The Weekender: The Best and Worst of College Football’s Week 0 and Bowling Green Puts A Billboard in Enemy Territory

By Dan Hope on August 24, 2025 at 4:30 pm
Kansei Matsuzawa
Marco Garcia – Imagn Images
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College football is officially back.

The 2025 season started Saturday with Week 0, which included five games involving FBS teams as well as four more games between FCS teams. In the highest-profile game of the day, No. 22 Iowa State earned a 24-21 win over No. 17 Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland, giving the Cyclones a huge victory to start their quest for a Big 12 title.

As we wait for the first full week of college football to start Thursday, we begin this edition of The Weekender by recapping the best and worst of Week 0. We’ll also look at some college football rivalry fun in Northwest Ohio, where Bowling Green made a bold move to promote its team in enemy territory.

The best of Week 0

  • Clinging to a three-point lead with 2:18 to play, Iowa State went for it on 4th-and-3 to seal victory rather than kicking a field goal to extend its lead to six. Rocco Becht tossed a screen pass to Carson Hansen, who very nearly went all the way for a touchdown; he was ruled down at the 1-yard line, but that allowed Iowa State to run out the clock for a victory. (If you bet the over, this would qualify as the worst beat of Week 0.)
  • Kansei Matsuzawa, a 26-year-old kicker from Japan who started his college football career at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio, kicked the game-winning 38-yard field goal as time expired to complete a 3-for-3 day in Hawai’i’s 23-20 win over Stanford.
  • Western Illinois wide receiver transfer Matthew Henry had a massive debut for Western Kentucky, catching seven passes for 148 yards – including a spectacular 26-yard over-the-shoulder touchdown grab – in the Hilltoppers’ 41-24 win over Sam Houston.
  • In the same game, Western Kentucky punter Cole Maynard – the son of former NFL punter Brad Maynard – delivered Jim Tressel’s favorite moment of the week with a booming 71-yard punt.

The worst of Week 0

  • In a start that seemed fitting for Week 0, Iowa State and Kansas State combined for four lost fumbles in the first 23 minutes of their game as heavy rain fell during the first half.
  • Following Kansas State’s loss, the father and brother of KSU quarterback Avery Johnson fought each other in the parking lot.
  • Stanford, which is coming off four straight 3-9 seasons, has now lost back-to-back games against non-Power 4 opponents. The Cardinal ended last season with a 34-31 loss to San Jose State. Dearest Mother could be receiving some grim battlefield updates from Capt. Andrew Luck and his soldiers this season. (On the bright side, a Stanford running back scored a touchdown for the first time since 2023 – yes, you read that correctly.)
  • Even though nearly three-and-a-half quarters of the game were played, the FCS Kickoff game between UC Davis and Mercer in Montgomery, Alabama, was declared a no contest due to a lengthy weather delay. All statistics from the game were voided, meaning the two teams played more than 53 minutes of football for nothing.

Bowling Green puts a billboard on Toledo’s campus

The city of Toledo serves as the epicenter of the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry, dating back to the actual war that took place in 1835 where the states of Ohio and Michigan fought over the land on their border. It also serves as the home of another FBS football rivalry, and that rivalry recently got its own version of a flag plant.

A new billboard on Dorr Street in Toledo, just a few minutes from the University of Toledo’s campus, features a picture of new Bowling Green coach Eddie George and the text “Come See Coach Eddie George Falcon Football” on an orange background with the Bowling Green logo. Bowling Green, whose campus is about 25 miles away from the billboard, wanted to make a statement that the Rockets aren’t the only team in the area.

“This is our radius as much as it is Toledo's radius,” Bowling Green athletic director Derek van der Merwe told the Toledo Blade. “We looked at roads that had high traffic, high volume, just to plant a flag and say this is our base, too.”

George has leaned into the Battle of I-75 rivalry from the moment he became Bowling Green’s new coach in March, calling Toledo “the team up north” and saying in his introductory press conference that winning that game was one of the team’s three goals along with winning the conference and playing for a national championship – echoing the goals that his alma mater has each season.

The billboard has been seen as a response to the 2,000-pound rocket outside the Glass Bowl, Toledo’s home stadium, which is angled to be pointed directly at Bowling Green’s stadium.

George will coach his first game as Bowling Green’s head coach on Thursday against Lafayette (6 p.m., ESPN+). The Ohio State legend will coach in the Battle of I-75 for the first time when Bowling Green hosts Toledo on Oct. 11.

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What’s Next

  • Saturday: Ohio State vs. Texas at Ohio Stadium (Noon, FOX)
  • 69 days (nice): Ohio State vs. Penn State at Ohio Stadium
  • 97 days: Ohio State vs. Michigan in Ann Arbor
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