstar brewing on the defensive side of the ball with edge rusher Colin Simmons with Anthony Hill leading an athletic linebacker corp. Cornerback Malik Muhammad will likely draw Jeremiah Smith for a major draft stock game for himself and Jaylon Guilbeau.
We talked about Arch Manning earlier, and we know this is a battle of two very young, green quarterbacks in this game. Arch has his own weapons. Sophomore Ryan Wingo looked like a future stud as a true freshman and Deandre Moore looks like a future NFL slot receiver. CJ Baxter is as talented as any back in the country with dual-threat ability as a pass catcher. Baxter missed all of 2024 with an injury, but he will likely put himself back on the scene in a hurry. Trevor Goosby at tackle and DJ Campbell at guard are two additional names to know on offense as they look to get after a completely new look Ohio State defensive line.
Ohio State is looking for a breakout on their defensive line, and that may be Kenyatta Jackson as the incumbent edge rusher. What the Buckeyes may lack on the defensive line, they’ll look to make up some of that with Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese at the linebacker spot. Davison Igbinosun was a big keep from entering the draft while Jermaine Mathews saw significant snaps on a loaded secondary in 2024.
The potential of home-field advantage and better seeding may be all that’s at stake in this one with both teams looking like high-probability squads to make the College Football Playoff as conference winners or high-seeded at-large bids. Regardless, this is going to be a fun battle between two teams with NFL Draft talent abound for now and in the future.
