Amanda Knox Tells Her Own Story

Published

9 months ago

December 16, 2024

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https://d2h6a3ly6ooodw.cloudfront.net/reasontv_audio_8299722.mp3 1x 1.1x 1.25x 1.5x 2x 3x :15 :15 Download Amanda Knox: ‘I Have Felt Utterly Exploited’ by True Crime

Amanda Knox’s story is one of the most infamous and controversial criminal cases in recent memory. In 2007, while studying abroad in Italy, she was accused of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher, in what the lead prosecutor claimed was a bizarre sex game gone wrong. Despite mishandled DNA, a coerced confession, and a lack of credible evidence, Knox was convicted and spent nearly four years in an Italian prison before being exonerated in 2015. Her wrongful conviction was a media spectacle that sensationalized every aspect of her life.

In March 2024, Huluannouncedan eight-episode limited series about Knox’s story, with Knox joining Monica Lewinsky as an executive producer. Notably, this is one of the rare times Knox has been offered a say in the way her story is told by others.

In October, Knox spoke withReason’s Billy Binion about her role in one of the first modern true crime stories, the psychological impact of being imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit, and what she calls “the single victim fallacy.” She hosts a podcast calledLabyrinthswith her partner, Christopher Robinson. Her bookFreeis set to be released in March 2025.

Reason: You were arrested and imprisoned in November 2007. Two years later, you were found guilty of a murder that you would ultimately be exonerated for. We know wrongful convictions happen across the world. There is someone, somewhere, right now in a similar situation. What would you say to that person if they were sitting in front of you?

Knox: I never want people to think that you can rely on the truth ultimately coming out. That is not something that we can count on necessarily. I can’t promise that justice will ultimately result in any of these cases.

There’s no telling how it’s going to work out. There’s a lot of factors that go into that. There’s luck. There’s the right people showing up at the right time. There’s the evidence coming through. There’s technology that becomes available. All of that plays into whether or not an innocent person is going to get out of prison and then successfully reintegrate into society. The thing that they always need to know, though, is it is entirely up to them to figure out how to be their best selves in these circumstances. That is their power, and no one can take that away from them.

But prison is pretty horrible, is it not?

It’s 100 percent a horrible place. When I was in that space, I woke up sad, I spent the whole day sad, and I went to bed sad. That was just my emotional default setting, which was very new to me. I was a very happy person up until this circumstance happened. That didn’t change the fact, though, that there was always something that I could do in any given day that would make it worth living. And it might be something really simple like writing a letter to my mom. It might be reading a book and educating myself. It might be doing as many sit-ups as I possibly could. There were always things that I could find that were meaningful to me, even in their humble ways that made at least life in that moment worth living.

Do you find that that’s transferable to people experiencing tragedies that have nothing to do with wrongful convictions?

Yes, I think it’s applicable to anyone going through a horrendous circumstance. I really thought that this experience I was going through was very unique and it made me feel very ostracized from the rest of humanity. That was part of the sadnessfeeling like I didn’t belong to the rest of humanity anymore. I slowly, over the course of years, have realized that we are all carrying our own private tragedies and we all can feel like we don’t have agency. And my message to people is, regardless of where you are and where you belong, there is something that you can do that matters to you. Find that and do it.

You’ve written about some of the more dramatic indignities that you experiencedconstantly being solicited for sex and harassed by people in positions of authority, a cellmate attacking you and not being able to defend yourself because it would’ve hurt your chances in court. Because you were ultimately exonerated, many people would be horrified on your behalf. But they should be horrified even if someone is guilty, right?

Absolutely. The indignities that so many people face in prisonguilty or innocent alikeare not doing any of us any good. A lot of the people that I met in prison were sitting there feeling victimized and feeling like they could not wait to get back out and make the same mistakes over and over again. It’s a little bit “fuck off.” There was this feeling of “I’m not sitting here becoming a better person. I’m sitting here being victimized all over again.”

So many of the women that I was imprisoned with had been victims of crime long before they had ever committed crimes themselves. They were swimming in a world where crime was a part of the rhythm of life and so was prison. Their sense of who they were and how they belonged to the rest of humanity was corrupted by a sense of victimization.

I think that some people might argue that vengeance is the point. It’s just the point of justice to make people suffer who made other people suffer. That’s the goal. And if that’s the goal, if that’s what you really think our society needs, then sure, we’re doing it right. But if what you want is a society that is safer, that is attempting to address the causes of crime in the first place and is attempting to mitigate circumstances that might lead to crimes, then you have to take a step back from that righteous indignation you feel toward a person who committed a crime and instead say, “What is it that works?” And what we’re doing right now is not working.

The “evidence” in your case was extremely spuriousmishandled DNA evidence, law enforcement lying under oath, and most importantly, a coerced confession where you implicated your boss at the time, Patrick Lumumba, after several days when you were screamed at for hours in a language you did not speak fluently. You were slapped several times. You got your period during the interrogation and weren’t allowed to use the restroom. What do people not understand about what effect that has on the mind?

It’s the biggest obstacle I feel to justice in so many of these wrongful convictions cases. Coercive interrogations and what happens behind closed doors with authority figures who are hell-bent on getting what they want out of witnesses or suspects: That side of the criminal justice system is very dark and very scary. A lot of people like to think that, if they were in my shoes, nothing short of being beaten with a rubber hose or dangled out a window would get them to implicate themselves or others in a crime that they knew they were innocent of. Obviously, the research speaks otherwise. But speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that I have never been put in a position of doubting my own sanity like I was in the hands of those police officers.

I was made to believe that I had repressed all memories of having witnessed a traumatic event but that now I was being forced to unearth repressed memories or else I would never see my family again. I was put in an impossible position where they reshaped my understanding of reality through lies and manipulation so that I felt like there was no possible answer besides the one that they eventually coerced me into signing ontowhich was that I had witnessed my boss commit a horrific crime and I was so traumatized by it that I could not even remember it. That was the story that they wanted me to tell. And once they had it, they latched onto it.

I think they were under a lot of pressure to come up with answers. Because there is this resistance to appreciating psychological coercion and torture, there was a resistance once the evidence was at hand. Thy saw, “Oh, this guy [named Rudy Guede] who has a long history of breaking and entering, his DNA is all over the crime scene. Maybe that’s the guy who did it.” They held onto, “Well, Amanda confessed, so she must have witnessed something. Maybe she got them confused, or maybe she’s a mastermind and she’s cunningly subbing in one person for another.” There was complete resistance to the idea that they had just gaslit a 20-year-old into not even knowing what was the truth or not anymore.

I still remain wrongly convicted of a lesser charge, which is slander. After I signed those statements, and it turned out that my boss obviously was completely innocent and had nothing to do with this crime, even after I retracted those statements, I was accused of having maliciously and intentionally slandered him in order to divert the course of justice. I was found guilty of that crime, and I was sentenced to three years in prison for that crime. And technically, in Italy, they say that I served rightfully three years in prison for the outcome of that interrogation. I’m still fighting that to this day.

The press uncritically recycled information that the police and prosecutors would feed them. What do you make of that when the job of the press is supposedly to hold the government to account? Do you still think that’s a problem today?

Yes. I think that’s actually the thing that the Netflix documentary filmmakers were really good at pinpointing. I was shocked until I realized that the people who are writing those headlines and publishing those headlines are being rewarded for that behavior. They are being paid by us when we click on those headlines. And they are giving us exactly what we seem to want, which is not well-researched, thoughtful, balanced, something that takes time and consideration and expertise. It’s being first. It’s being loudest. And it is tapping into that deep part of ourselves that loves schadenfreude and that enjoys the sort of lewdness and shamefulness of other people’s stories and gets gratification out of that.

How has that affected your media consumption and how you see the world?

I am very skeptical when I see even things that are not just obviously scandalous headlines, but just little two-second blips of “This person said this.” And I’m like, “Hmm, that context is probably being stripped away for that sound bite.”

That said, I do think there is a certain amount of media literacy entering into the broader public because we all are now content creators. In a weird way, now that we’ve seen a little bit how the sausage gets made, we’re more aware of how the bigger sausages get made. I think that’s a really interesting turn. It’s not that we demand higher standardswe demand higher transparency. You came to this crazy outlandish conclusion, well, fine, but tell me how you got there. I’m here for the ride. Just show your work.

I read something inThe New York Timeswritten after your memoir was released. The article concluded like this: “The injustice very likely done to [Amanda Knox] pales beside the brutal truth of Kercher’s death, and no plea for sympathy will ever bridge the difference.” What do you make of that?

It is a common response, and it’s so common that I actually came up with a term for it: the single victim fallacy. This idea that in any given morality narrative, there’s only room for one victim. So either you care about Meredith’s tragedy or you care about my tragedy; you’re incapable of caring about both. And this is a logical fallacy. You absolutely can care about the fact that young women get murdered when they are in their own homes studying abroad. The real tragedy of what happened to Meredith is that this was a common thing that happens to women all over the world. We are targeted and brutalized by men, treated as objects, and then thrown away. And that is a horrific reality that I almost faced, and that a person that I lived with experienced.
(Photo: Amanda Knox speaks during a press conference in March 2015; Stephen Brashear/Getty)

In learning about your case, I came to the conclusion that Italy’s criminal justice system is a hot mess. You weren’t read your rights during your interrogation. You were denied a lawyer despite asking for one. You were held without charge. The prosecution withheld a lot of evidence from the defense. And your jurors weren’t screened for bias. What perspective did that give you on the U.S. criminal justice system?

Well, I didn’t really know anything about criminal justice systems when I left for Italy. And so when I came home to the U.S., I didn’t really have much insight into how similar or different it was to what I had experienced in Italy. It was only when I met other wrongly convicted people who had spent time in prison here in the U.S. that I got an education about what problems we have. And in some ways, it made me appreciative of certain things that they did in Italy.

For instance, appeals are guaranteed in Italy in ways that they are not really guaranteed here in the U.S. And it was shocking to me that the average number of years that a wrongfully convicted person here in the U.S. spends in prison is like 14and I spent four in Italy.

I think a lot of people find themselves in situations where they don’t even know what their rights are, and they don’t know that they should have legal counsel there to educate them about their rights. And that’s how a lot of people end up getting into trouble, because our criminal justice system partly relies upon our own ignorance and the fact that we don’t know what our rights are.

What do you think the criminal justice reform movement in the U.S. is doing well? And what do you think it’s doing not so well?

I think something that it is doing well is also the thing that it’s not doing well, depending on what criminal justice person you’re talking to. I do not think that it helps to make more enemies than you already have. The things that I have seen that have worked the best, that have really benefited the most people, have been when criminal justice advocates and defense attorneys have found some kind of common ground and common purpose with the law enforcement community and the prosecutors. Trying to find the places where we agree is actually a really important fundamental step.

I’m a practical person. I want to have an effective impact on the world that’s actually going to accomplish my goals to live in a world where we can trust each other and feel safer and be able to trust our authority figures. I feel like there are lots of different ways to approach this. One thing that I really care about, that I advocate for, is banning police use [of] deception when they are interacting with witnesses or suspects.

Right now, police can just lie to you. They can lie to you, and there’s no consequences. And I think that is incredibly damaging to their relationship with the rest of us. I also think it leads the police officers to have false self-confidence in what is true or not. They have this false sense of being able to tell if someone’s lying or not lying because they have been trained to lie. The research shows that they don’t, and that’s dangerous.

I think if we work together, we can help more people faster. And so when I see criminal justice advocates quietly or loudly attempting to find common ground with “the enemy,” that makes me feel really reassured.

True crime has had a place for centuries, but with the perfect storm of new social media, extremely salacious allegations, and all these things that were tailor-made to grab people’s eyes, Amanda Knox essentially kicked off the true crime craze of the modern era. What are your thoughts on the popularity of the genre, and is there a way to tell those stories in a respectful and decent way?

I get into a lot of that on a miniseries that I did for [my podcast]Labyrinths, called “Blood Money.” I was curious about the history of it. I was not a true crime person before I became the subject of a true crime phenomenon. So a part of me didn’t quite get it. The more I looked at the history, the further I saw it go back. True crime has been of imense interest as far back as even before the printing press. People were writing about crimes, about salacious crimes. Crimes that were abnormal, that rose above just the tragedy. And this endless fascination with justice. What does justice look like? Does it look like a person burning at the stake? Does it look like the victims finally getting to have a say in the courtroom? What is justice?

What troubles me is that the worst experiences of people’s lives are not talked about for the sake of journalistic integrity. It’s infotainment. And so often, the people who have the most at stake in whether and how those stories are told have absolutely no say about it. And there’s no qualms about it even by content creators.

I have rebelled against this idea that someone like me has nothing valuable to say or to offer when it comes to how my own story is told. A lot of people come to me and want me to help them tell their story, and that comes with an incredible amount of psychological weight for me because I’ve had my story told by other people over and over and over again, and I have felt utterly exploited in so many different ways.

A 2021 movie calledStillwaterwas inspired by your story. Did they consult you at all?

No, I found out about it the exact same time that everybody else found out about it. They started having headlines like “movie inspired by Amanda Knox’s life.”

You’re like, “Oh, OK, I guess, once again, the worst experience of my life is being used by others for their own profit making.” And it’s not that I begrudge them that impulse because we all are inspired by real life, what came before us, and what is within our eyeline. And unfortunately, my story made headlines around the world for a very long time, so people were aware of it, and they knew that they could sell it because it had sold a million fricking newspapers already.

What made me sad aboutStillwaterwas they said that they had done their due diligence and gone out of their way to speak to the people in rural Vermontor wherever it was that they were saying Matt Damon was fromso that he could really get into the character. But they were advertising the movie based on me, and no one had ever bothered to reach out to me to ask me about my experience.

One reason why I actually agreed to do the [2016] Netflix documentary was because the filmmakers said, “Hey, we’re not going to do this documentary without you.” I said, “OK, well, I don’t want to do it.” And they said, “OK, we’re not going to do it.” I was like, “Wow, you are the one and only filmmakers I have ever heard who walked away from all this footage and all this vision because they were like, it’s not right to do the story without you.”

Are you involved in the Hulu series coming up?

I am. The one time that Hollywood actually invited someone like me to be an [executive producer]. It’s a really cool flipping of the script, and I think I have to thank Monica Lewinsky in a huge way for that. As someone who has had her worst experiences out there and exploited, she wanted to uplift people who are in my position to actually have a say in telling their own stories. And so I am finding myself in the extremely privileged and rare position of being a subject who has a say. I am taking that very, very seriously. I am really proud of the work we’re doing.

There are still people out there, after all of these years, after all of the evidence being aired, despite all of it, who still think you’re lying. What do you say to them?

I don’t. If somebody thinks I’m lying, I’ve learned that it has very little to do with me and a lot to do with whatever is going on with them, which I don’t have control over. So I don’t really worry about that unless it’s in a courtroomand then I’m fighting it.

I have given myself the grace to not feel the burden of having to explain myself to every single person out there. That’s in large part due to having met other wrongly convicted people. Before I did, I felt this horrendous obstacle of, “If I’m going to belong to humanity again, I have to explain myself to every single person,” and I have given up on that horrific, impossible task. I do not feel compelled to do that.

This interview has been condensed and edited for style and clarity.

Sports

OU to challenge a freshman QB, the Border rivalry’s return and 26 other Week 2 showdowns

Published

57 mins ago

September 6, 2025

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OU to challenge a freshman QB, the Border rivalry's return and 26 other Week 2 showdowns

Bill ConnellySep 5, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
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I always say that the worse a week looks on paper, the wilder it ends up becoming. If that’s true, brace yourself for just about the wildest week of all time. After a Week 1 that had three top-10 headline games and Bill Belichick’s not-so-hot debut, the biggest game of Week 2 is a Jordan Brand matchup between the No. 15 Michigan Wolverines and No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners. Nine AP top-10 teams are in action, but my SP+ ratings project them as favorites by a combined 360.3 points. Illinois-Duke might be the biggest game in Saturday’s noon ET window.

It’s an odd schedule, in other words. But in these parts, we love alternative programming. Michigan-OU will give us the Wolverines’ Bryce Underwood facing the most hostile environment of his young career. The Iowa-Iowa State winner will be a legit College Football Playoff contender. The same goes for the Kansas-Mizzou winner. (That’s right, the Border War — er, Border Showdown — is back!!) And after Boise State’s Week 1 defeat to USF, the wide-open battle for the Group of 5’s guaranteed CFP spot features a number of huge résumé-building opportunities in Week 2.

There’s probably no need to watch what the top teams are up to this week (though the Grambling-Ohio State halftime show should be amazing). But we’re going to entertain ourselves all the same. Here’s everything you need to know about Week 2.

All times Eastern.

Jump to a topic:
Michigan-Oklahoma | Big Ten challenges
KU-Mizzou is back | G5’s big week | Week 2 playlist

Two big brands trying to look the part

No. 15 Michigan Wolverines at No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners (7:30 p.m., ABC)

It’s like a blind spot in college football’s lore: Michigan and Oklahoma rank first (1,013) and tied for fifth (951), respectively, in college football wins, but they’ve played each other only once. Nearly 50 years ago, in the 1976 Orange Bowl — the first time a Big Ten team was allowed to play in a bowl other than the Rose — Oklahoma won a 14-6 slog that, when paired with Ohio State’s loss in the Rose Bowl, earned the Sooners their fifth of seven national titles. Otherwise, these two iconic helmets have never crossed paths.

After down seasons in 2024, both programs expect improvement this fall. They should have excellent defenses again, but on offense Michigan signed all-world freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood and a new coordinator (Chip Lindsey) while Oklahoma went with a full-on transplant, taking Washington State’s OC (Ben Arbuckle) and QB (John Mateer) and nearly a full lineup’s worth of transfers. Everyone looked as good as expected in easy Week 1 wins, but now the rubber meets the road.

Owen Field vs. a true freshman

The first time I attended an Oklahoma game in Norman, the home crowd forced a fumble. With OU nursing a narrow fourth-quarter lead over Missouri in 2007, Sooners fans made such shrill noise that (A) I had to grab on to the seatback in front of me because my equilibrium was failing, and (B) Mizzou’s Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin miscommunicated and botched an exchange, which Curtis Lofton recovered and took for a touchdown. What they call Sooner Magic might simply be eardrum-bursting shrillness. Regardless, it’s probably going to test Underwood quite a bit.

Underwood was perfectly solid for a true freshman starting in his first collegiate game. New Mexico did its best to confuse him, but he went 21-for-31 for 251 yards. He got help from an effective run game that produced a couple of 50-yard bursts from Justice Haynes and no negative plays.

There was one red flag, though: UNM pressured him seven times, and in those plays he took two sacks, completed just two passes and averaged 2.0 yards per dropback. OU is probably going to pressure him more than seven times. The Sooners ranked 13th nationally in sack rate last year and boast a bevy of pass rushers led by R Mason Thomas. The Sooners also ranked second in rushing success rate allowed, meaning there’s no guarantee that Underwood can lean on Haynes.

Underwood is “no average freshman,” but it’s common for even an awesome blue-chipper to flunk an early road test. Still, if he can avoid devastating mistakes in a deafening environment and the Michigan defense plays its part, the Wolverines could have a chance.

Big plays and rushing quarterbacks

If Week 1 was any indication, a repeat of the 14-6 scoreline from the first Michigan-Oklahoma game is conceivable. The biggest story of Week 1 to me was the complete disappearance of points. The use of safe, two-high coverage (with two high safeties patrolling and attempting to limit big plays) has increased. Combined with the fact that defenses have adapted well to tempo offenses through the years, this led to long, frequently scoreless drives and low point totals in Week 1. It’s as if the entire college football universe suddenly turned into Iowa.

How do you punish teams for two-high looks and force them to get aggressive? With ruthless efficiency. For the SEC in Week 1, that frequently meant running the QB. Auburn’s Jackson Arnold rushed for 151 non-sack yards against Baylor, while Georgia’s Gunner Stockton and Missouri’s Beau Pribula topped 70 yards and seven others topped 30.

Mateer didn’t need to run much against Illinois State. He completed seven passes of 20-plus yards against the Redbirds (the Sooners averaged just 1.5 such completions per game in 2024). Still, considering he had games of 212 and 127 non-sack rushing yards at Wazzu in 2024, plus six more games over 70 yards, we know he’ll probably run a lot when it matters.

Michigan used two-high coverage 38% of the time in Week 1 — 19th most in the FBS — so I’m guessing Mateer’s legs will be frequently involved Saturday evening even though star running back transfer Jaydn Ott should be ready for a heavier load. A threat from Mateer will put pressure on Michigan’s linebackers, which could make the first-half absence of Jaishawn Barham a concern. Of course, Michigan’s defensive front, led by veteran Rayshaun Benny and transfers Tré Williams and Damon Payne, will test OU’s rebuilt offensive line in ways that ISU couldn’t.

Last week didn’t give us definitive answers to the offseason questions we had about the Wolverines or the Sooners. But one of them will be 2-0 and feeling awfully good about themselves Sunday morning.

Current line: OU -5.5 | SP+ projection: OU by 5.7 | FPI projection: OU by 0.9

Big tests for Big Ten hopefuls

Even without the ridiculous “multiple auto-bids in a college football invitational” idea, the Big Ten stands to get plenty of teams into a 12- or 16-team CFP moving forward. Anyone who can get to 10 wins or so is going to have a good shot.

Per SP+, Illinois has a 29% chance of reaching 10-2 or better, and if Bret Bielema’s Illini survive what amounts to a coin-toss game at Duke on Saturday, those odds will see a pretty solid boost. Iowa is at only 4%, but if the Hawkeyes beat their Cy-Hawk rivals — something they’ve done six straight times in Ames — their outlook will be rosier. Noon is Big Ten Time, and Saturday features a pair of awfully important noon contests.

Few teams have proved more through two games than Iowa State. The Cyclones outlasted Kansas State in a massively important Week 0 contest in Ireland, then returned home and mauled both jet lag and a solid South Dakota team last Saturday. They’re tackling well, defending the run effectively and forcing loads of turnovers. Basically, they’re doing the things Iowa typically does to win lots of games.

Iowa wasn’t tested much against Albany in Week 1; the Hawkeyes ran the ball at will — Terrell Washington Jr., Xavier Williams and Jaziun Patterson had 33 combined carries for 238 yards — and they neither asked for nor got much from new quarterback Mark Gronowski. The defense gave up a single, 68-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter but otherwise allowed 2.9 yards per play.

A two-time FCS national champion at South Dakota State, Gronowski disclosed that he had some “anxiety and anxiousness” in his first FBS start, and he suffered some misfires while going 8-for-15 for just 44 yards. (He had 47 non-sack rushing yards, too, which was something.) He’ll have to get over that pretty quickly in Ames. And against ISU quarterback Rocco Becht, who was ever-so-slightly better Saturday (19-for-20 for 278 yards and three TDs), the Iowa defense will have to prove that it remains plug-and-play — Becht & Co. will test the Hawkeyes’ five new starters in the back seven.

Enough Big 12 teams looked awesome in Week 1 that the conference doesn’t have to think about settling for being a one-bid league just yet. Still, with a loss Saturday, ISU could focus on reaching the CFP with a conference title. Iowa probably won’t have that luxury; this one is therefore a bit more important for the road team. But considering the Hawkeyes’ recent record in Ames, that probably doesn’t scare them all that much.

Current line: ISU -3.5 | SP+ projection: ISU by 6.5 | FPI projection: ISU by 3.8

Since the start of 2024, 24 power-conference teams have won double-digit games. Illinois and Duke are among them. Granted, they’re a combined 11-2 in one-score finishes in that span, and that will likely be hard to maintain, but both entered 2025 feeling spry and ambitious, and both crafted easy Week 1 wins.

Well, it was eventually easy for Duke. The Blue Devils found themselves tied with Elon at halftime, thanks in part to a missed field goal and a fumble, before winning the second half by 28. Expensive new quarterback Darian Mensah had to stay in a bit longer than intended and took a pair of sacks, but he finished 27-for-34 for 389 yards and three TDs.

Coach Manny Diaz’s intentions were clear this offseason. The Blue Devils won nine games despite an inefficient, three-and-outs-heavy offense last season, so he spent big to land one of the best QBs in the portal. Play Diaz defense and get high-level QB play and you’re going to be awfully good.

Illinois has provided some proof of concept in that regard. Granted, the Illini defense is far more bend-don’t-break than Diaz’s aggressive units, and Luke Altmyer isn’t exactly a Heisman contender. But he has the best QBR of any Illinois quarterback for the past 20 years (min. 14 starts), and the Illini return about seven starters from a unit that ranked 26th in defensive SP+.

Everything played out as intended in a 45-3 win over Western Illinois. Altmyer went 17-for-21 (albeit with three sacks), while running backs Kaden Feagin, Aidan Laughery and Ca’Lil Valentine combined for 226 rushing yards and the defense allowed 3.0 yards per play. The sacks might be red flags for both QBs, but we’ll learn a lot about two intriguing teams in Durham. And one might actually lose a close game for once.

Current line: Illini -2.5 | SP+ projection: Illini by 2.9 | FPI projection: Duke by 0.1

Mizzou’s Eliah Drinkwitz reviews Week 1, looks to matchup vs. Kansas

Drinkwitz expresses the Tigers’ need to improve each week, reviews what they can change from last week and how they can put themselves in a position to win against the Jayhawks.

A mighty big Border Showdown

It has featured weird ties, rushing records and probably a few too many Civil War references, if we’re being honest, but the Border Showdown is back for a couple of years! Hell, yes. And whether Mizzou and Kansas players are prepared or not — almost none of them really grew up with this rivalry, after all — they’re going to be playing in a lion’s den Saturday afternoon. “I had no idea about the whole Civil War history,” Missouri QB Beau Pribula told the media this week. “I thought it was just a sports rivalry, but I guess it goes beyond that.” Indeed.

Emotions aside, this is a massive game for two programs that have looked the part of late. Mizzou rocked Central Arkansas by 55 points last Thursday, and Kansas has beaten Fresno State and Wagner by a combined 77-14. Mizzou is 22-5 since the start of 2023 — only Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia and Michigan can top that 81.5% win rate — and although close losses dragged KU down to 5-7 last year, the Jayhawks have still enjoyed a spectacular program turnaround under Lance Leipold. They’ve been good enough early on to think of themselves as Big 12 contenders. (Then again, who isn’t a Big 12 contender?)

Pribula, a Penn State transfer, lit Mizzou fans’ imaginations up with a brilliant debut, completing 23 of 28 passes for 283 yards and two scores while rushing for five first downs and ripping off a 31-yard touchdown run. The Tigers’ offensive line was probably their biggest question mark heading into the season, and it looked fine aside from one confusingly awful second-quarter drive. The unit had better have those glitches ironed out because the Kansas defense has been attacking with far more vigor under new coordinator D.K. McDonald. It has already recorded 19 tackles for loss, 6 sacks and 8 passes defended.

Strangely, it seems as if the Jayhawks’ defense is ahead of their offense at the moment. Quarterback Jalon Daniels & Co. have been efficient enough, but situational play has been horrendous: Kansas is 101st in third-down conversion rate (30.0%), and that includes a trio of third-and-1 conversions; on third-and-3 or more, it’s a ghastly 3-for-17 (17.6%). The Jayhawks are also 78th in red zone TD rate (8-for-13) and 103rd in goal-to-go TD rate (1-for-4). These numbers are so bad that they’re almost guaranteed to improve. But Mizzou is 11th in defensive SP+ and held UCA to 2 or fewer yards on 30 of 62 snaps last week. This might not be the best week to expect third-down improvement.

Mizzou did get bitten by the injury bug last Thursday: Quarterback Sam Horn, supposedly still in a battle with Pribula at kickoff, suffered an injury on his first snap and will miss at least a few weeks, and big-legged kicker Blake Craig is now out for the season. The Tigers won a lot of close games over the past couple of years, and long field goals were a huge part of that. The bar is pretty high for freshman kicker Robert Meyer.

Current line: Mizzou -6.5 | SP+ projection: Mizzou by 5.7 | FPI projection: Mizzou by 3.4

Résumé Week in the Group of 5

Heading into 2025, it seemed like a “Boise State vs. the Field” situation when it came to landing the guaranteed Group of 5 CFP spot. Well, the Field swatted that down pretty quickly. USF’s stunning 34-7 win over BSU in Week 1 opened the CFP race wide. BSU’s hopes aren’t kaput, but the Broncos are now part of the second tier of contenders.

The Allstate Playoff Predictor lists 11 G5 teams with at least a 2.0% chance of reaching the CFP: Tulane (31.2%), Memphis (16.3%), USF (14.3%), UNLV (13.5%), Boise State (3.8%), Texas State (3.3%), Fresno State (3.1%), Navy (3.0%), JMU (2.6%), Ohio (2.3%) and UTSA (2.0%). At least six of these teams have particularly interesting matchups in Week 2, games that could alter these odds a solid amount. Here they are in chronological order:

JMU is the betting favorite in the Sun Belt and has a prime upset opportunity Friday night. Both teams handled FCS opponents with aplomb in Week 1. New Louisville quarterback Miller Moss looked good, and Isaac Brown needed only six carries to gain 126 yards in a 51-17 win over Eastern Kentucky. JMU, meanwhile, outgained Weber State by 300 yards and outscored the Wildcats by 35. Is Louisville simply too explosive for the Dukes to handle, or might JMU make this game awfully tricky for Moss & Co.?

Current line: Louisville -14.5 | SP+ projection: Louisville by 11.4 | FPI projection: Louisville by 8.4

This year’s Battle of I-35 is a huge head-to-head matchup of G5 hopefuls in the Alamo Dome, and it might honestly be one of my favorite matchups of Week 2. UTSA was explosive and exciting against Texas A&M, trailing by only four in the third quarter before stumbling late. Texas State, meanwhile, walloped Eastern Michigan 52-27. Despite massive turnover, the Bobcats look dangerous once again, and they finally beat UTSA as an FBS rival last year. Major track meet potential here.

Current line: UTSA -4.5 | SP+ projection: UTSA by 3.8 | FPI projection: UTSA by 1.7

USF has the third-best odds of any G5 team to reach the CFP, and that’s with a likely loss in Gainesville this weekend. If the Bulls can pull an upset here or even give the playoff committee something to think about with a super-competitive loss, that will be quite the bonus. Is that actually likely? We’ll see. USF’s offense was all-or-nothing against Boise State, and the Bulls started quite slowly overall and benefited from some turnovers luck. Still, they’re super explosive, and they now face a Florida team that wasn’t all that explosive itself against Long Island last week.

Current line: Florida -17.5 | SP+ projection: by 20.3 | FPI projection: Florida by 10.8

Tulane is your new G5 leader, thanks both to Boise State’s loss and to the Green Wave’s utterly dominant 23-3 win over Northwestern. They’ll face a unique test in Mobile. Can they avoid a letdown after such a stirring showing? And how will they perform against a team that — sorry, Northwestern fans — might actually be able to pass? USA’s Bishop Davenport was 12-of-14 with three completions of 30-plus yards against Morgan State last week, and though I doubt the Jaguars’ defense can handle Tulane QB Jake Retzlaff & Co., the offense might score enough to make this uncomfortable.

Current line: Tulane -10.5 | SP+ projection: Tulane by 10.7 | FPI projection: Tulane by 9.6

UNLV has suffered serious defensive issues thus far, giving up a combined 52 points and 887 yards to Idaho State and Sam Houston. So why are the Rebels fourth on the G5 playoff odds list? Because of an offense that has scored 76 points and gained 936 yards. That raw potential might be problematic for a UCLA team that got utterly swamped by Utah on both offense and defense last week. The Bruins could rebound, but I have no idea what they’ve done to earn being favored in this game.

Current line: UCLA -2.5 | SP+ projection: UNLV by 2.6 | FPI projection: UNLV by 6.4

Week 2 chaos superfecta

We have another one! We’re once again using this space to attempt to will chaos into existence, looking at four carefully curated games with pretty big point spreads and mashing them together into a much more upset-friendly number. We scored upsets in 10 of 14 weeks last season, and thanks to Florida State’s upset of Bama, we’re 1-for-1 in 2025.

Who are we taking down this week? Someone good! SP+ says there’s only about a 51% chance that No. 13 Florida (90% over USF), No. 8 Clemson (89% over Troy), No. 20 Ole Miss (84% over Kentucky) and Louisville (76% over JMU) all win. Surely Ole Miss wouldn’t lose to Kentucky again, right?

Week 2 playlist

Here are some more games you should pay attention to if you want to get the absolute most out of the weekend from information and entertainment perspectives.

Friday evening

Northern Illinois Huskies at Maryland Terrapins (7:30, BTN). Freshman quarterback Malik Washington grew beautifully into his first start last week, and he’s at least 17 places ahead of Drew Allar, Garrett Nussmeier and Cade Klubnik in QBR. But can he overcome the Curse of Playing Northern Illinois in Week 2? Notre Dame couldn’t last year, after all.

Current line: Terps -18.5 | SP+ projection: Terps by 16.0 | FPI projection: Terps by 13.0

Early Saturday

Baylor Bears at No. 17 SMU Mustangs (noon, The CW). Against Auburn, Baylor proved it has some major speed this season. But the Bears got pushed around early and made too many mistakes. SMU, meanwhile, took a while to find an offensive rhythm against East Texas A&M and fell well short of projections. Which team will head into Week 3 having disappointed twice in a row?

Current line: SMU -3 | SP+ projection: SMU by 9.9 | FPI projection: SMU by 4.5

Virginia Cavaliers at NC State Wolfpack (noon, ESPN2). NC State’s CJ Bailey looked awfully good in the Wolfpack’s 24-17 win over forever-upset-minded ECU, but the UVA defense absolutely wrecked shop against Coastal Carolina. Are the Cavaliers better than we thought? Can State fend off an early upset attempt?

Current line: Pack -2.5 | SP+ projection: Pack by 2.0 | FPI projection: UVA by 0.4

UConn Huskies at Syracuse Orange (noon, ESPN+). Syracuse alternated between wobbly and exciting in last week’s loss to Tennessee, but the Orange will need to get their feet underneath them quickly because UConn made loads of big plays last week — yes, against Central Connecticut, but still — and is good enough to make this one a near-tossup.

Current line: Cuse -6.5 | SP+ projection: Cuse by 1.8 | FPI projection: Cuse by 4.3

Saturday afternoon

No. 20 Ole Miss Rebels at Kentucky Wildcats (3:30, ABC). New Ole Miss starter Austin Simmons threw two early picks against Georgia State last week but eventually got rolling. He’ll likely find far more resistance against a Kentucky defense that held Toledo to 4.8 yards per play, but that will matter only if the Wildcats can score. They averaged a woeful 4.6 yards per play with two turnovers, and I’m pretty sure Ole Miss’ defense is better than Toledo’s.

Current line: Rebels -10.5 | SP+ projection: Rebels by 16.1 | FPI projection: Ole Miss by 11.5

Oklahoma State Cowboys at No. 6 Oregon Ducks (3:30, CBS). Oklahoma State QB Hauss Hejny looked awesome in his first start but got hurt. Now Zane Flores will make his first start on the road against a team that looked about as good as anyone last week. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore was accurate against Montana State, a committee of Ducks running backs romped, and the team’s defense erased what will likely be one of the FCS’ best offenses. I’m not sure what resistance OSU can come up with here.

Current line: Ducks -28.5 | SP+ projection: Ducks by 21.8 | FPI projection: Ducks by 20.8

Troy Trojans at No. 8 Clemson Tigers (3:30, ACCN). An interesting stats-versus-sportsbooks contrast here. ESPN BET says Clemson will beat Troy by nearly five touchdowns, but neither SP+ nor FPI trust the Tigers that much. Of course, Troy needed a late charge to beat Nicholls State last week, so maybe the numbers should stand down a bit.

Current line: Clemson -33.5 | SP+ projection: Clemson by 19.5 | FPI projection: Clemson by 19.4

West Virginia Mountaineers at Ohio Bobcats (4, ESPNU). Ohio racked up 440 yards at 7.1 yards per play against a Rutgers defense that we expected to be better than West Virginia’s. West Virginia, meanwhile, started slowly against Robert Morris but caught fire and finished with 625 yards. Points have been hard to come by overall this season, but this one has some track meet potential.

Current line: WVU -2.5 | SP+ projection: WVU by 6.9 | FPI projection: WVU by 0.9

Saturday evening

Grambling’s World Famed Tiger Marching Band vs. Ohio State’s Best Damn Band in the Land (approximately 5, BTN). This has to be one of the first times a football game was scheduled to set up a halftime show. But make no mistake: The halftime show, pitting two of probably the five or 10 best marching bands in the country, will be unreal. This might be the single coolest 20 minutes of the Saturday slate.

SP+ projection: WFTMB -2 (just kidding)

Vanderbilt Commodores at Virginia Tech Hokies (7:30, ACCN). Virginia Tech’s defense showed up in Atlanta against South Carolina last week. The offense, not so much. Kyron Drones was 15-of-35 with two INTs and two sacks, and his receiving corps was plagued by drops. Vandy’s defense erased Charleston Southern, but this is obviously the Commodores’ real test.

Current line: Tech -1.5 | SP+ projection: Vandy by 3.8 | FPI projection: VT by 3.3

No. 12 Arizona State Sun Devils at Mississippi State Bulldogs (7:30, ESPN2). MSU was sloppy early against Southern Miss last week, and Arizona State woke up only marginally against Northern Arizona. Both won, obviously, but now we get to find out how each will really start the season. Is ASU’s Sam Leavitt really going to throw only to Jordyn Tyson again (12 catches, 141 yards last week)? Can MSU run well enough to keep pressure off of Blake Shapen?

Current line: ASU -6.5 | SP+ projection: ASU by 9.7 | FPI projection: ASU by 1.0

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Toledo Rockets (7, ESPN+). I almost included this one in the G5 Résumés section above. Points might be at a premium this season, but WKU has scored 96 of them in two easy wins while Toledo’s defense looked the part, at least, against Kentucky. The winner of this one will be in the G5’s CFP hunt — especially if it’s unbeaten WKU.

Current line: Toledo -6.5 | SP+ projection: WKU by 2.3 | FPI projection: Toledo by 3.4

Houston Cougars at Rice Owls (7, ESPN+). What would a column of mine be without a reference to Scott Abell’s option offense? Granted, defense played a huge part in Rice’s first-week upset of Louisiana, but now the Owls get a shot at a power-conference rival, a Houston team that shut Stephen F. Austin down last week but never really got rolling offensively. Rice can’t start 2-0, can it?

Current line: Houston -12.5 | SP+ projection: Houston by 13.9 | FPI projection: Houston by 4.9

Army Black Knights at Kansas State Wildcats (7, ESPN). One of these teams could be in crisis Sunday morning. Both came into 2025 with major expectations, but Army suffered a season-opening upset loss to Tarleton State, and Kansas State came within about a minute of falling to 0-2 last weekend before rallying to beat North Dakota. Stumbles happen, and it’s early, but the loser of this one will be in a hole.

Current line: K-State -17.5 | SP+ projection: K-State by 12.3 | FPI projection: K-State by 19.2

Boston College Eagles at Michigan State Spartans (7:30, NBC). Boston College overachieved against SP+ projections by a couple of touchdowns in a 66-10 win over Fordham, while Michigan State underachieved slightly in a 23-6 win over Western Michigan. Both teams could have salty defenses, and both teams have either inexperienced (BC’s Dylan Lonergan) or sack-prone QBs (MSU’s Aidan Chiles). MSU is favored at home, but this seems like a huge statement opportunity for BC.

Current line: MSU -3.5 | SP+ projection: BC by 1.5 | FPI projection: BC by 0.6

UL Monroe Warhawks at No. 21 Alabama Crimson Tide (7:45, SECN). I’m just saying, you always need to check in on ULM-Bama. Just in case.

Current line: Bama -36.5 | SP+ projection: Bama by 31.6 | FPI projection: Bama by 26.6

Late Saturday

Stanford Cardinal at BYU Cougars (10:15, ESPN). Portland State is clearly not good, but BYU outgained the Vikings 606-51. Six-hundred-six to 51. Stanford, meanwhile, lost to Hawai’i in Week 0. I’m honestly not sure how this line is under three touchdowns.

Current line: BYU -18.5 | SP+ projection: BYU by 24.6 | FPI projection: BYU by 16.0

Smaller-school showcase

Let’s once again save a shoutout for the glorious lower levels of the sport. Here are three games you should track.

D-III: No. 17 Wheaton at No. 2 Mount Union (1 p.m., FloFootball). Now the party’s complete. The Division III season kicks off Saturday, and Mount Union, a 12-time national champion battling a seven-year title drought, gets going against some high-level competition. Wheaton missed the playoffs for the first time since 2018 last season, but the Thunder still went 9-2 and are projected ninth in D-III SP+ to start the season. Can Geoff Dart’s Purple Raiders handle their business at home as we’ve come to expect?

SP+ projection: Mount Union by 8.1

NAIA: No. 4 Benedictine at No. 1 Grand View (1 p.m., local streaming). I told you to watch Benedictine’s top-five showdown with Morningside last week, and the Ravens won in a thriller. How are they following that up? With another top-five showdown! We’re going to watch this one too! Grand View won its second national title last fall and starts this season atop the polls. Will the Vikings stay there after Saturday?

SP+ projection: Grand View by 9.9

FCS: No. 2 South Dakota State at No. 3 Montana State (8 p.m., ESPN+). After handily disposing of Sacramento State 20-3 to start the season, second-ranked South Dakota State heads west to face a Montana State team that was treated very unkindly last weekend by Oregon. Will the Bobcats, national runners-up twice in the past four seasons, bounce back and give the Jackrabbits a fight?

SP+ projection: SDSU by 1.6

Sports

College football Week 2 preview: Quarterbacks to watch, rivalry matchups and more

Published

57 mins ago

September 6, 2025

admin

College football Week 2 preview: Quarterbacks to watch, rivalry matchups and more

Sep 4, 2025, 08:00 AM ET

With Week 1 in the books, the college football season shifts into full gear as contenders begin to separate from pretenders. September is often when momentum is built, hype meets reality, and early missteps can linger all season. From blue-blood clashes such as Michigan–Oklahoma to rivalry battles in Ames, Iowa, and Columbia, Missouri, Week 2 brings both tradition and intrigue. Quarterbacks are already defining the season’s storylines, and new coordinators and transfers continue to shape the national conversation.

Our college football experts give insight on key matchups, quarterbacks and the top quotes going into Week 2. — Kyle Bonagura

Jump to:
Michigan-Oklahoma
Quarterbacks to watch | Rivalry matchups
Quotes of the week

What does each quarterback need to do to win?

Bryce Underwood: Underwood had a scintillating debut in Michigan’s victory over New Mexico. The true freshman completed 21 of 31 passes for 251 yards — more passing yards than any Michigan quarterback had in any game last season. It’s already clear that Underwood’s arm talent alone will elevate the Wolverines’ passing attack. But what was most impressive was his poise — he didn’t look like a freshman playing in his first game. That poise will be put to the test at Oklahoma. The Sooners have been tough defensively under Brent Venables, especially at home. But if Underwood can remain poised, make a few plays with his feet and continue delivering accurate throws in his first road start, the Wolverines will have a chance to pull off the upset — and send a message that with Underwood, they’re ready to contend again for a playoff spot. — Jake Trotter

John Mateer: Mateer and new Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle brought their Washington State offense to Norman, and it’s no surprise they’re already executing it at a high level. Mateer had a career-high 30 completions for 392 yards in his Sooners debut against FCS Illinois State. His accuracy (81%) and efficiency (9.95 yards per dropback) were on point, and he flashed his rushing ability on a 7-yard touchdown. The Sooners were able to score on only five of 10 drives in a 35-3 win, and they’ll need more from their run game after their backs combined for 67 rushing yards on 24 carries with touted Cal transfer Jaydn Ott playing only three snaps. Michigan’s defense has more talent than any Mateer has faced over 13 career starts, but he and Arbuckle will have plenty of tricks up their sleeve. — Max Olson

Five quarterbacks to watch in Week 2

Duke‘s Darian Mensah: In the opener against Elon, Mensah showed off exactly why Manny Diaz was so eager to bring him in from Tulane this offseason. Mensah threw for 389 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. This week, Duke hosts Illinois, and that will be a far bigger test for the Blue Devils. Illinois’ run defense is exceptional, so a lot will be put on Mensah’s shoulders to carry the Duke attack. It’s a big ask. This will be Mensah’s third career start against a Power 4 opponent. He lost each of his previous two against Kansas State and Oklahoma in 2024.

South Florida‘s Byrum Brown: Plenty of attention will be given to the QB on the opposite sideline for USF’s showdown against Florida in Week 2, but DJ Lagway won’t be the only show in town. Brown has 21 starts under his belt, and he won’t be rattled by playing in The Swamp. He’s also coming off a decisive win over Boise State in the opener, accounting for 253 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. Brown is a dual threat with 19 career rushing touchdowns, and he’s more than capable of upstaging Lagway and leading USF to an in-state upset.

Michigan’s Bryce Underwood: Going toe-to-toe with Mateer and Oklahoma means Michigan will need to put up some points — something the Wolverines struggled to do last season. The 2024 campaign was scuttled almost entirely by bad QB play, but Underwood — a highly talented true freshman — appears to be a savior. In his debut against New Mexico last week, he completed 68% of his throws for 251 yards and a touchdown without turning the ball over. It wasn’t a gaudy stat line, but it’s the first time a Michigan QB has posted those numbers in a game since Week 8 of 2023. Underwood will need to deliver even more against the Sooners, whose offense figures to be among the most explosive in the country.

Texas‘ Arch Manning: No, we’re not concerned about Manning struggling against San José State. Texas should win this one easily. But the reaction after the Longhorns’ offense was stymied against Ohio State in Week 1 was so emphatic, that it would still be good news — and a welcome relief to Horns fans — if Manning can use the opportunity against a Group of 5 opponent to reset a bit. It is still only the fourth college start for Manning, but this should be his biggest opportunity for some stat padding. In the big picture, he remains one of the most intriguing QB prospects in the country — and Week 2 is a good chance to remind fans of why that is.

Iowa‘s Mark Gronowski: This was supposed to be the year the Hawkeyes finally had a QB who could elevate the offense beyond the traditional “punting is winning” formula. When Kirk Ferentz landed Gronowski via the portal from South Dakota State, he seemed to fit the bill as both a hard-nosed pocket passer in the typical Iowa mold, but also one with sufficient upside to actually make the Hawkeyes a tad more dynamic. But in Week 1 against FCS Albany, he didn’t exactly light it up. Gronowski finished just 8-of-15 passing for 44 yards. No, he didn’t need to do more than that to secure an easy win, but the formula changes a good deal in Week 2 for the Cy-Hawk game against Iowa State. Dating to 2018, Iowa’s starting QBs have combined for a 41.3 Total QBR, 53% completions, one touchdown and four picks in six games vs. Iowa State. — David Hale

Early rivalry matchups

Iowa at Iowa State: No. 16 Iowa State and Iowa renew their rivalry Saturday in Ames in the 72nd edition of the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.

The Cyclones, fresh off an 11-win season and a Pop-Tarts Bowl victory, enter with momentum behind quarterback Rocco Becht, who has thrown a touchdown pass in 20 straight games and is coming off an incredible performance against FCS South Dakota, in which he completed 19 of 20 passes. Kicker Kyle Konrardy also entered the record book with the longest field goal in school history — a 63-yard boot to close the first half.

Iowa, meanwhile, cruised through its opener against FCS Albany 34-7, giving up only 177 yards of total offense. Quarterback Mark Gronowski — who started 54 games at South Dakota State before arriving in the offseason — eased into his first game for the Hawkeyes, completing 8 of 15 passes for just 44 yards.

Iowa State has won two of the past three against Iowa but has dropped its past six games in the series in Ames. — Bonagura

Kansas at Missouri: First and foremost, it’s the renewal of a bitter rivalry that has been dormant since the Tigers left the Big 12 for the SEC after the 2011 season. This matchup isn’t the “Iron Bowl” or “The Game,” but college football is better when Kansas and Missouri are playing each other. The Tigers enter with a 56-55-9 advantage in the all-time series as winners in five of the past six matchups between the schools from 2006 to 2011.

As for Saturday, the Jayhawks come to Columbia with a stout veteran defensive line unit led by defensive end Dean Miller and tackles Tommy Dunn Jr. and D.J. Withers. How well can that group limit Tigers running back Ahmad Hardy and attack Missouri’s renovated offensive line will define the 120th edition of the Border War.

It also should be an occasion for the quarterbacks. Sixth-year Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels, who threw three touchdowns in Kansas’ opener against Fresno State, has the chance to claim his latest signature victory in Week 2. Meanwhile, Penn State transfer Beau Pribula meets his first Power 4 opponent since joining the Tigers, facing an unproven Kansas secondary in his second start with Missouri after going 23-of-28 with 283 yards and four total touchdowns in his debut against Central Arkansas last week. — Eli Lederman

Quotes of the week

Kansas will visit Missouri on Saturday in the first Border War matchup since 2011. Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire

“I thought we dominated them in the second half, so he’s really a really good grader for giving himself a 58, or he’s a really hard grader on us,” LSU coach Brian Kelly on Dabo Swinney’s evaluation of the Tigers’ 17-10 win over Clemson. “Or he didn’t see the second half, which, that might be the case. He might not have wanted to see the second half.”

“They outplayed us, outcoached us, and they were just better than we were tonight,” North Carolina coach Bill Belichick said after the Tar Heels’ 48-14 loss to TCU on Monday night. “That’s all there was to it. They did a lot more things right than we did.”

“It means a lot to a lot of people,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said this week on what he wants his players to understand about the significance of the Border War rivalry with Kansas. “It’s a privilege to wear the Mizzou on your chest. And when you wear Mizzou, you represent 6 million people in this state. And that’s just current. Past and present, [too]. I think we’re Team 136, there are some people that felt like there’s just a lot of importance and this is our chance to write our part of the story. We’re going to continue to play this game. So this is just one part of the story, but it’s an important part. You get a chance to be a part of it.”

“I could walk through the jersey. You could open it up, and at 6-4, 280 pounds, I could walk right through it and not touch one side of the thing,” Georgia Tech coach Brent Key said of the oversized jersey Yellow Jackets punt returner Eric Rivers threw on in the first quarter against Colorado in Week 1. “… You will not see that jersey ever again.”

With Oklahoma State redshirt freshman quarterback Zane Flores preparing for his first career start at No. 6 Oregon, Cowboys coach Mike Gundy recalled one of his earliest starts at Nebraska in the fall of 1986: “It was 15 degrees and sleeting … we came out of the locker room and — you know the movie ‘A Christmas Story’ where the kid goes down like this? — that’s how I came out,'” Gundy said before lifting his shirt for reporters. “And when we broke the huddle, Nebraska’s defensive line had their shirts tied up like this. And I thought, ‘This is not good.'”

World

Israel warns Gaza City residents to flee south to ‘humanitarian area’

Published

57 mins ago

September 6, 2025

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Israel warns Gaza City residents to flee south to 'humanitarian area'

Any remaining residents in Gaza’s largest city should leave for a designated area in the south, Israel’s military has warned.

Israeli forces are carrying out an offensive on suburbs of Gaza City, in the territory’s north, as part of plans to capture it – raising concern over an already-devastating humanitarian crisis.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure to stop the attack and allow more aid in, the military has announced a new humanitarian zone in the south.

Spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Gaza City residents should head to a designated coastal area of Khan Younis.

There, he said they would be able to receive food, medical care and shelter.

On Thursday, Israel said it has control of around 40% of Gaza City and 75% of the entire territory of Gaza.

Many of the city’s residents had already been displaced earlier in the war, only to return later. Some of them have said they will refuse to move again.

That’s despite the military claiming it is within a few kilometres of the city centre, coming after weeks of heavy strikes.

But the war in Gaza has left Israel increasingly isolated in the diplomatic sphere, with some of its closest allies condemning the campaign that’s devastated the territory.

Just two weeks ago, a famine was declared in Gaza City and surrounding areas by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity.

There is also concern within Israel, where calls have grown to stop the war and secure the release of the remaining 48 hostages.

Israel believes 20 of those hostages are still alive.

Even as relatives of those hostages lead protests, Mr Netanyahu continues to push for an all-or-nothing deal to release all hostages and defeat Hamas.

On Friday, Donald Trump said Washington is in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas to release the captives.

“We said let them all out, right now let them all out. And much better things will happen for them but if you don’t let them all out, it’s going to be a tough situation, it’s going to be nasty,” he added.

Hamas is “asking for some things that are fine”, he said, without elaborating.