“When the Scotch House closed they went round to Mulligan’s. They went into the parlour at the back and O’Halloran ordered small hot specials all round. They were all beginning to feel mellow.”- James Joyce DUBLINERS

It’s game Week Zero or 1A or whatever someone wants to call it. Who cares. It’s five days before College football gets underway for this 2025/26 season. Painful, physically and mentally grueling summer training and Fall Camp is complete. Uniforms are freshly stitched, helmets painted, and players ready to fill them out on gameday.

Depth charts have been finalized. Maybe not on paper, but coaches know who they like and who they like less at this point. Competitions will continue to take place daily between position groups to improve and potentially earn some playing time, but the Starters should be set for at least this week.

Coach Chris Klieman and Coach Matt Campbell will have the first opportunity to showcase their team’s off-season hard work at 10AM this Saturday as the Aer Lingus College Football Classic kicks off inside Aviva Stadium. Aviva potentially for the last time as the naming rights contract has yet to be extended beyond 2025.

Rocco Brecht and Avery Johnson, the junior and the sophomore will have the first opportunity to showcase their improved individual talent and leadership for their respective squads. Rocco has NFL written all over his game and Avery has all of the potential in the world to grow into a top QB in the Big12 this season.

Fans of both teams will have the first opportunity to witness a College Football game this season, and the first opportunity to overreact to the result. The winning team is ‘winning it all this year,’ and the losing team will be ‘lucky to win a bowl this year.’ Those words will be said by at least one in each fanbase as the game goes final. It’s not this site’s sentiment in the slightest, but fans irrationally reacting to a result is what being a FANatic is all about. It’s what drives sports. Without irrational fans, there would not be–to quote Walter Thromby, “a Single Red Dime” being paid to student athletes and far fewer dimes being paid to professionals. Keep overreacting Fanatics. It is your birthright.

The predicted high temperature is 68 degrees making this a sublime environment to begin the year. Those that travel thousands of miles to get there will find the journey worth it. Good luck to both teams and fanbases as they compete and perhaps search for the “heart of Dublin.” As Joyce writes, “if I can get to heart of Dublin, I can get to the heart of all cities of the world.”

ESPN has the coverage of this one and I’m sure they will do a tremendous job covering the game, creating the story lines, and filling the air waves with semi-relevant information both before and during the game, but until then, it’s up to the pen to write what it writes.

So, let’s get into the football.

Iowa St 26- Kansas St 24 was the official prediction July 9th when I released the “Dublin Preview.” While I do still see this a certain possible scoreline, I do not see it as the only logical prediction. It’s here that I’ll present one more justifiable scoreline and the reason behind it.

This is about what one team has, and one team does not.

Setting aside the similarities these two Big12 squads share such as having exciting QB’s, expert level head coaches, and equally talented defensive lines, there is one difference I’d like to exploit–one team has a far more experienced secondary than the other.

Iowa St has an elite Secondary. Preseason 3rd team All-American, 1st Team All Big12, and McNelly Award nominee junior Cornerback Jontez Williams and preseason All Big12 Safety Jeremiah Cooper lead the unit. The two combined for ninety-four tackles, twelve pass breakups and six interceptions last season, and return even stronger individually and with more responsibility.

This unit lost two Corners and a Safety that combined for over 100 tackles, 5 INTs, and 14 PBU’s last year. Now, that is a chunk of defensive production to replace, but I think Iowa St has done just that. One player that I’m excited to watch in this Cyclone secondary is Lindenwood transfer Tre Bell. The 6’3 Junior Cornerback will be playing his first FBS football in his career but appears to have all of the physical traits needed to play the position at a high level.

When asked to comment on the incoming transfer by the “Iowa State Daily,” Cornerbacks Coach Hank Poteet said this of Bell: “his experience, his size, his length, his speed…fit what we do here at Iowa St.” Jontez Williams commented “he looks good…working on the little things, techniques” and continued that he believes it’s his role to push the new guys and not let the high standard from last season lack.

With both Williams and Cooper leading this unit, I’m confident this secondary will be ready to make an impact during Saturday’s game.

Now, Kansas St does not have a weak secondary per se, but I do see the potential for vulnerabilities to be exposed by QB Rocco Brecht and the offense. To begin where this unit is strong–6’3 215 pound Senior Strong Safety VJ Payne is a leader and a playmaker. He was second on the team in tackles last season behind Mike Linebacker Austin Romaine and had two interceptions and will look to pop the pads any chance he gets. He is the tone setter for the defense.

However, beyond Payne there are question marks at every other secondary position. Senior Free Safety Gunner Maldonado transferred in from Arizona where he recorded 11 tackles and will most likely be the starter. Two sophomore’s, 6’1 Zashon Rich and 6’3 Donovon McIntosh look to be the starters at Corner. The Wildcats do add CB transfer Amarion Fortenberry from South Alabama who played significant minutes and recorded 43 tackles and 6 PBU’s as a true freshman.

While the top man Payne is the real deal at Safety and the supporting cast have tremendous upside, this unit overall is inexperienced coming into Dublin, and I expect a miscommunication to lead to a mistake on the back end and it to be exploited by the Cyclones early in the game. Bear in mind, I DO expect this Wildcats group to improve and find it’s cohesion throughout the season. There are some very talented young men stepping into some big shoes, it’ll just take time to fill them all the way.

In this game however, the Iowa St secondary is the stronger group as the season begins, and I give them a significant advantage over Kansas St in this game. It may even be a pick six that makes the difference in this one.

Both teams have strong offensive and defensive lines and are equals at Linebacker, QB, and Running Back in my opinion, but it’s the experienced secondary that one team has and one team does not have that will make the difference.

In terms of presenting a different score:

Iowa St 20- Kansas St 6 at half, 27-13 Final.

One Kansas St edge that could come into play if the situation calls for it might come from the Special Teams. Longtime Special Teams Coordinator Nate Kaczor (Tennessee Titans ’13-’15) joins the coaching staff and will bring all of his clever ideas to this young unit. Kicker Cub Patton is a ‘Frosh’ and Punter Simon McClannan is a true sophomore. Kansas St is young everywhere except on the lines.

All of this and I could be completely bass ackwards on this one, but either way, College Football’s return is this Saturday at 10AM and I can’t wait.

“Aunt Kate, Aunt Julia, and Aunt Mary Jane” might well be the “Three Graces of the Dublin musical world” as Joyce writes in DUBLINERS, but Uncle Rocco, Uncle Jontez, and Uncle Cooper are the ‘three graces’ of this American football game being played Dublin this Saturday as the Cyclones will get to celebrate a season opening conference win on the shores of the Irish Sea.

Kansas St will win 10 games by season’s end, but I believe this to be too tough a test to pass Week one. Or Zero. Or whatever it is. Just call it Week One.

The “heart of Dublin” is there to be discovered. Back-alley pubs and underground taverns to be found. Be bold enough to search for it. “Better to pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passions, than fade and wither dismally with age.”- James Joyce

Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’

Whit W.