Julian Sayin (#10) and the Buckeyes beat the Bobcats (Photo by Ohio State Athletics)
Ohio’s great teams are great, its struggling teams are struggling, but its solid teams are playing well and positioning themselves for great seasons. Ohio State is leading the way, but just about every other team in the state is showing enough that they could have historical seasons for their programs.
#1 Ohio State 3-0 (0-0 in the Big Ten)
Ohio gave Ohio State a tougher test than most expected them to. The Buckeyes looked rough at times and still have plenty of questions to answer. Still, they held their opponent to less than 10 points, won by four touchdowns, their first-year starter quarterback had over 300 yards and three touchdown passes, and their Heisman candidate, Jeremiah Smith, had over 150 total yards and two touchdowns. The Buckeyes have Week 4 off before traveling to Seattle to play Washington for the first time in Big Ten play.
Cincinnati 2-1 (0-0 in the Big 12)
After the early season heartbreak loss to Nebraska in Travis Kelce’s backyard, the Bearcats rebounded with a solid win over Bowling Green last week and a blowout, layup win against Northwestern State. The Cats had 605 yards of total offense and 70 points (56 of them in the first half) in the victory. UC has this Saturday off before they hit the road and open Big 12 play in Lawrence, Kansas, against the Jayhawks.
Miami (Ohio) 0-2 (0-0 in the MAC)
The Redhawks had this week off to recover from getting trounced by a couple of Big Ten teams. On September 20th, they have their home opener against a solid 3-0 Mountain West team in UNLV.
Ohio 1-2 (0-0 in the MAC)
The Bobcats kept it closer than most people thought they would with the Buckeyes, at least, for a little while. They even had the game at 13-9 in the third quarter, but the Buckeyes just overpowered them after a while. Ohio State would score, ,a lot in the second half to secure a four touchdown win 37-9 over Ohio. They finally get a break from their brutal early schedule with a game against Gardner-Webb on Saturday.
Bowling Green 2-1 (0-0 in the MAC)
In their win over Liberty, the difference for Bowling Green was the turnovers and negative plays their defense forced on the opposing offense. Bowling Green was plus four in the turnover margin, forcing four Liberty turnovers and not turning the ball over themselves. The Falcons defense also had four sacks and seven tackles for a loss in the 23-13 victory. Eddie George and his BGSU squad head south to play another team that calls the banks of the Ohio River home on Saturday when they play Louisville.
Toledo 2-1 (0-0 in the MAC)
With only a 3-0 lead after the first quarter of play, Toledo turned on the juice in the second, exploding for 43 points. The 46-0 lead at halftime would be more than enough as the Rockets would win 60-0. Running back Chip Trayanum would have two more touchdowns, and now Toledo looks ahead to opening MAC play on the road against Western Michigan this Saturday.
Akron 0-3 (0-0 in the MAC)
It took them until the third game of the season, sadly, but the Zips finally got on the scoreboard this week. Akron played decently enough to win in every aspect of the game, and even got the ball back with less than two minutes to go with a chance to tie or take the lead. But the woes of 2025 continued, and Akron turned the ball over on downs to lose the game 31-28. They’ll look for their first win of the year on Saturday against Duquesne, an FCS opponent.
Kent State 1-2 (0-1 in the MAC)
Getting blown out on the road against a top-20 Texas Tech team is one thing, but starting 0-1 in the MAC after a heartbreaking loss to Buffalo is a bitter pill to swallow for Kent State. After leading 14-0, Buffalo scored 24 straight unanswered points on Kent State. The Golden Flashes responded with two touchdowns of their own, including the go-ahead score that was on a 21-play, 93-yard drive that took 12:15 off of the clock and left Buffalo with only 2:38 to answer. But the Bulls did, dropping the Golden Flashes 31-28. It doesn’t get any easier for Kent State as they face back-to-back road trips against #15 Florida State and #20 Oklahoma.
Dayton 1-1 (0-0 in the Pioneer League)
The Flyers had the week off. They play their final non-conference game at Robert Morris this Saturday before opening Pioneer Conference play at home against Stetson the following week.
Youngstown State 2-1 (0-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference)
Despite suffering their first loss of 2025, Youngstown State had at least one positive in their 41-24 defeat against Michigan State. Quarterback Beau Brungard played well against a Big Ten defense in that team’s backyard. Brungard was 24 of 34 for 242 yards and two touchdowns to one interception while passing the ball. The Penguins have their last non-conference game against Towson on Saturday and then open Missouri Valley Football Conference play at home against the defending conference co-champion and current #2-ranked South Dakota State.
Writer’s Note: The FBS rankings are from The College Football Power Rankings at TheForkball.com. The FCS rankings are from the FCS STATS Poll.
