Blowouts Were Still A Theme: Indiana 73, Indiana State 0; Maryland 44, Towson 17; Nebraska 59, HCU 7; Michigan 63, Central Michigan 3; Penn State 52, Villanova 6; Illinois 38, Western Michigan 0; Iowa 47, UMass 7; Rutgers 60, Norfolk State 10. Congratulations to Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, as he earned his 206th victory to become The Big Ten’s winningest football coach in history.

Costly Win For Sparty?: Michigan State defeated Youngstown State, 41-24. The Spartans had offensive linemen Luka Vincic and Conner Moore, running back Makhi Frazier, and wide receiver Nick Marsh all leave the game due to injuries. Michigan State begins Big Ten conference play next week with a game at USC that will kick off at 11pm ET/8pm PT on September 20th.

First Conference Wins Of 2025 For Ducks & Trojans: Oregon 34, Northwestern 14; USC 33, Purdue 17. The Ducks will have a non-conference game against their longtime rivals in the Oregon State Beavers on September 20th, while USC will be welcoming in Michigan State, as written up above.

Sluggish Yet Still Victorious: Ohio State defeated Ohio University 37-9, after only leading the Bobcats 13-3 at the half. Give credit to Ohio University for playing tough against the Buckeyes, but I believe Ohio State head coach Ryan Day will have plenty to work on in the upcoming bye week, especially as the Buckeyes struggled in the red zone repeatedly Saturday evening.

The First Cut Is The Deepest: Alabama 38, Wisconsin 14; California 27, Minnesota 14. Both the Badgers and Golden Gophers fell from the ranks of the unbeaten, as both were defeated in non-conference play.

DeShaun Foster Is The First Coaching Casualty In The Big Ten: UCLA was dominated by New Mexico 35-10, leaving the Bruins at 0-3 on the season. UCLA decided to pull the plug on Foster’s coaching tenure, appointing Tim Skipper as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2025 season. “I want to extend my sincere appreciation to DeShaun for his contributions to UCLA Football over the course of many years, first as a Hall of Fame student-athlete, then as an assistant coach and finally as head coach,” said UCLA AD Martin Jarmond. Speculation on who the Bruins may target for their next head coach has already begun in earnest, but UCLA will want to take their time and make sure they have the right man in place to rebuild the UCLA program.

The post Week Three 2025 Observations Of The Big Ten appeared first on Saturday Glory.

1. You Get A Shutout: Ohio State 70, Grambling State 0; Penn State 34, FIU 0; Nebraska 68, Akron 0; and Minnesota 66, Northwestern State 0. Of this group, Penn State pulled away in the second half, after only leading FIU 10-0 at the half.
2. The Scoreboard Operators Were Keeping Busy: Oregon 69, Oklahoma State 3; Illinois 45, Duke 19; Indiana 56, Kennesaw State 9; USC 59, Georgia Southern 20; Rutgers 45, Miami University 17; Washington 70, UC Davis 10; Purdue 34, S. Illinois 17; Maryland 20, N. Illinois 9; Northwestern 42, W. Illinois 7. Several of these games had impressive results. Illinois going on the road to play Duke helped to answer skeptics who have questioned how good the Fighting Illini may be in 2025. Oregon continues to look as one of the nation’s best teams, despite the amount of roster turnover from last year’s team. Washington’s Jonah Coleman scored 5 touchdowns in the Huskies’ rout of UC Davis.
3. Possibly The Game Of The Week In The Conference: Michigan State came back to defeat Boston College 42-40 in 2OT on Saturday night in East Lansing. This is the kind of game that Michigan State needed to win as they continue to build under second year head coach Jonathan Smith.
4. No Longer Unbeaten: Iowa State 16, Iowa 13; Oklahoma 24, Michigan 13. Both Big Ten teams were on the road and came home with their first loss of the 2025 season. For Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, the loss at Iowa State delayed Ferentz from taking over as the all-time winningest Big Ten coach. Iowa will look to get Ferentz the record in week three when Iowa hosts UMass. Michigan rallied in the second half after being down 14-0 at halftime, but had struggles offensively to ever take the lead against the Sooners.
5. Still Searching For Their First Win: UNLV defeated UCLA 30-23. The Bruins had a valiant comeback, after being down 23-3 at the half. Too many penalties and too deep of a hole by UCLA were too much to overcome. “I’m just frustrated because when you know we can execute better than we were and put together two halves like I wish we could’ve done, the outcome would’ve been different…” said UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster. UCLA will be looking for his first win of the season when they host New Mexico on September 12th.

The post Week Two 2025 Observations Of The Big Ten appeared first on Saturday Glory.

1. Whew, That Was Close: Rutgers defeated Ohio University 34-31 and Nebraska defeated Cincinnati 20-17, in closer than expected games. In the words of Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule, “There’s going to be a lot of good. There’s going to be a lot of things we want to correct…We’ll be in there tomorrow and start getting better for next week.”.
2. Pitching A Shutout: Wisconsin defeated Miami University 17-0, while Purdue defeated Ball State 31-0. Both Wisconsin and Purdue are coming off disappointing 2024 seasons, so winning their respective first games via shutouts probably provided a boost of confidence. Both Wisconsin and Purdue will need it, with both teams having among the most challenging 2025 schedules within The Big Ten.
3. Slugfest: Ohio State defeated Texas 14-7 in a game dominated by strong defensive performances by both teams. Reflecting on the first game of the 2025 season, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said, “When you start a season, you want to set the tone…There’s a lot of guys who are stepping into roles for the first time ever. And for these guys to step in and really have great energy about them, I thought they were poised. I thought the moment was not too big for them.”.
4. Happy With The Win, But There’s Room For Improvement: Minnesota defeated Buffalo 23-10, Michigan State defeated Western Michigan 23-6, Indiana defeated Old Dominion 27-14, Michigan defeated New Mexico 34-17, and Washington defeated Colorado State 38-21. While all of those teams won their games, each had their respective moments that their respective coaching staffs will be able to identify as areas to improve upon between week one and week two.
5. No Debate About The Dominance: Illinois throttled Western Illinois 52-3, Penn State overpowered Nevada 46-11, Oregon smashed Montana State 59-13, Maryland walloped Florida Atlantic 39-7, Iowa clobbered UAlbany 34-7, and USC crushed Missouri State 73-13. No matter how many words I could search instead of “defeated”, it was a perfect springboard of confidence for each of these teams to start off 2025 in a dominant fashion. Congratulations to Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, as he tied legendary Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes with his 205th victory. One more win for Ferentz and he will have the record to himself.
6. Back To The Drawing Board: As written up above, two of The Big Ten’s teams lost in week one. Tulane handled Northwestern 23-3, while Utah came into The Rose Bowl and never were threatened by UCLA, winning 43-10. Both the Wildcats and Bruins need to figure things out in a hurry to keep their respective 2025 seasons from spiraling downward.

The post Week One 2025 Observations Of The Big Ten appeared first on Saturday Glory.

According to ESPN, Iowa interim athletic director Beth Goetz announced that offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz will not return at the end of the season. 

PODCAST: Lance Leipold is the Exact Opposite of Deion Sanders

Here is Goetz’ full quote according to Adam Rittenberg of ESPN. 

“”Anyone who loves lowa football recognizes both the success and challenges that have brought attention to our program this season,” Goetz stated. “Our struggles on offense coupled with the offensive coordinator’s contract make this a unique situation. After conversations with head coach Kirk Ferentz, coach Brian Ferentz and President Wilson, I informed Brian that our intention is for him to be with us through the bowl game, but this is his last season with the program. Making this known today is in the best interest of the program and its loyal fans; it provides clarity during this pivotal time in the schedule. It is not my practice to be involved in assistant coaching decisions and certainly not to make public such a change during a season. Our priority is to put all our student-athletes in the best position to have both short-term and long-term success, on and off the field. Our football team has a group of outstanding young men and talented athletes, who at 6-2, have a lot to play for. As a former athlete, I know every opportunity to put on the jersey is a cherished one. As Hawkeyes, let’s continue to support all our coaches, staff and student-athletes in their pursuit of a Big Ten Championship and bowl game victory.” 

Ferentz is in his seventh season as Hawkeyes offensive coordinator. He works under his father and head coach Kirk Ferentz, who is the longest tenured skipper in the Big Ten Conference. 

Iowa is currently third-worst in the Big Ten in scoring offense this season, averaging 19.5 points per game. The Hawkeyes also average 232.4 yards per game, worst in the conference.

READ: Jayhawks ‘live for days like this’ in 38-33 win over No. 6 Oklahoma

According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, Brian Ferentz stated that he remains committed to helping Iowa remain the best football team it can be under his tutelage for the remainder of the season. 

“For the vast majority of my adult life I have had the privilege to represent the University of Iowa as a football player and coach,” Brian Ferentz stated. “I have always considered and will always consider it an honor. In that time my singular goal has been to contribute to the football team’s success. As long as I am employed by the University of Iowa my stated goal will not change. My priority will continue to be the well being of our students and the success of our team.” 

The post Reports: Iowa AD Goetz announces OC Brian Ferentz won’t return at end of season  appeared first on Saturday Glory.

That’s the subject of today’s The Daily Huddle.

We broke our coaches down into three groups:
-Coaches who have fallen on hard times
-Coaches who can change the narrative
-Coaches who can prove their worth

Find out who got put in what category by watching today’s show here:

The post These 8 Coaches Can Change How They’re Viewed This Weekend appeared first on Saturday Glory.