Scout's Eye - 2025 College Football Week One Preview
- John B. Everett
- Aug 28
- 9 min read
Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end of the summer and simultaneously the official first weekend of college football where all 136 FBS college football teams are in action! There are several intriguing games on schedule this weekend (through Labor Day!) including, Texas at Ohio State, Alabama at Florida State, LSU at Clemson, and Notre Dame at Miami, Fl.
Game of the Week
(1) Texas at (3) Ohio State
Saturday, August 30. 12 noon ET / 9 am PT
Texas Prospects to Keep an Eye On:
· QB Arch Manning
· TE Jack Endries
· IOL DJ Campbell
· LB Anthony Hill
· CB Malik Muhammad
Ohio State Prospects to Keep an Eye On:
· WR Carnell Tate
· TE Max Klare
· EDGE Beau Atkinson
· CB Jermaine Mathews
· S Caleb Downs
The Longhorns get a chance at revenge to start the new season in Columbus, as they face the team that eliminated them last January in a 28-14 loss at the Cotton Bowl national semifinal game. Texas enters the new season as the #1 team in the nation and will be led by phenom QB Arch Manning, who has finally ascended to the starting job. Manning has ideal size (6’4” / 219 lbs), and unlike his QB uncles Peyton and Eli, is a great athlete with the foot speed, mobility, and agility to be a true running threat. In limited duty – as the short yardage QB and filling in for injured QB Quinn Ewers – Manning passed for 939 yards (66.3% completion rate), nine TDs and two INTs and rushed for 108 yards and four TDs last season. Manning enters the 2025 season as the leading contender to be the first pick in next April’s draft. After losing TE Gunnar Helm to the 2025 NFL Draft (fourth round selection of the Titans), the Longhorns picked up Jack Endries from California out of the transfer portal to become the team’s number one TE. Endries is coming off a very productive season in Berkeley where he caught 56 passes for 623 yards (11.1 YPR), and two TDs for the Golden Bears. Endries (6’4” / 240 lbs) is a reliable option over the middle who needs to improve his strength and technique as a run blocker before he is ready for the NFL. DJ Campbell is the sole returning IOL starter for the Longhorns and will be counted on to provide experience on a relatively inexperienced offensive line. Campbell (6’3” / 321 lbs) has the desired combination of size and lateral agility to become a long-term NFL starter. LB Anthony Hill is a dynamic athlete with the range and foot speed to run sideline to sideline and the size and length (6’3” / 238 lbs) to match-up with TEs in man coverage. Hill is a playmaker who has 13 sacks, five forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one INT, and three passes defensed in his two-year career in Austin. Hill needs more reps in pass coverage but otherwise looks like he is ready to play on Sundays. CB Malik Muhammad returns and will inherit the number one CB job from Jahdae Barron, the 20th pick of last April’s draft (Cardinals). Muhammad is fast and fluid but needs to play the ball in the air better – he has only one career INT and 12 passes defensed over the previous two seasons in Austin.
The defending national champions return a lot of talent but lost a lot athleticism and experience to the 2025 NFL Draft and are breaking in first-time starter at QB, former 5-star recruit Julian Sayin, as they prepare to host the number one team in the nation, the Texas Longhorns. Although Texas’ defense will be focused on sophomore phenom WR Jeremiah Smith, they better keep an eye open for WR Carnell Tate or he will make them pay. Tate (6’3” / 195 lbs) finally ascends to the starting role as a junior after waiting his turn behind Smith, Marvin Harrison, Jr (2024 1st round pick of the Cardinals), and Emeka Egbuka (2025 1st round pick of the Buccaneers) over the last two seasons. Tate was a 5-star recruit who excelled as the third receiver last season in Columbus when he caught 52 passes / 733 yards (14.1 YPR) / 4 TDs. Tate’s combination of size, speed, body control, and leaping ability make him a candidate to be a number one WR in the NFL as soon as next season. TE Max Klare transfers into Columbus from Purdue where he was THE passing offense and enters this season as no better than the third option in the passing game (behind Smith and Tate). This should allow Klare (6’5” / 243 lbs) to flourish against overmatched safeties and LBs in coverage. Klare is a fine athlete with a huge catch radius and surprising speed to threaten the seams of a defense. Klare finished with 51 receptions / 685 yards (13.4 YPR) / 4 TDs last season in West Lafayette. EDGE Beau Atkinson transfers in from North Carolina where he will be expected to fill in some of the production that left when Jack Sawyer (Steelers) and JT Tuimoloau (Colts) graduated. Atkinson (6’6” / 258 lbs) started last year in Chapel Hill and produced 7.5 sacks and has eleven sacks over the last two seasons. Atkinson will be the focus of Texas’ offensive line. Can Atkinson generate pressure on the QB when he is game planned for by the Longhorns? CB Jermaine Mathews enters the 2025 season as the number one CB prospect in the nation, per SNS. Mathews (5’11” / 190 lbs) has extensive experience covering the slot but will line up on the outside this season. Mathews’ quickness, speed, agility, and burst are NFL-caliber. However, he needs to become more of a playmaker – he only has one INT (returned for a TD in 2023) and only three passes defensed combined over the last two seasons. Safety Caleb Downs is the best defensive player in the nation and must be game planned for or he will ruin an offense’s day. Downs (6’0 / 205 lbs) was a Freshman All-American at Alabama in 2023, transferred to Ohio State when Nick Saban retired, and then became an All-American at OSU last season. Downs is a physical and reliable tackler as well as a productive playmaker with four career INTs and nine passes defensed. Downs looks like a Top 10 pick next April.
Other Noteworthy Games
(8) Alabama at Florida State
Saturday, August 30. 3:30 pm ET / 12:30 pm PT
One year after playing on the road at Wisconsin, the Crimson Tide kick off the 2025 season on the road in Tallahassee. Alabama will be starting a new QB, Ty Simpson, who will be making his first career start on the road. Fortunately for Simpson, his blind side is being protected by the best OLT in college football, Kadyn Proctor. Proctor is an enormous man – 6’7” / 366 lbs with a huge wingspan and ballerina’s feet. Proctor could be the first pick of next April’s NFL Draft. LB Deontae Lawson is returning from a season-ending injury and his health is a key to Alabama having a dominating defense. Lawson (6’2” / 228 lbs) may be the best coverage LB in college football with the length and the loose hips to stick with quick RBs and big TEs in man coverage. Lawson needs to improve his ability to stack and shed blocks more efficiently but he is an intelligent and disciplined defender. QB Thomas Castellanos will be the Seminoles’ signal caller this season after being the starter for the most of the last two seasons at Boston College. Castellanos (5’11” / 201 lbs), when healthy, is a dynamic QB who plays like a poor man’s Kyler Murray. Castellanos rushed for over 1,000 yards two years ago and he must be game planned for. Castellanos needs a healthy season and to cut back on INTs – he has 19 over the last two seasons although he only threw five interceptions last year. IDL Darrell Jackson is the Seminoles’ best NFL prospect and a potential first-round pick next April. Jackson (6’5” / 337 lbs) is a huge man who is very strong and difficult to move out of the middle of the line. Jackson flashes a great closing burst and started to produce on the field last season when he finished with 3.5 sacks and four TFL on the season. How Jackson performs against Alabama’s IOL NFL prospects – OC Parker Brailsford and OG Jaeden Roberts – will be fascinating to watch.
(9) LSU at (4) Clemson
Saturday, August 30. 7:30 pm ET / 4:30 pm PT
In a possible playoff preview, LSU travels to (the other) Death Valley to take on the Clemson Tigers on Saturday night. LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier is entering his second year as the starter in Baton Rouge and although he displays NFL-level skills, he needs to play better against the best competition he faces, a common concern that scouts have about Nussmeier. Nussmeier (6’1” / 205) is coming off a very productive season when he passed for 4,052 yards, completing 64.2% of his passes for 29 TDs and 12 INTs. Nussmeier needs to cut down on his turnovers, especially in big games. And Saturday is a BIG game. Harold Perkins is returning from a season-ending injury suffered last September and is trying to find a position fit on the LSU defense. Perkins best skill is rushing the passer where his speed, burst, and agility shine, but he lacks the size to line up as an EDGE regularly. LSU will be deploying Perkins at LB and safety this year to try to create mismatches. Saturday will be an interesting test. Clemson QB Cade Klubnik is amongst the most experienced QBs in college football as he is entering his third-year as a starter at Clemson. Klubnik (6’2” / 210 lbs) has overcome inconsistencies to become a likely first-round pick next year. Klubnik completed 63.4% of his passes for 3,639 yards, 36 TDs, and only six interceptions last year and enters this season as a Heisman Trophy front-runner. His campaign begins Saturday night against LSU. EDGE TJ Parker enters the 2025 season as SNS’ number one rated EDGE prospect and looks like a potential Top 10 pick. Parker is coming off an eleven sack, 19.5 TFL season and has 16.5 sacks and 32 TFL in his career at Clemson. Parker is a well-rounded EDGE who squeezes down outside run lanes and uses his speed to pressure the QB.
(6) Notre Dame at (10) Miami, Fl
Sunday, August 31. 7:30 pm ET / 4:30 pm PT
The national runner-up Fighting Irish travel to South Beach to kick off the 2025 season and face the tenth-ranked Hurricanes with redshirt freshman QB CJ Carr taking the snaps. RB Jeremiyah Love will help ease the burden on the new QB. Love (6’0” / 214 lbs) enters the season as a Heisman Trophy contender after rushing for 1,129 yards (6.9 YPC), 17 TDs, and caught 28 passes for 237 yards (8.5 YPR), and two TDs last season. The Irish are breaking in new starters at QB, TE, and all along the offensive line and having a security blanket like Love will be embraced by Carr. IDL Gabriel Rubio has waited his turn to become a starter on the Irish defensive line and now gets that opportunity after Rylie Mills (Seattle 5th round pick) and Howard Cross (UDFA signed with Cincinnati) graduated. Rubio (6’5” / 321 lbs) has the desired size and length, has flashed excellent strength last year, and now will be expected to shut down the inside run while pushing the pocket in the pass rush. Miami saw last year’s QB, Cam Ward, get drafted first overall in last April’s draft and hoping for similar luck, Carson Beck left Georgia and transferred to Coral Gables for a huge payday and a chance at going at the top of next April’s draft. Beck (6’4” / 220 lbs) has ideal tools including a very strong arm and NFL-level accuracy, touch, and anticipation. But Beck, who completed 64.7% of his passes for 3,485 yards, 28 TDs and 12 INTs, seemed to regress last year as his field vision and decision-making took a step back and he made too many poor decisions. Beck needs a bounce back year to get back into first-round draft consideration, let alone at the top of the draft. EDGE Rueben Bain is hoping for a return to health and improved production after only recording 3.5 sacks last season. Bain (6’3” / 275 lbs) was a freshman All-American in 2023 when he finished with 7.5 sacks and 12.5 TFL for the Hurricanes. Miami’s defense was a major culprit in the Hurricanes’ collapse down the stretch last year and the team is counting on a bounce back season from Bain, and several others, so that the team’s hopes are not dashed again by an underachieving defense.
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