I Tell Ya' Herbie

     It's time for our weekly look at the college football world- I Tell Ya' Herbie as we enter week one.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            College Football needs to take more advantage of "week zero" and add more (and better) matchups.

College Football has a two-week head start on the NFL, and fans are desperate to watch some football, so a few more games with impact would not only be welcomed but would also draw good ratings.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            Ohio State fans have built up animosity toward Fox due to the network's decision to place the Buckeyes' biggest games at noon, but there could be more on its way if you are a YouTubeTV subscriber.

The streaming service and Fox's carriage agreement have run out, just in time for Ohio State's season opener against Texas in a battle between two of the country's most popular programs.

While these things usually are figured out before a deadline, imagine the vitriol towards both parties if the game is unable to be seen by the rabid fans of both schools.

Editor's Note: A "short-term" extension has been agreed to by both parties to allow the game to be covered.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            After a tepid week zero (other than Iowa State-Kansas State in Ireland), week one has three top ten matchups with top-ranked Texas against third-ranked Ohio State, sixth-ranked Notre Dame facing number ten Miami, and ninth-ranked LSU visiting fourth-ranked Clemson.

The one I find most interesting (other than personal interest) is LSU and Clemson.

Clemson has slipped a bit under Dabo Swinney since the start of the NIL era, and Brian Kelly hasn't won an opener in his LSU tenure.

Add that both teams' quarterbacks (Clemson's Cade Klubnik and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier) are regarded as first-round talents in the next NFL Draft, and you have a very interesting game.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            Trap game? It might be one in Ames, Iowa, as South Dakota travels to face Iowa State,

The Coyotes made the I-AA semi-finals last season, and while the Cyclones won a big one over Kansas State, they have to travel home from Dublin and play the next week against a team that might surprise them one week before they play in-state rival Iowa.

                            

                            

                             

                  

I Tell Ya' Herbie

       It's the return for the 2025 season of our weekly look at the world of college football, also known as I Tell Ya' Herbie.

Leading into the oddity known as Week Zero, there are always things to glance at and think about, so here we go!

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            Week zero games often aren't games that will impact the season ahead, but there is one this year- Kansas State meets Iowa State in "Farmageddon" in Dublin, Ireland.

The Cyclones and Wildcats are both predicted to be in contention for the Big 12 title and are ranked entering the season, so this is the rare early-season matchup that could prove to be a major deal in the standings at the end of the year.

The game in the last two seasons was played in six inches of snow in 2023 and with wind chills around zero in 2024, and now travels to Ireland.

It's weird for me because I really dislike the NFL's international games, but when college football does it, I enjoy it more.

Perhaps because they aren't so overt about it being a total cash grab?

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             I know I'm biased, but it takes a lot of gall to pull what Michigan did in the Connor Stallions debacle, receive a punishment that didn't include a vacated national title or postseason bans in the future, and THEN appeal the penalty.

For the record- Michigan's record without Connor Stallions 69-24, a good record but not elite.

With Stallions 21-1.

That does nothing to excuse Ohio State's defeat to Michigan last season without Stallions, but the stain from their actions can't be scrubbed away.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            Former Ohio State quarterback Devin Brown transferred to California after the 2024 season as he looked for a place where he could start, and the Golden Bears, who finished 6-7 after a bowl loss to UNLV, looked like a promising place.

It didn't end that way as Brown was beaten out by true freshman Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele.

Brown never caused a problem at Ohio State, and I liked his attitude for staying with the team throughout the playoffs rather than looking through the transfer portal, but it could be that Brown just wasn't good enough to start at the Power Four level.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             The coach who might be in the warmest seat that isn't being talked about?

Wisconsin's Luke Fickell hasn't jumped out to a stellar start in Badgerland with offensive style changes and a brutal schedule against six ranked preseason teams.

Fickell's position is one to watch as the season begins.

                             

I Tell Ya' Herbie

       Our weekly notes about the world of college football start with bad officiating.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:  

                            The spot of the ball late in the Northern Illinois upset of Notre Dame was the worst that I've ever seen.

Northern Illinois had a third and two and a first down would have allowed the Huskies to wind the clock down to a field goal attempt as the final play of the game.

Northern Illinois running back Gavin Williams appeared to easily pass the first down marker but was ruled a full yard short.

Northern Illinois kicked the eventual game-winning field goal but the bad spot allowed Notre Dame over thirty seconds and keep one timeout for a final drive.

Notre Dame attempted a sixty-two-yard field goal for the win that Northern Illinois blocked but the game should have been completed long before then.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            Oklahoma has won its first two games but the Sooners and their fans have to be concerned after a 16-12 win at home over Houston.

The Cougars were predicted to finish next to last or last (depending on the source) in the Big 12 and for the Sooners to win by only a few points and score only sixteen may not bode well for the Sooners in their first season in the SEC.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            I've always rooted for both Iowa and Iowa State a little bit unless playing one of my teams and didn't really have a dog in the hunt for the Cy-Hawk trophy but I had to feel good for Iowa State and their 20-19 win with six seconds remaining.

It's always nice when the second team in the state wins a close one because when the second team wins the rivalry grows hotter and it's better for the game.

The win was only the second for Matt Campbell in eight games against the Hawkeyes and it may have re-established Campbell as one of the top head coach candidates in the 2025 silly season.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             Boise State took a top-ten-ranked Oregon team to the wall in a 37-34 Ducks win in a very entertaining game and brought two questions to mind.

The first is that perhaps Oregon may be a bit overhyped in their first season in the Big Ten.

We will know for sure when Oregon hosts Ohio State in October but close victories over Idaho and Boise State will make you wonder about the Ducks.

The offense scored only 24 pts against 1-AA Idaho and their defense allowed 34 pts to Boise State, so there are questions that need to be answered in Eugene.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             The second concerns Boise State and the Group of Five slot in the playoff.

With a possibility of an undefeated Conference USA champion in Liberty, who plays in the softest conference in the nation, or Boise State with a three-point loss at a top-ten team as their only defeat, the stage would appear to be set for a controversy.

It would be a difficult choice but I'd think Boise State would have the edge under those circumstances.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             The closest call that doesn't look so close came in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in Alabama's 42-16 win over the visiting South Florida Bulls.

Entering the fourth quarter, the score was 14-13 in favor of Alabama before the Tide outscored South Florida 28-3 in the final quarter.

South Florida battled Alabama close last season in the Tide's final season under Nick Saban, so this shouldn't be taken as a knock on new coach Kalen DeBoer but Alabama may be a step below their usual level.

Alabama visits Wisconsin this Saturday before an off week before a home game against the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.

I Tell Ya' Herbie

     

      Another edition of I Tell Ya' Herbie with a few takes from the world of college football.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             The ACC is in big trouble.

I can forgive Clemson's thumping against the hands of the powerful Georgia Bulldogs but Florida State's upset losses to Georgia Tech in Ireland and Monday's even bigger shocker at home to Boston College is very hard to let slide.

Clemson could still bounce back with a playoff berth ( if they can survive a sneaky game this weekend with Appalachian State) and maybe if Florida State could win out (something I find very doubtful after watching their first two games), the conference could be okay but it seems to me that the ACC might have their hopes pinned to N.C. State this weekend against Tennessee to bolster their non-conference resume'.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            One thing that has been overlooked about Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes' close win over North Dakota State has been how Deion himself allowed North Dakota State to have a final drive that fell five yards away from a miracle win.

Colorado could have run the clock out with a few runs (and first down) but Colorado kept calling pass plays that fell incomplete and gave North Dakota State a chance that they ordinarily would not have received.

Whether it was Deion attempting to run up the score or juice up his son's (quarterback Shedeur) passing numbers, neither was worth placing the game in jeopardy.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             I wouldn't write Oregon yet but they didn't impress in a win over 1-AA Idaho by only 24-14.

Boise State will be a bigger test this Saturday night but one thing that was discussed when the game was a three-point game in the fourth quarter.

This would have been the biggest upset ever with a 1-AA team dumping a top-five team on the road.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             Interesting game in Stillwater, Oklahoma with a ranked Oklahoma State team hosting Arkansas.

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman enters a pivotal season and was considered on the hot seat entering the season but scored seventy points in their opener against I-AA Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Oklahoma State returns the nation's top running back in Ollie Gordon and some have the Cowboys as the preseason favorite in the Big 12, so it's a crossroads game for both teams.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            The CyHawk trophy is one of the more underrated rivalries and this year both Iowa and Iowa State have teams capable of winning the trophy.

The game is in Iowa City this season and Iowa did score forty last week against 1-AA Illinois State but scored only two field goals at the half.

Iowa State dumped North Dakota 21-3 and Matt Campbell thinks that his Cyclones are the most talented team that Campbell has had in the last several seasons.

Iowa has a fortunate Big Ten schedule playing only Ohio State among the league powers, so a win over Iowa State might bode very well for a potential playoff challenge.