#3 Ohio State Beats #1 Texas; Florida State Crushes #8 Alabama in College Football

After a few early games on August 23rd, the 2025 college football season got into full gear over the Labor Day Weekend. There were some notable upsets in games involving the Top 25 ranked teams.

Texas was the preseason #1 pick in the AP Top 25. The Longhorns had to jump right into the fire in their opening game, playing at third ranked and defending national champion Ohio State. Last season, Ohio State beat Texas 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl, which was one of the semifinals in the College Football Playoff. Texas quarterback Arch Manning, grandson of Archie Manning and nephew of Eli Manning and Peyton Manning, was considered the front runner for the Heisman Trophy going into the season. Somehow this conclusion was reached based on his 2024 performance of 61 completions of 90 passes for 939 yards and nine touchdowns, with two interceptions, and no doubt his pedigree. Manning was 17 for 30 for 170 yards, one TD and one interception, plus 38 yards rushing. In general, he was contained by the Buckeye defense that bent but didn’t break. The Longhorns had 336 total yards to OSUs 215, but the Buckeyes had the bigger number where it counted the most, winning 14-7.

Last year, Florida State had a simply awful season, finishing 2-10. But that was last year. The Seminoles hosted #8 Alabama in this season  opener for both teams. After spotting the Crimson Tide a touchdown, Florida State ran off 24 unanswered points. Alabama closed to within a touchdown at 24-17 but the Seminoles put it away on a 10 play 75 yard drive that resulted in a touchdown and a 31-17 victory.

Fourth ranked Clemson hosted #9 LSU in another ACC-SEC matchup. It was also a battle of Tigers vs. Tigers. The Clemson Tigers took a 10-3 lead into halftime, but the LSU Tigers shut down Clemson in the second half while the offense controlled the ball for 21 minutes and scored a pair of touchdowns for a 17-10 LSU victory. Clemson had 230 total yards, but just 32 on the ground in 19 rushing attempts.

In the 28th meeting between rivals Miami and Notre Dame, but first since 2017, the 10th ranked Hurricanes held off the #6 Fighting Irish for a 27-24 victory. Notre Dame trailed 21-7 after three quarters, but the Fighting Irish fought back with 17 points in the fourth quarter, tying the score at 24-24 after a touchdown with 3:21 left. Miami s Carter Davis booted a 47 yard field goal with 1:04 left to win it for the Hurricanes.

Finally, South Florida hosted #25 Boise State and after the Broncos took an early 7-0 lead, the Bulls stormed back with 34 unanswered points to beat the Mountain West powerhouse 34-7. South Florida’s first three games are against Top 25 teams; the Bulls are at #15 Florida and at #10 (and probably higher after the new poll) Miami the following week.