Florida’s spitting incident dooms the Gators and potentially the season.
A Persian cat named Pudge the Cat has become a viral sensation as Bowling Green’s unofficial mascot.
Several on-field blunders marked Week 2, including a referee tripping a player and a horribly botched punt.
Nearly everyone at some point in their life was told that spitting is rude. On Sept. 6, we were again reminded it’s also consequential.
Just two days prior to Saturday, we learned what spitting at someone could cost you with Jalen Carter did the spit heard around the world on Dak Prescott, getting himself ejected in the 2025 NFL opener before he could play a down. You’d think that after the entire football world saw it, every player would understand not to do it.
Think again.
Florida had a chance to stave off South Florida from pulling off a major upset, but in the final minutes of the game, Gators defensive lineman Brendan Bett spit on Bulls offensive lineman Cole Skinner after the two had a brief confrontation. Even worse, he did it right in front of the referee.
An ejection and a free 15 yards for South Florida eventually led the Bulls to pull off the stunner. There’s no way to prove South Florida won because of the penalty, but it certainly feels like it started the free fall. Remember in 2020 when Marco Wilson threw an LSU player’s shoe, paving the way for the Tigers to upset the Gators and ruin a chance of the College Football Playoff?
Now, Florida’s hype is dead, and it faces a gauntlet of a schedule that can easily lead to another disappointing season. Let this be a lesson: Only bad things happen when you let out bodily fluids onto an opponent. Spitting likely flipped Florida’s season, and it leads the best and worst things we saw in Week 2 of college football.
Best: cats in football uniforms
The early breakout star of the 2025 season? A Persian cat.
He’s become such an icon, the Falcons brought him to the road contest against Cincinnati. Even better? He was in full uniform, looking like he was ready meow his way through defenders.
Bowling Green may have lost 34-20, but they’ll always be winners with Pudge.
Worst: Near referee tackles
Every now and then, referees find themselves in the middle of a play and their presence dictates how a play ends. Usually, it’s not that harmless, but that was far from the case in Southern Methodist vs. Baylor.
With the Mustangs in its opponent’s territory, quarterback Kevin Jennings was attempting to scramble out of the pocket when an official seemed not to have realized how close he was to the action. Jennings didn’t see the official, and he got tripped up by him for what ended up being a nine-yard loss.
It doomed SMU as the drive ended with a missed field goal, and likely could have been the shift in momentum that led to the Mustangs’ loss. Mistakes happen, but this one was clearly an official caught sleeping.
Best: Running out of fireworks
There are such things as good problems.
Minnesota had one when it scored so many points against Northwestern State, it had no fireworks left before the game ended. It started the game with a Pick-6 and had a dominant 35-0 lead after the first quarter. By the third quarter, it was 66-0, and the people at Huntington Bank Stadium clearly weren’t expecting to be celebrating so much.
Before the fourth quarter, Minnesota had to let fans know they used the entire allotment of fireworks.
It was about the only thing that could go wrong for the Golden Gophers, but no one will mind it leading to a massive victory.
Worst: Wins rewarded with sprints
It wasn’t pretty, but Syracuse overcame a second-half deficit to beat Connecticut in overtime in its home opener.
A hard-fought victory is worth celebrating, but not in coach Fran Brown’s eyes. He made his team stay on the field and run sprints following the victory.
‘We didn’t play our brand of football that I know we can play, that I watched us play all week,’ Brown said after the game. ‘And that’s what’s frustrating. … There’s a certain way you’re supposed to win a football game. They showed they were tough, we came back and we done that. But we just gotta play our brand of football.That should make Syracuse think twice about celebrating any win this season.
Best: Owning time of possession
Army was in danger of starting the season 0-2 after losing to FCS Tarleton State in Week 1 and going on the road against Kansas State. Despite a second-half deficit, the Black Knights pulled off the stunner to beat the Wildcats in Manhattan and leave with a $1.175 million payday.
But it’s how they did that deserves praise. In the second half, Army had the ball for a whopping 27 minutes, leaving the Wildcats on offense for just three minutes in the final two quarters. Kansas State only ran 13 plays in the second half.
The triple option couldn’t be stopped, and when you control the time of possession like that, that makes it an extremely miserable loss for the opposition. Now Kansas State is 1-2 and the curse of Ireland has plagued the Wildcats.
Worst: Using Powerball money to fire coach
How bad have things gotten for Kalen DeBoer in Tuscaloosa? Fans are ready to use life changing money to oust him.
Powerball has been all the craze with a $1.8 billion jackpot, the second-largest in U.S. history. Even though taking the lump sum would cut that by more than half after taxes, it’s still a big load of money. An Alabama woman told a local TV station exactly what she would do if she won: buy out DeBoer’s contract and then get rid of Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne.
A true example of it just means more. We know the expectations are high for the Crimson Tide, and it’s clear people are already done with Nick Saban’s successor. Maybe a 72-0 win over UL Monroe helps?
Best: Living your dreams
A dream was achieved at LSU, and it didn’t involve a player. Instead, it was a 66-year-old band member.
Kent Broussard made his debut at tuba for LSU’s marching band, an incredible accomplishment that showed you’re never too young to do what your heart desires. His story is incredible: a retired accountant, he always wished he could play for the Tigers. So, he trained for years and went back to school, hoping to make the band. He finally did it for the season opener at Tiger Stadium.
Even better, he got a standing ovation from the crowd and was recognized on the broadcast. Not bad for a freshman.
Worst: Another FBS loss to FCS team
It’s never good paying to lose, but it’s especially worse when it comes at the hands of an FCS team.
That unfortunate honor is handed to Massachusetts and Eastern Michigan; UMass lost to Bryant on a game-winning field goal while Eastern Michigan fell to Long Island, which led the entire contest. Now the Minutemen and Eagles are 0-2 and hoping that zero won’t stay in the win column for much longer.
Best: One-handed catches
Of all the spectacular plays of Week 2, the best arguably has to go to Southern California receiver Ja’Kobi Lane.
Against Georgia Southern, Lane had a defender draped all over him, but he still somehow was able to haul in the catch with one hand for a Trojan touchdown in a play you have to see to believe.
It was a great start to what would be a 59-20 win for USC.
Worst: Whatever this ‘punt’ was
Now that we have had the best play of the day, it’s time to look at what was really the worst of Week 2.
Oregon State was set to punt against Fresno State, but punter AJ Winsor couldn’t handle the snap. The ball rolled on the floor, and what did Winsor try to do? Kick it off the ground.
The punt strangely went forward, and it got worse from there. Fresno State’s Jaden Carrillo picked it up and took it back to the house for a touchdown in a disastrous sequence for the Beavers.
Obviously frustrating, Oregon State coach Trent Bray could only react one way in an NSFW rant on national TV.
‘Special teams, (expletive) joke,’ Bray said.
Can’t fault Bray for that one, especially since the Beavers ended up losing 36-27.