Week 2 brings the kind of slate that college football fans either circle in red or try to forget until kickoff. The Big Ten has its Power 5 showdowns, and one team gets a very well-earned breather after Week 1. There’s also plenty of oddball chaos tucked into the rest of the schedule, which is exactly how this week should feel.
At the top of the pile, there’s Ohio State at Texas on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. on ABC. That one gets the “Technically, the Best - Don’t Watch This” label, with the central question framed bluntly: “Can Arch Manning win the Heisman?” The joke lands because the game is being treated like the kind of thing people will talk about more than actually enjoy.
If you want the game that’s easier to recommend, Iowa against Iowa State on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. on NBC gets the nod as “¿El Assico! - Watch That.” The point is simple enough: nobody is promising beauty here, but it still sounds preferable to staring at Ohio State-Texas with the sound off.
The real sweet spot, though, is Mississippi State at Minnesota on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 2:30 p.m. on CBS. The invitation is loud and clear: “BRING YOUR COWBELLS.
BRING YOUR PASSIVE AGGRESSION. LET’S.
GET. WEIRD.”
Jeff Lebby and CLANGA are expected to push tempo and throw the ball around, while PJ Fleck and Minnesota are built to drain the clock and make everything feel like it takes forever. Drake Lindsey gets dragged into the conversation as the supposed answer for the Gophers, and the whole thing is sold as a collision of styles, fanbases, and networks.
There’s also a pair of games that feel, in the writer’s words, like they belong in the Big East. Rutgers visits Boston College on Friday, Sept. 11 at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2, and Maryland goes to UConn on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 2:30 p.m. on CBSSN.
The Rutgers-BC matchup comes with a reminder that Jeff Hafley left Boston College for the NFL three years ago, and that this may be among the last few games of “Ol’ Buttchin Bill” on Chestnut Hill. Ted Roof is listed as the first-and-final-year defensive coordinator, which is taken as a sign of a march toward a buyout clause.
Maryland-UConn gets its own odd little spotlight. Jason Candle is noted as never having had a losing season as a head coach, while UConn’s setup is described as favorable, even with back-to-back road trips to Hattiesburg and Oxford looming after this one. The Huskies are said to have a deep backfield and a commitment to controlling the clock, and Nunzio Campanile is mentioned as the offensive coordinator “just for shits and giggles.”
At the other end of the spectrum, Northwestern gets the Week 2 bye after being given a 25% chance of losing to South Dakota State. Indiana is also dragged into the “Worst” category for playing Howard on Sept. 12 at 11 a.m. on BTN. Wisconsin catching Western Illinois at home on Sept. 12 at 6:15 p.m. on BTN is dismissed with a shrug and an “ew,” even if it’s framed as picking on someone its own size.
That leaves the rest of the slate hanging out in the background, but the message is already clear: Week 2 is less about polish and more about the strange little matchups that make this sport worth watching in the first place.
In Other News...
Rutgers Faces A Uniform Debate Fans Never Wanted
College sports keeps finding new ways to pay the bills, and Rutgers is now part of the conversation around jersey patch sponsorships. The idea is simple enough: bring in corporate money without asking fans to shoulder more of the cost at the gate or in the stands, while also giving the athletic department another way to deepen its business ties in New Jersey.
For a fan base that values the Scarlet Knights traditional look, though, the tradeoff is harder to ignore. A patch on the uniform would not just be another revenue stream, it would be a visible sign of how far college athletics has moved toward commercial branding, and that is the part likely to spark the loudest reaction even before any final decision is made. [Read more 🡒]
Greg Schiano Just Narrowed Down Rutgers QB Decision Window
Rutgers is hoping to settle its quarterback picture during training camp, with Greg Schiano saying the staff wants a starter in place before the season starts to take shape. The race is centered on AJ Surace and Dylan Lonergan as the Scarlet Knights move on from Athan Kaliakmanis, who has already opened his first training camp with the Washington Commanders.
Schiano also made clear the quarterback choice is only part of a broader reset after last seasons defensive issues. Rutgers brought in Travis Johansen as defensive coordinator and reshaped much of the defensive staff, a sign the program is trying to clean up more than one area before camp turns into game prep. [Read more 🡒]
Temple Coach Just Pulled Rutgers Into A Bigger Regional Debate
Temples offseason under K.C. Keeler has been built around a familiar idea: play nearby, revive old matchups and give the Owls a schedule that feels rooted in the region again. That already has them lined up for a Penn State game after a decade away, a sign Keeler wants Temple to lean into the kind of rivalries that once gave the program a clearer place in the Northeast football map. With nine starters back from last season, the Owls are trying to turn that sense of continuity into actual progress on the field.
Keelers bigger point, though, reaches beyond one schedule and into the way college football may be reshaped in the years ahead. He has been vocal about the risk of future realignment changing the sports geography, and he sees playoff expansion as part of the answer if programs outside the biggest leagues are going to keep their regional identities intact. For Rutgers fans, it is another reminder that the debate over who belongs where is not just about TV contracts and conference logos, but about whether schools like Temple and Rutgers can keep playing the neighbors that made the sport feel local in the first place. [Read more 🡒]