RADIO
Jackson's bold predictions for Week 11 of the 2025 college football season, including picks for BYU, North Carolina, Kentucky, Oregon, and Notre Dame.
Through 10 weeks of college football action, there has been no shortage of surprises. Who had Penn State and Clemson having losing records at this point in the season? Who had Virginia leading the ACC through Week 10? No one. College football reminds us to expect the unexpected, so we're in for another week of fun outcomes!
In this article, we'll try to predict the headlines at the end of Week 11. As we have seen, anything can happen on any given Saturday, so let's take a look at some potential outcomes before they play out.
Below, read about the bold calls for BYU, North Carolina, Kentucky, Oregon, and Notre Dame.
BYU Upsets Texas Tech on the Road
Texas Tech has been one of the most dominant teams in the country this season, with just one setback loss to Arizona State while Behren Morton was out of action. Meanwhile, BYU has escaped with close victories in many of its contests, and Kalani Sitake just keeps finding a way to win behind freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier.
I'm not sure many people expected the Cougars to be in the situation they are in after the dismissal of Jake Retzlaff, but this season should be a wake-up call to anyone who hasn't acknowledged Sitake is one of the better coaches in the nation. In what is the biggest regular-season Big 12 game of the year, the undefeated Cougars are 10-point road underdogs in Lubbock.
BYU running back LJ Martin is expected to play on Saturday after getting banged up in the win over Iowa State, and his and Bachmeier's legs will be major keys against a Texas Tech run defense that has allowed just 74.6 yards per game, good for the best in the Big 12.
True Freshman Quarterbacks to start their careers 7-0:
- Jalen Hurts, Alabama (2016)
- Jake Fromm, Georgia (2017)
- Trevor Lawrence, Clemson (2018)
- Bear Bachmeier, BYU (2025)That’s it. That’s the list. pic.twitter.com/Ex46pKlEY0
— BoozeCougs (@BoozeCougs) October 21, 2025
If this were a night game in Jones AT&T Stadium, I'd have less confidence in this selection. But I'm banking on Sitake and his gritty BYU squad to outclass the Red Raiders and continue their run to the College Football Playoff. The future is bright for Joey McGuire and his program, but I'm interested to see how they perform in a game with this much at stake.
North Carolina Beats Stanford By Three Scores
Bill Belichick has been an easy target to make fun of lately, but something clicked for the Tar Heels following their 28-point loss in Week 6 and bye in Week 7. In the last three contests, North Carolina has looked much better.
Evidently, the future NFL Hall of Fame coach can still make use of the week off. In North Carolina's last three games, it narrowly lost on the road at Cal, came one yard short of beating No. 16 Virginia, and earned a 17-point win over Syracuse.
Last week, I called for North Carolina to beat Syracuse on the road by at least 10 points. That prediction didn't look great in the first half, but Belichick's squad outscored the Orange 21-0 in the second half.
Gio Lopez was excellent in Week 10, completing 15 of his 19 passing attempts for 216 yards and two scores. He should be able to carry that momentum into a matchup with Stanford, which ranks 16th in the ACC in yards per game allowed (424.9) and passing yards allowed per game (293.6).
UNC looked like it could be the worst Power Four program in the country to begin the season, but two winnable games are ahead, and I won't be shocked if it finds a way to upset Duke or NC State to close out the year.
Kentucky Beats Florida
Mark Stoops is about to do the thing where he wins just enough games to save his job, despite fans wanting him gone, right? It's possible, and the road win over Auburn last week might have started the Wildcats on that path. Kentucky is a fascinating team because it has been in dogfights against Ole Miss and Texas, but has also been blown out by South Carolina. You never know which version of Kentucky you will get, but its defense was on fire last week and made up for the poor play by quarterback Cutter Boley.
Boley delivered strong performances against Texas and Tennessee, and he has completed over 71% of his passes for 866 yards, seven touchdowns, and just two interceptions in games at Kroger Field. His numbers drop dramatically away from home. The good news is Kentucky will host Florida, and it has won two straight matchups in the series at home.
.@KendrickLaw2 capping off the drive in the ENDZONE.
📺 - SEC Network pic.twitter.com/nNcqRSwan3
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) November 2, 2025
It's fair to question whether the Gators are going to "get up" for this game after a loss in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party last week. I haven't seen any quit in Kentucky, though. A bowl game is within reach if Stoops can lead his team to victory here.
Oregon Beats Iowa By 14+
Indeed, the Hawkeyes have not been given enough love by the AP Poll voters. Iowa has a three-point road loss to arch-rival Iowa State, and its other loss was the closest anyone has played No. 2 Indiana this season (five-point loss). That said, I think Oregon is a matchup nightmare for Kirk Ferentz and company. Iowa often wills its way to victory by shutting down opposing offenses and doing just enough to get by on the other side of the ball.
The problem is that the Ducks defense might be just as good as Iowa's, and finding a way to challenge Oregon's defense vertically, like Indiana did, is the key to beating it. Mark Gronowski is averaging under 120 passing yards per game, and Oregon has allowed a national-best 4.8 yards per passing attempt. Is there anyone or anything that is going to stop Oregon from loading the box all afternoon? I doubt it.
Meanwhile, Dante Moore appears to be ready to roll after getting banged up in the win over Wisconsin, and this will be the most talented team Iowa will see this season, by far. I'm banking on the Ducks hitting a handful of explosives against inferior talent. Scoring 24 points might be all it takes for this prediction to come true.
Notre Dame ranks third nationally in yards per pass attempt (9.9), while Navy ranks 110th nationally in yards per attempt allowed (8.1). It's easy to see that CJ Carr should have plenty of success in this matchup, and honestly, Navy's best game plan is probably going to be loading the box and committing to stop the run.
The Irish will find offensive success one way or another, but forcing Carr to execute downfield is a better idea than letting Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price run wild on the Midshipmen defense.
From the far hash too. This is a 50 yard throw on a line.
You know what’s crazy?
CJ Carr isn’t even close to his ceiling. He’s got a lot to improve on. pic.twitter.com/LmDjLO2lOU
— Juicy J (@Juicy_J_713) October 12, 2025
The Notre Dame passing attack is more dangerous than we have seen in a long time, and Carr looks like the best pure passer the Irish have had since Brady Quinn.
This matchup might get ugly quickly, but it shouldn't take that many attempts for him to rack up big numbers in a hurry. In Week 5 at Arkansas, Carr averaged over 16 yards per completion en route to a 354-yard, four-touchdown day. Expect a similar outing here.
