I imagine all of my readers are wondering why this week’s edition of Elms’ Essentials is a day late, and that’s because I was incredibly sick all day Sunday and decided that I needed to do nothing but lay on my couch wrapped up in a blanket all day. So that was that.
Still not feeling super hot today, but better than Sunday and well enough to get this out. Week 7 was a hectic, off-the-rails week and a ton of fun to watch. Let’s jump right in!
Ohio State remains the team to beat until further notice
Is this surprising to anyone at this point?
Recently, there have been some opinions circulating around college football social media that Ohio State “sucks” and “isn’t worthy of the top spot in the AP Poll.” Well, I questioned that stance from the moment the season started, and I still question it now.
Because Ohio State is the reigning national champion, and they seem to look better and better each week.
This week, they went on the road to Champaign to take on a solid Illinois team, and proceeded to smack them in their home stadium by a score of 34-16. The Buckeyes’ offense wasn’t anything spectacular but they did what they needed to do to get the win. Julian Sayin threw for 166 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also posted an 86.0 QBR and didn’t turn the ball over.
But the real story of this game was the play of Ohio State’s defense. New defensive coordinator Matt Patricia continues to have the time of his life coaching this unit, and they have been wildly impressive all season. That continued against the Fighting Illini, as they completely shut down Illinois’ running game, limiting them to just 47 rushing yards all game. Luke Altmyer threw for 248 yards and a score, but also threw an interception on Illinois’ first drive of the game.
From there, the Fighting Illini just weren’t able to get a lot going on offense, and when the running game was struggling as bad as it was, it’s almost impossible to have a balanced offensive attack.
But for Ohio State, this team does not “suck”, nor are they "fraudulent", like some are claiming. Rather, the Buckeyes’ defense is one of the best in the country, and the offense is looking more and more like a congealed unit as the playbook continues to open up for Julian Sayin. The only way to knock Ohio State off their perch is, well, to beat them!
Pump the brakes on the Iowa State hype
Perhaps I was a little too kind to the Cyclones, because they have had a maddeningly frustrating past two weeks ever since their 5-0 start.
Last week, it was a 38-30 loss to a Cincinnati team that, let’s face it, Iowa State is better than and likely should have beaten. And it was a bit of a similar story this week, as the Cyclones went into Boulder and lost by seven to a mediocre Colorado team.
Admittedly, the only thing offensively that seemed to work for Iowa State was the ground game, as running back Abu Sama III ran for 177 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. However, the passing game just did not help him out. Rocco Becht was, frankly, not good, only completing 18 of his 33 passes for 205 yards and an interception. He also posted a ghastly QBR of 36.2.
On the other hand, Kaidon Salter had what might have been his best game in a Colorado uniform, as he went 16-for-25 for 255 yards and two scores, with an extremely solid 88.1 QBR. And his connection with wideout Joseph Williams was on point, as Williams hauled in eight passes for 128 yards and a touchdown.
All things considered, this was an excellent win for Colorado. However, for the Cyclones, things get much, much trickier from this point forward. This team considered themselves as contenders for the Big 12 title and a potential berth in the College Football Playoff coming into the year. Now, they’ll all but have to win out to even be considered for a spot in the big dance.
Are we sure Michigan is really that good?
A week or so ago, I outlined how well Michigan was playing and how it seemed that no one in the national media was really giving them the kind of respect they deserved. Well, similar to Iowa State, it might be time to hit the pause button on that.
Because this Michigan team was stuffed into a locker and thoroughly beaten on the road by a good USC team 31-13. This game looked to be competitive in the first half as the Wolverines trailed by just seven at the break.
But they only managed six more points the rest of the way, and the Trojans’ offense woke up in a big way in the second half. One of the key stories of this game was the play of Justice Haynes, who looked like one of the transfer portal’s best acquisitions through the first few weeks of the season as he was playing at an incredibly high level. But he was mostly stood up against USC’s defense, running for just 51 yards on ten carries.

And not to mention, Jayden Maiava outplayed Bryce Underwood, as Maiava went 25-for-32 for 265 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, while Underwood went 15-for-24 for 207 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. It may not have been by much, but Maiava was a bit more efficient, and that’s what mattered in the end.
Now, the Wolverines find themselves at 4-2 and with some ground to make up in an ultra-competitive Big Ten, while USC has bounced back nicely from the road loss to Illinois. But again, kind of like Iowa State, I may have been a tad too kind to Michigan…
Alabama continues to put one W in front of the other(s)
I was going to make a cheesy Internet joke (like, WWW…get it?) in the first sentence of this section, but I decided I didn’t want to subject you guys to that.
Anyway, it now seems that all the scrutiny and issues that Alabama faced last year are officially in the rearview mirror now, because the Crimson Tide just continue to find ways to win football games. And it was no different in Saturday’s 27-24 win over previously unbeaten Missouri in Columbia.
Name me a quarterback playing better than Ty Simpson right now. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Simpson just continues to string together great performances, and he carved up the Tigers’ defense to the tune of 200 yards, three touchdown passes and a 74.1 completion percentage.
On the other side, Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula played OK, as he went 16-for-28 for 167 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions, the second of which fell right into the hands of defensive back Dijon Lee Jr. and essentially lost the Tigers the game.
This was a massive missed opportunity for Missouri to establish themselves as a bonafide national contender. Meanwhile, for Alabama, I don’t really know if there’s a whole lot more to say because, well…Kalen DeBoer and company just continue to win games.
Oklahoma rushed John Mateer back
Whooh, boy. Can someone say, “stinker”?
This might have been the worst game I’ve seen a single individual player play so far in the 2025 college football season. Oklahoma quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate John Mateer was making his return from a broken hand in the Red River Rivalry against Texas, played in the Cotton Bowl in my hometown of Dallas, Texas. Yes, I wanted to put that in there. Shoutout all my Dallas peeps who read this series.
But this game from Mateer was…really, really, incredibly bad. And that might be putting it lightly. Mateer looked uncomfortable in the pocket all game long and like a guy who didn’t exactly trust his surgically repaired hand.
Mateer went 20-for-38 with 202 passing yards, no touchdowns, and three (yes, three) interceptions, and that was a massive reason that Oklahoma did virtually nothing offensively throughout the course of the game and why they managed just six points. Two of his picks found the hands of Texas defensive back Malik Muhammad.
And on the flip side, Arch Manning played well for the most part. He went 21-for-27 for 166 yards and a touchdown, and he kept the ball out of harm’s way and didn’t turn it over. It was nice to see him show some flashes after the rollercoaster of the past few weeks. He made some impressive throws in this one and showed his monster potential.
However, the bigger story here is just how awful Mateer looked. It was clear he wasn’t ready, and when you rush a guy back out onto the field of play too early, chances are, you’ll drag your whole offense down along with him.
And last but not least…
Indiana is officially a national championship threat
No ifs, ands, or buts about it any longer.
Indiana picked up what was the biggest win in program history this past Saturday on the road against Oregon, and now they have risen all the way up to No. 3 in the latest AP Poll.
Going into this game, most analysts and sportswriters (including myself) predicted that the speed of Oregon’s wide receivers would be too much for this Indiana defense to handle. Throughout the course of the game, that proved to not be the case.
Dante Moore looked considerably uncomfortable and flustered against Indiana’s pass rush, as he threw for just 186 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. And the Hoosiers’ secondary held the dynamic Oregon offense in check, as the receiver with the highest total receiving yards was Malik Benson on a single 44-yard catch.
Fernando Mendoza, on the other hand, was quite solid, as he completed 20 of his 31 passes for 215 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. However, his touchdown was the most clutch throw of the day, as he hit Elijah Sarratt for an eight-yard score to put Indiana up by seven with six and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Moore threw the first of his two interceptions on the very next drive, and after a 22-yard field goal was converted by Indiana kicker Nico Radicic, the Hoosiers officially called game by picking off Moore a second time.
Indiana preserves its undefeated season while Oregon suffers its first loss of the year. The Hoosiers just secured the biggest victory in the entire 138-year history of the program. This cannot be overstated enough: Indiana is for real. They are not a fluke, and Curt Cignetti’s team is a legitimate contender to win the national championship.