Very quick snapshot at the games and names you should know.
#22 Iowa State vs #17 Kansas State (-3)
Iowa State focus: Can Rocco Becht succeed without his shiny toys?
Kansas State focus: Wildcats look to feast early on the ground and run wild
Farmageddon 2025 marks the 109th meeting between these programs. Iowa State leads the series 54-50-4.
ISU QB Rocco Becht needs to perform without his top two weapons (Noel and Higgins accounted for 68% of the TDs and yards thrown by Becht last year. 63% of all of Rocco’s throwing production over his two years starting). Which WR steps up for Iowa State this season, if any?
KSU QB Avery Johnson will be looking to improve in the passing game in his second year as the starter, and continue to be a threat in the running game. RB Dylan Edwards steps up to fill the starting role for the first time. The Wildcats will be a force, yet again, on the ground.
Fresno State @ Kansas (-13)
Kansas Focus: Can QB Jalon Daniels of yesteryear (first 3 games of 2023) return?
Fresno State Focus: The Matt Entz era begins with son of a NFL HOF QB
Kansas is coming off a disappointing year. 5 of their 7 losses were by an average of 3.3 points. Jalon Daniels looks to live up to his potential after looking like less than a shell of himself last year. I’m praying to see Jalon Daniels reach his ceiling, and make Kansas must watch football.
Senior transfer QB EJ Warner, son of HOFer Kurt Warner, joins HC Matt Entz (first year coaching at Fresno State after a successful stint at North Dakota State. He has been a solid QB with two seasons at Temple and spent 2024 at Rice. His career stats are: 60% completion, 8,814 yards, 58 TDs, 37 INTs. Maybe this coaching staff and EJ Warner can become the right blend to make Fresno State a MWC contender.
Sam Houston @ Western Kentucky (-9.5)
Sam Houston Focus: Phil Longo hopes to shine bright with Bearkats, party like it’s 2016
WKU Focus: Can McIvor MacGyver a team chock-full of transfers?
Sam Houston lost everything. Their top 20 nationally ranked defense, gone. Their incredible HC, that won an FCS natty with the school, and had a 10-win season in just their second season being apart of the FBS, KC Keeler, gone. Phil Longo had a successful tenure as the Bearkats OC accumulating in that 2016 season where they averaged 547 yards per game. Can Phil Longo rebuild this team and party like it’s 2016?
Best name for a QB incoming. WKU senior transfer Maverick McIvor comes to the team after a conference championship winning season at Abilene Christian (62.5% completion, 3,847 yards, 30 TDs, 7 INTs). The rest of the team is littered with transfers (can McIvor MacGyver this team to success?), and almost no returning starters on either side of the ball. Even then, expect this team to be contending to go to the conference championship game.
Stanford @ Hawai’i (-2.5)
Stanford Focus: With a little bit of Luck, Stanford hopes to change the trend
Hawai’i Focus: The no’eau QB Micah Alejado enters the limelight
*no’eau is Hawaiian for talented
Stanford has won an average of 3.3 games a year for the last 6 years…. So terrible. Andrew Luck comes in as GM, and hired Frank Reich as interim HC for the year to help build the culture from the ground up. This season feels like it could be a refreshing reset for Stanford, and they’re just looking to reverse recent trends and win more than 4 games for the first time since 2018 (they have had 4 consecutive 3-win seasons). They were so bad and have changed so much there is just nothing else to say besides, lets see what happens.
Redshirt Freshman QB Micah Alejandro flashed bright in his few appearances last year. He played mop up duty very late in a blowout game, and his performance there earned him the starting job for the last game of the season. Between those two appearances his amassed 580 yards, 6 TDs and 0 INTs. All while completing 69.5% of his passes. With the all-time FBS passing attempts leader at HC, Timmy Chang, Micah Alejandro could be unlocked. I am not saying this team is going to win the MWC, but when it’s midnight after all the Saturday games are over, and the only game on his Hawaii, it is going to be a lot of fun to watch this kid throw the ball 50+ times a game and stockpile stats.