2025 NFL Draft: Week 13 college football preview & live chat

Games and prospects to watch for Week 13

Two more weeks of college football remain in 2024 before we get into postseason play and many teams prepare for their 2025 roster construction in the transfer portal era. This week holds three marquee games you need to have your eye on between ranked teams.

The first of the day is No. 5 Indiana traveling to “The Shoe” and taking on No. 2 Ohio State. It’ll likely be a matchup to decide who heads to the Big Ten Championship game. There has been plenty of talk on what a loss for Indiana means for their College Football Playoff hopes. Indiana’s best win to date is either Washington or Michigan — both of which are expected to finish with six wins this season. This could be a game where the scoreboard matters for their 12-team Playoff hopes. Even if Indiana loses against the No. 2 team in the country on the road, keeping the game close may keep their CFP hopes alive.

There will likely only be one Big 12 representative in the College Football Playoff this year, and that representative will be the Big 12 Championship winner. A key to the makeup of that championship will unlock the path to the Big 12 title this weekend with No. 14 BYU traveling to No. 21 Arizona State. The Sun Devils have been on a heater this year led by 34-year old head coach Kenny Dillingham. Now they have an opportunity to take control of their own destiny in the conference with a home win on Saturday against BYU. With a loss, the Cougars are in danger of missing the Big 12 title game entirely which would be a very quick turn of events after being ranked No. 6 in the country a week ago.

The No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish welcomes their second service academy program to South Bend this season when No. 19 Army tries to pull the big-time upset on the Irish’s turf. Army has not had a difficult schedule in 2024 and has not played a team similar in caliber to Notre Dame. Army will run the option just as Navy, another Notre Dame opponent this season, does. The Midshipmen were crushed 52-14 by the Irish earlier this season in part thanks to 6 turnovers. Army will need to be much more protective of the football if they hope to pull the upset as two touchdown underdogs.

Now that we have talked about three of the biggest matchups in this week, let’s dig into three prospect matchups to key in on as we head into Saturday. Drop your thoughts on this Saturday’s games and what you’re watching in the comments section.

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Colorado WR Travis Hunter vs. Kansas CBs Mello Dotson & Cobee Bryant

Another big-time Big 12 matchup is occurring in Kansas City where the Kansas Jayhawks will host No. 16 Colorado at Arrowhead Stadium. The Jayhawks have legitimate NFL talent sprinkled on their roster and, of course, every general college football fan is aware of phenom WR/CB Travis Hunter. Kansas just so happens to have two big-time corners to compete with him with seniors Mello Dotson and Cobee Bryant — both of which have been takeaway machines in 2024. Bryant is likely the higher tiered prospect of the two, but both of them seem likely to be drafted in this upcoming draft class.

Travis Hunter is currently vying for a Heisman Trophy and is the likely favorite to accomplish that at this time. Another big-time performance in what is projected to be a close contest on the scoreboard will go a long way in furthering that frontrunner security for the award.

Texas WR Isaiah Bond vs. Kentucky CB Maxwell Hairston

Texas’ offense has looked off for two of the last weeks with struggles against Arkansas and Georgia. The offensive line and quarterback Quinn Ewers have had their troubles in this performances. Starting receiver and former Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond had an October injury and has since seen his production slow down some. The last couple of weeks have been a bit more fruitful from a production standpoint, but surely the Longhorns need to be getting him more touches in this game and down the stretch to maximize their efforts towards a College Football Playoff run.

Kentucky’s star cornerback Maxwell Hairston returned to the field last week against Murray State after missing multiple weeks with a shoulder injury dating back to September. Hairston can cover with the best of them in this year’s draft class. He’s going to jump right back into things with having to likely cover Bond for the majority of this contest. Texas has plenty of other playmakers that he’ll be responsible for as well, but we’ll be specifically watching how he performs against Bond.

Minnesota OT Aireontae Ersery vs. Penn State EDGE Abdul Carter

One of the better offensive line/defensive line matchups of the season is on tap this weekend when No. 4 Penn State visits Minnesota at 3:30PM eastern time. Ersery is a massive human at 6’6” 335-pounds who looks to be an excellent athlete at that size to boot. There’s no questioning his NFL potential as a left tackle due to that size and athleticism combination. He’s not a finished product by any means, but the nuts and bolts to be a starting offensive tackle in the NFL exist and are plain to see.

Abdul Carter is likely to be lining up across from him a fair bit in this contest. Carter is one of the true blue chip prospects in this upcoming 2025 NFL Draft class and he’s been ascending for multiple weeks in a row now as he adjusts to a role with his hand in the dirt full time. There’s still plenty to work on, but the explosiveness off the line of scrimmage is next level good and the ceiling is very high. Carter will need to show off whatever is in his bag from a pass rush arsenal standpoint to beat Ersery consistently this weekend.

Game of the Week

No. 5 Indiana @ No. 2 Ohio State

Saturday, Noon EST

FOX

Any top-five matchup is going to be a solidified top game of the week. Although, it is a rarity to see two top five teams get together this late in the year with one of them being two score favorites (Ohio State) over the other (Indiana). This game will be a true testament to where Indiana is in their life cycle and competing with the top dogs in the country.

Indiana is led by veteran quarterback Kurtis Rourke who made the move from Ohio to the Hoosiers this past offseason. He’s been over 70-percent this season passing along with being up over 2,400 yards and 21 touchdowns.

His top pass catcher is Elijah Sarratt who came over from James Madison with head coach Curt Cignetti. Sarratt may lack some in natural athleticism, but he makes up for much of that with ball skills. Sarratt will need to have a couple of highlight catches to assist in pulling the upset.

Ohio State’s defense is loaded with plenty of players including up front with edge rushers Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau — both of which who are projected top 50 selections in the coming draft. Tyleik Williams is a high impact defensive tackle that could very well be a first-round pick in April. He’s as difficult of a force against the run as any in this year’s draft class.

Linebacker Sonny Styles is an athletic safety to linebacker convert. Cornerbacks Davison Igbinosun and Denzel Burke are both quality cornerbacks for the Buckeyes. Igbinosun’s ceiling of physical traits are better than that of Burke’s. Burke has taken a bit of a step back in 2024.

Ohio State’s offense has plenty of players to watch. Although, they’ve already lost a couple of offensive linemen for the season including starting left tackle Josh Simmons who was tracking to potentially being a first-round pick.

Quarterback Will Howard has come in from Kansas State and had a very successful season with the Buckeyes. Like Rourke, he’s also up above 70 percent as a passer with 24 touchdowns thrown this year.

Running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson are both going to be top-100 draft selections from the same Ohio State backfield. Judkins leads in yardage (723) and touchdowns (8) while Henderson leads in the yards-per-carry at 7.4 per tote. This is the best one-two punch in the country by a longshot.

Draft-eligible receiver Emeka Egbuka is the team’s best receiving threat of all 2025 eligible players for the Buckeyes. Egbuka looks ready for the NFL right now with his route running acumen and willingness to do the dirty work in all aspects of the game. Freshman sensation Jeremiah Smith is the team’s leading pass catcher. The future top 10 (maybe top 5) lock is a special prospect already.

Defensively for Indiana, edge rusher Mikail Kamara leads the nation in pressures at 53. He has 9.5 sacks on the season. He’s got an odd frame at 6’1” 265-pounds, but he’s got explosion off the ball and heavy hands with that compact frame. Those traits aren’t going to be necessarily translate to the NFL naturally, but he’s certainly got the production in a power conference this season.