What College Football Week 1 Showed Us: Zak Drapeau's NEW Top-10

Zak Drapeau
Sep 1
5 min read

Updated: Sep 2

by Zak Drapeau 9/1/2025 Sportz Nation

Top-25

Week 1 of College Football is almost in the books with North Carolina and TCU squaring off tonight as it's conclusion. After a busy and action-filled start, we saw the #1 team in the nation lose and then 4 more Top-25 teams lose after that.

2 of those teams in the Top-25 that lost, lost to other Top-10 teams in very good efforts. Notre Dame lost to Miami and Clemson lost to LSU, both don't need to hit the panic button and should continue to be considered among the best teams in the nation. The other two teams in the Top-25 that lost were Kansas State who lost the first game of the season to 22nd ranked Iowa State in a competitive battle and then... Alabama.

Alabama

Already on the hot seat before the season started, Kalen DeBoer came into the season with lofty expectations and along with his team, laid an egg in their very first game of the year. Losing to the unranked Florida State Seminoles in a game that wasn't particularly close, this was the first time Alabama has lost it's season opener in 18 years and only their 2nd loss to an unranked team in the same span.

Matchups with Wisconsin and Georgia will immediately follow for the Crimson Tide in must wins. In DeBoer's first season, Bama went 9-4 including a loss in his first Bowl game there. Now, starting 0-1 in the 2025 season, DeBoer is very much at a crossroads even so early into his tenure.

Credit indeed deserves to be given to Florida State who after a 2-10 2024, made a number of moves including bringing in Tommy Castellanos at QB. The 5'11" Senior led his team to a win on the scoreboard and on the field in a game that was not as close as the 31-17 score would lead on. Mike Norvell and his Noles look primed to get back to their historic, competitive ways.

Texas

Photo by Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/USA Today Network via Getty Images

Moving from one Top-25 loser to another... here's why Texas shouldn't be panicking as much as Bama. Much of the media have been about how Arch Manning flopped and was given too much credit without earning it and that may be true to an extent, but it's also extremely exaggerated. Manning was facing one of the best defenses in the nation in his first start of the season and while he made some bad throws, he also made some pretty great throws particularly in the 4th quarter. He would even sprinkle in some mobility and run for first downs 3 times.

If anything, Texas' main worry should be on their receivers who collectively dropped one-fifth of Arch's throws. Manning did not have the performance that would warrant his Heisman-favorite status for sure and there is a lot if improvements he'll need to make like staying calm under pressure and accuracy outside the hash marks. It is also fair to say that he faced off against arguably the best defense in the nation and torched them in the 4th Quarter, showing that Manning and the Longhorns still have a very bright season ahead of them.

Ohio State and Penn State

From the preseason #1 to the actual best teams in the nation, Ohio State and Penn State will jockey for the #1 ranking in next week's polls coming into the week #3 and #2 respectively. Ohio State's defense and ball security were the reasons they beat Texas but Penn State's 46-11 win over Nevada showed just how complete they are as well.

Yes Penn State had a home game against unranked Nevada in their season opener and while that isn't as tough as Texas, Penn State showed their defense and run game are both elite while also having one of the best QB's in the nation in Drew Allar. All-in-all they were as dominant as they needed to be and could absolutely still be ranked #1 over Ohio State.

Speaking of the Buckeyes, their game against Texas wasn't perfect but it was as good as it needed to be. A crazy Arch Manning-comeback bid fell just short in their 14-7 victory over the Longhorns where their defense was as good as advertised. After finishing the season ranked #1, the defense would allow over 200 yards and be pushed around by the run from time to time, but their situational presence in key moments was elite. Stuffing a 4th and Goal at the goalline was how the first quarter got started and an errant throw from Arch saw Jermain Matthews get his first pick of the season as the Longhorns were driving. 2 HUGE pass breakups in the 4th Quarter by Davison Igbinosun were game savers and the reason Manning's comeback fell short.

This team wasn't perfect either but they were concrete on defense when it counted, they were extremely disciplined in penalties and they didn't turn the ball over and THAT is how you win games against other great teams.

Miami

A lot was made about the Hurricanes' 2025 season with Carson Beck replacing Cam Ward and starting their season off against Notre Dame and boy did they look good. After barely coming short of National Champions last year, Notre Dame could not stop Miami's offense in the first half or a game-winning drive from Beck in the 4th. On the other end, Miami's defense was very good especially up front. For the first 3 Quarters, CJ Carr and Jeremiyah Love looked good but couldn't get anything done.

In the 4th, Notre Dame would finally play how they're capable of and tie the game with only 3:21 left in a 17-3 run, but would ultimately give Carson Beck to much time and the Hurricanes would win by a field goal. With Clemson also losing, Miami has the lead in the ACC and may even hit a Top-5 ranking come the next polls.

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Honorable Mentions

LSU, Michigan, Florida, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Georgia all looked tremendous on their ways to victory this weekend while Clemson and Kansas State would lose but have solid games to build from moving forward.

Several Top-25 teams like Illinois, Arizona State and Oklahoma among others will see slight jumps in the rankings based on other teams losing but are still unknown until they play better competition moving forward.

Some of the first teams to drop in the expected rankings for Week 2 are Alabama, Kansas State and Boise State, the latter 2 expected to fall out of the Top-25. Alabama's drop is harder to assume, starting the week at #8, it's likely they fall somewhere between #10 and #15 in my opinion.

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Zak's Top-10 For Week 2

1. Ohio State (1-0)

2. Penn State (1-0)

3. Georgia (1-0)

4. LSU (1-0)

5. Oregon (1-0)

6. Texas (0-1)

7. Miami (1-0)

8. Clemson (0-1)

9. Notre Dame (0-1)

10. Illinois (1-0)