The 2025 version of Week Zero in college football went about as expected. There was one game between two ranked teams in Ireland and it was a hard-fought affair. The other games were not too shabby, though it’s tough to really learn much in Week Zero and it will remain that way until the powers that be realize that if you are going to have a Week Zero, it’s at least good to have two match-ups people want to tune in for and preferably a triple header.

But that’s a debate for another day. Here are three things from the “coming attractions” portion of the college football schedule to use a movie theater analogy.

1

Cyclones and Campbell keep on trucking

You had to feel bad for the legions of purple-clad Kansas State fans who made their way across the pond to Dublin for Farmageddon. Not only did the No. 17 Wildcats fall to No. 22 Iowa State, 24-21 (not to scare any K-State fans, but the exact same score that Florida State lost to Georgia Tech by last season in Ireland), the play was sloppy early as the Wildcats had two turnovers and a turnover on downs and the Clones had two turnovers themselves during the first half, running back Dylan Edwards was hurt on a muffed punt and the father and brother of quarterback Avery Johnson got into a fight in the parking lot after the game.

Campbell, though, provided a master class as to why he wins football games in Ames. After KSU cut the lead on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Jerrand Bradley with 6:23 to play, the Cyclones got the ball back and never gave it up. With 2:26 to play, Campbell opted not to kick a short field goal and went for it on 4th-and-3 from the K-State 16. Quarterback Rocco Becht, who was ice water in veins tough all game, found Carson Hansen for 15 yards and the game was over.

In a battle of two of the more underrated coaches in the game (Kansas State’s Chris Klieman is not too shabby himself), Campbell made all the right moves and Iowa State is a game up in the race for the Big 12 championship.

2

Meanwhile, back in Kansas

Speaking of undervalued coaches, Lance Leipold’s Jayhawks were a nightmare to play down the stretch last season. After starting 1-6, Kansas reeled off four straight wins and caused chaos in the Big 12 race. This season, they had an outstanding debut as did their new, remodeled David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. A packed house watched quarterback Jalon Daniels complete 18-of-20 passes and the home team rolled to a 31-7 win against Fresno State, which is not always an easy out.

Kansas has a buy game against Wagner next week before renewing it’s bitter border rivalry with Missouri on Sept. 6 in CoMo. That game is setting up to be a good one if the Kansas team will saw Saturday remains consistent.

3

Stanford has a ways to go

In the 2010s, the Cardinals were the ninth-winningest program in the country with 98-35 record. Stanford was one of the top programs in the Pac-12 annually. In 2025, the Cardinal competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference as a West Coast outpost and just lost a season opener to Hawaii, 23-20, in Honolulu. Stanford had an offseason coaching change as “GM” Andrew Luck returned to Palo Alto and fired head coach Troy Taylor. Frank Reich, most recently the head coach of the Carolina Panthers for one forgettable season, is the interim coach of the Cardinal this season. Stanford’s loss came as Hawaii kicked two field goals to win the game after being down 20-17. The Cardinal had its chances. An ill-timed interception at the Hawaii 24 with 6:01 to go, then 102 Rainbow Warriors yards the last two drives sealed their fate.

Now look, Stanford isn’t the only program to fly across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii and take an L. But this team isn’t looking like one that will make noise in the ACC, even if that conference is down. It felt like a not-so-good NFL team playing a not-so-good NFL team on a Sunday and the home team had enough it it to win.

Hats off to the Rainbow Warriors, though. They are finally getting a new Aloha Stadium by the end of the decade. That program is part of the fabric of college football and as bad as we feel for Kansas State fans today, we feel equally good for the Rainbow Warriors die hards.

On to Week 1