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The 2025 college football season has plenty of storylines.
Texas is finally turning to highly-touted quarterback Arch Manning. Michigan is bringing in Bryce Underwood after a massive NIL deal was revealed, and Miami landed Carson Beck in an interesting transfer portal move.
Of course, Bill Belichick being at North Carolina has made plenty of headlines for several reasons, including his 24-year-old girlfriend.
On Friday, ESPN's Pete Thamel hopped on "The Pat McAfee Show" and discussed the latest happenings in college football.
During the segment, McAfee had some high praise for Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola ahead of his sophomore season.
"I think Dylan Raiola is going to be a star next year," McAfee said.
And, that wasn't all. McAfee even named Nebraska as one program he is "high" on for the 2025 campaign.
“I love that you brought up Dylan Raiola...I’ve seen him at RAW the other day in Omaha. Looking good,” McAfee said.
“I’m high on the Nebraska Cornhuskers after getting a chance to meet these boys and chit chat with them one-on-one post-Monday Night RAW in the back."
It's a strong statement from McAfee, and the second year with Raiola under center could be a major one for Nebraska.
In 2024, the Cornhuskers went 7-6 with a 3-6 mark in Big Ten Conference play, although they managed a Pinstripe Bowl win over Boston College.
It marked the second season with Matt Rhule as the head coach in Lincoln, but there are some lofty expectations -and pressure - for Rhule in his third season.
Still, McAfee feels strongly about Nebraska entering this next season, and they could be a real threat in the Big Ten Conference which saw a ton of stars leave for the NFL.
More must-reads:
- Oklahoma QB denies sports gambling allegations after suspicious screenshots emerge
- NFL legend Tom Brady unleashes on current climate in college sports
- The 'American League WAR leaders' quiz
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Nebraska punter breaks down while talking about his family back home in Australia
Archie Wilson came all the way from Australia to play football at Nebraska, and the freshman punter is admittedly feeling a bit homesick. Wilson recently enrolled at Nebraska after growing up in Victoria, Australia, and playing a different brand of football. The 18-year-old spoke with the media for the first time on Tuesday, and he was asked about his family back home. Wilson became overwhelmed with emotion. "I love them a lot. I've got two little brothers and my mom and dad ... yeah, that's the tough part about being here," Wilson said. "I love them a lot, but they know this is what's best for me, and it's good I can still talk to them plenty over the phone, and they're coming here to see the first few games, so I'm looking forward to that." Wilson is a rugby-style punter who trained at Prokick Australia, which is a program that trains Australian athletes to become punters and kickers in American football. Several current NFL players and Division I student-athletes came from Australia and trained with Prokick. Nebraska will have a new starting punter this season after three-year starter Brian Buschini graduated, and Wilson is competing for the job.
Jordan Love's thumb surgery comes at inopportune time for Packers
The Green Bay Packers have a cause for concern with Jordan Love in the preseason. The quarterback suffered a thumb injury during the Packers' 30-10 loss to the New York Jets on Saturday. Love went 1-of-5 passing for seven yards and took a sack for -3 yards in the defeat. Both of his drives ended in punts. Per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, Love is set to have surgery on his thumb after seeing how it held up at practice on Monday. General manager Brian Gutekunst believes Love will be ready for Week 1 against the Detroit Lions. "Gutekunst sounded adamant that Love will be ready for Week 1 against the Lions," Schneidman wrote. "Hit his left hand on a helmet on that half-scramble vs. Jets. Wanted to see how it felt at practice yesterday and decided to get it fixed to avoid future issues. Will be with team in Indianapolis. "Brian Gutekunst says Jordan Love is having a procedure done on his left thumb. It’s a 'ligament thing.' Hurt it in the preseason opener. Gutekunst hopes he returns to practice next week." The injury comes at an inopportune time for the Packers. Love and the majority of his receivers have not been in sync during training camp and in the preseason game. Like last season, Packers' receivers have dropped passes during practices and did so in the preseason opener against the Jets. Green Bay needs Love on the field, gaining chemistry with his pass-catching targets, including first-round pick Matthew Golden, before it plays the Lions.
Vikings WR gets brutal injury news for second straight season
A Minnesota Vikings wide receiver's season is already over. The Minnesota Vikings announced on Tuesday that wide receiver Rondale Moore is being placed on season-ending injured reserve due to a leg injury that he suffered in the team's first preseason game against the Houston Texans this past weekend. It is a devastating blow for Moore who is now being sidelined for an entire season, before it even begins, for the second year in a row. Moore signed a one-year, $2 million contract in free agency with the Vikings this offseason in the hopes he could return from a different injury that cost him the entirety of the 2024 season. Moore was a member of the Atlanta Falcons in 2024 after being acquired in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals for backup quarterback Desmond Ridder. This is now two different teams that Moore has been a part of but will never play a game for them due to injuries. Moore was injured while returning a punt. He began his career with the Arizona Cardinals, catching 135 passes for 1,201 yards over three seasons before being traded. He was never going to be counted on to be a key contributor for the Vikings offense this season, especially given the superstars they already have at wide receiver in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, but he still had a chance to be an interesting depth player. Now it is fair to wonder what the rest of his career might even look like. Missing two full seasons due to two different leg injuries is going to be a brutal thing to try to come back from. Missing two seasons for any reason is difficult, but when you add the leg injuries to the equation, it makes the obstacle even steeper.
Former crew chief frustrated by the 'ridiculous' racing at Watkins Glen
It is no secret that NASCAR's current road-course package has not been very good. Aside from the mile-and-a-half tracks that were once the least competitive and exciting in the series, those races are the rare bright spot for the Next Gen Car since its inception in 2022. Shane van Gisbergen drove away to an 11.1-second win over Christopher Bell in Sunday's race at Watkins Glen and set multiple records in the process. While the racing was not particularly exciting, that was not what left former crew chief and current analyst Steve Letarte frustrated the most following the weekend. A recurring issue in each race over the weekend was drivers utilizing the runoff areas around the track and not staying on the traditional racing surface, which ultimately led to some crashes in Saturday's Xfinity race. "So, I hate track limits that have to be officiated," Letarte said on "Inside the Race." "Because I like tracks that you should just stay on the track. I didn't think it mattered. Now, I am team get-them-back-on-the-race-track-at-Watkins-Glen. I don't love the Watkins Glen that I see. ... I think Turn 1 is not as great of a corner with no exit respect or responsibility. You just blow the exit. I think the carousel is a much easier corner, being able to just go driver's left. "I also think Turn 6 is going — let me add, that I think the (Connor) Zilisch, SVG wreck between the last two corners (in the Xfinity Series race) happened because they left the track, and the Austin Hill wreck with Michael McDowell happened off the race track. Now, both could have been avoided, we can talk about who's at fault. What I'm saying is, I've never driven a lap at Watkins Glen. I can analyze what happens between the white lines." This comes one year after rumble strips were placed in Turn 1 to keep drivers from using the runoff area, and that clearly has not worked. As the field has got closer together, using up all the track has become a common way for drivers to establish momentum, especially as they prepare for the right-hander going into The Esses at Watkins Glen. The bottom line is NASCAR's road-racing product needs to get better and Letarte wants to see race cars "stay on the race track because I think it will be a better race." Van Gisbergen's historic dominance certainly does not help, but the overall road course product is not great. Whether NASCAR makes some changes to the runoff areas and enforces track limits remains to be seen, but that still may not be the biggest issue if the racing does not improve.
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