10 college football teams poised to bounce back this season

Yahoo

5 days ago

It's never been easier to rebuild quickly in college football. The transfer portal is like the wild west, which entertains a free-for-all twice a year when programs try to grab the best players available to beef up their rosters and fill their biggest holes.
Immediate turnarounds are possible, but so are sudden drop-offs. Results vary. Change across the sport's landscape is guaranteed.
With that in mind, Yahoo Sports is breaking down 10 teams that are poised to bounce back during the 2025 season.
Michigan (2024: 8-5, 5-4 Big Ten)
Three Wolverines quarterbacks attempted at least 45 passes last season. None of them averaged more than 6.1 yards per attempt. Together, they combined for 11 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. Finding ways to win without serviceable quarterback play challenged Sherrone Moore in his first year as full-time head coach. Yet he still managed to lead his squad to upset victories at Ohio State and against Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl, somehow reaching eight wins in the wake of the program's sign-stealing scandal. Now he's got his guy under center: Bryce Underwood, a highly coveted, in-state recruit who doubled as Rivals' No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 class.
Underwood could start as early as Week 1. It's likely the 6-foot-4, 208-pound signal-caller is named QB1 sooner rather than later. While Michigan's offense should take a step forward — especially against a favorable schedule that doesn't include Penn State or Oregon — defense will still be the Wolverines' bread and butter. Tre Williams from Clemson and Damon Payne from Alabama should soften the blow of losing the defensive tackle duo of Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. Michigan's front seven will remain among the best in the Big Ten. There are some questions at corner, but that's really it defensively.
Washington (2024: 6-7, 4-5 Big Ten)
The team Michigan beat in the 2023 national title game is on track to rebound, too. Even after losing practically everyone that spearheaded that runner-up finish, Washington played respectable football in its first year in the Big Ten under head coach Jedd Fisch, who previously took Arizona from one win to five wins to 10 wins in three consecutive seasons. It's reasonable to expect a Year 2 jump from Fisch's Huskies, particularly because of the encouraging signs potentially special quarterback Demond Williams Jr. showed last season.
Rivals' fourth-ranked dual threat in the 2024 class played 297 offensive snaps and started the final two games — a regular season finale at eventual College Football Playoff top seed Oregon and a near-win over Louisville in the Sun Bowl — during which he completed 82.7% of his passes while totaling 640 yards and six touchdowns. If you take away sacks, that two-game output would have been even more impressive considering he rushed for 137 non-sack yards. Throwing the ball away, or checking it down, will be a key part of Williams' learning curve. He has a 1,000-yard back in Jonah Coleman to help him, along with Denzel Boston, who will carry the torch in the receiver room. It will be up to ex-Purdue head coach Ryan Walters to unite a transfer-heavy defense.
Alabama (2024: 9-4, 5-3 SEC)
Kalen DeBoer piloted the Washington exodus before last season. He left for Alabama to fill the elephant-sized shoes of Nick Saban and, despite a strong start, ultimately disappointed. Last year, the Crimson Tide recorded their first single-digit-win season since 2007, Saban's first year running a then-sleeping giant. DeBoer has won everywhere he's coached: at Sioux Falls in the NAIA, at Fresno State in the Mountain West and at Washington in the Pac-12. The pressure is certainly on, but he can figure it out in Tuscaloosa as well.
DeBoer has reunited with his longtime offensive coordinator, Ryan Grubb, who spent 2024 in the NFL as the Seahawks' OC. Former highly touted 2022 prospect Ty Simpson will replace dual-threat quarterback Jalen Milroe. Simpson can make things happen with his legs, too, but he'll have an abundance of options as a passer, with sophomore Ryan Williams headlining a promising receiving corps. The offensive line, buoyed by left tackle Kaydn Proctor, should be great. So should Alabama's defense, which returned 69% of the production from a unit that allowed the 10th-fewest points per game (17.4) in the country last season. The defensive tackle duo of LT Overton and Tim Keenan III, plus the safety tandem of Keon Sabb and Bray Hubbard, will be fun to watch.
Auburn (2024: 5-7, 2-6 SEC)
There's bad luck, and then there's what Hugh Freeze's Auburn team experienced last season. The Tigers lost games with postgame win expectancies of 94%, 76% and 61%, according to ESPN's Bill Connelly. In other words, what was a five-win 2024 season could have easily been an eight-win campaign for Freeze in his second year at the helm of a program that's been searching for its first seven-plus-win season since 2019. He could bear the fruits of his rebuild in 2025. Freeze has the roster to do it, anyway. He gave the quarterback room a makeover. Out went four signal-callers, and in came four new ones, including a trio of transfers that features former Oklahoma QB1 Jackson Arnold. If Arnold wins the job — and that's no guarantee, given that another former five-star prospect, true freshman Deuce Knight, is competing with him — his success in an RPO system could dictate Auburn's win total.
Whoever quarterbacks the team will have awesome wideouts to throw to: Cam Coleman, Malcolm Simmons and Georgia Tech transfer Eric Singleton Jr. have the makings of a three-headed monster. Auburn was tied for 11th in third-down defense last season. The Tigers will have to be better in that department this go-around. Fortunately for them, they'll have defensive end Keldric Faulk oozing NFL potential and some pass-breakup magnets in the back end. The second level could be a soft spot after losing four senior linebackers.
Oklahoma (2024: 6-7, 2-6 SEC)
Brent Venables has already bounced back from a six-win season once during his now-four-year stay as Oklahoma head coach. Now that the Sooners are in the SEC, it'll be harder to replicate the 10-win rebound he authored in 2023, but it's not impossible. Venables is a defensive coach, and that side of the ball has improved in Norman to the point where it can be Oklahoma's calling card. The Sooners cracked the top 30 in fewest points per game allowed last season, and the unit would have looked even better on paper had they not been on the field as much as they were because of the team's broken offense. Oklahoma's front seven is intimidating and experienced, starting with senior defensive end R Mason Thomas, who tied for fifth among all SEC players with nine sacks in 2024. He'll be joined by fellow pass rush threat Marvin Jones Jr., a transfer from Florida State. Safeties Robert Spears-Jennings and Peyton Bowen will be tasked with leading a secondary that can't allow as many big plays (Oklahoma gave up 15 plays of 40-plus scrimmage yards last season, the third most in the SEC).
Most importantly, though, the Sooners need more from their offense, which now is orchestrated by former Washington State offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and his quarterback, John Mateer. Last season, Mateer starred with the fourth-most total yards per game (330.4) of any player in college football. He threw 29 touchdowns and ran for 15 more. Can the OC-QB pairing translate that success against a rigorous SEC schedule? Even half of that production could go a long way in complementing a Venables defense that seems to finally be the menace it so often was at Clemson.
Florida State (2024: 2-10, 1-7 ACC)
Florida State doesn't have to make the CFP for this to be a bounce-back season for Mike Norvell in Tallahassee. The bar is low, but recovering from a 2-10 season would be a necessary achievement for the transfer guru who swung and missed with his 2024 portal class. Former Clemson and Oregon State starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was a big bust at FSU, and the acquisition of former Boston College dual threat Tommy Castellanos wasn't really a slam dunk. Castellanos is talking his talk, but the Seminoles better hope they get the 2023 version of him that recorded 1,113 rushing yards and 28 total touchdowns, not the 2024 kind that posted the lowest QBR among qualifying ACC quarterbacks. Castellanos didn't pan out in Bill O'Brien's pro-style system. That said, his strengths could be maximized by first-year Seminoles OC Gus Malzahn, who first recruited Castellanos as UCF's head coach.
Across the board, FSU's offense looks unrecognizable from last year's group. That's a good thing considering the Seminoles were fourth to last in the FBS with 15.4 points per game in 2024. The receiver pairing of Squirrel White and Duce Robinson, transfers from Tennessee and USC, respectively, is especially intriguing. You can play 'Guess Who?' on defense as well, except new coordinator Tony White will be dealing with more known returnees on that side of the ball, including defensive tackles Darrell Jackson Jr. and Daniel Lyons and cornerback Quindarrius Jones. It's unlikely FSU goes toe-to-toe with Alabama in Week 1, but the eight-win mark is probably reachable. Norvell completely missing on two straight portal hauls would be surprising.
Utah (2024: 5-7, 2-7 Big 12)
Utah flopped last season, although perhaps an asterisk should sit next to the 2024 Utes because they were without their starting quarterback(s) for most of the year and were decimated by injuries throughout the roster. They also lost five one-score games during a seven-game skid, three of which were by three points or fewer. There's a good chance longtime head coach Kyle Whittingham turns this thing around.
Utah's top six offensive linemen are back from an offense that otherwise looks pretty much brand new. It will be coordinated by Jason Beck, who just oversaw a New Mexico offense that finished last season tied for 23rd nationally with 33.5 points per game. That Lobos attack was fronted by the dual-threat efforts of Devon Dampier, who followed Beck to Utah this offseason. The Utes could have a lethal run game. That goes well with a defense that was last year's silver lining. The unit clocked out third nationally in third-down defense and fifth in the Big 12 in both pass and run defense. Granted turnover happened, but coordinator Morgan Scalley is capable of retooling, and he has enough pieces in place — namely defensive end Logan Fano and linebacker Lander Barton — to produce another solid season.
UTSA (2024: 7-6, 4-4 AAC)
Don't be surprised to see UTSA in the CFP conversation this season. The same goes for the next two Group of Six schools on this list of bounce-back candidates. They each have a chance to spoil a potential encore season for Boise State, which is the favorite to secure what's essentially the G6's playoff autobid. UTSA started slow and finished fast last year. The Roadrunners won four of their final five games, and head coach Jeff Traylor enters 2025 with a roster suited for AAC title contention. Owen McCown is among the best quarterbacks in the conference. The son of former NFL journeyman and current Minnesota Vikings QBs coach Josh McCown, Owen is coming off a 28-touchdown redshirt sophomore season. He's playing behind an offensive line that brought back four 2024 starters and another two from 2023 who got hurt last year.
McCown can hand or dump the ball off to running back Robert Henry — who averaged 5.4 yards per carry in 2024 — and target the likes of Willie McCoy, David Amador II and tight end Houston Thomas, each of whom tallied at least 28 catches and 375 receiving yards in 2024. Amador hit those marks in just five games this past season. UTSA's defense typically lags behind its offense. Still, there are big reasons to be excited about the less-discussed Roadrunners unit, and they are in the trenches. UTSA is burly on the defensive line, where 6-foot-2, 320-pound Brandon Brown and 6-foot-2, 315-pound Tennessee State transfer Cameron Blaylock occupy tackle positions.
JMU (2024: 9-4, 4-4 Sun Belt)
The Dukes were finally eligible for the Sun Belt championship last year. Surprisingly, after not skipping a beat during its transition from FCS to FBS competition, JMU stumbled in 2024. It didn't face-plant though — not with Bob Chesney taking over for the now-fabled Curt Cignetti. Chesney led the Dukes to nine wins last season but only a 4-4 mark in Sun Belt play, following a fantastic run at Holy Cross. There, he made the Crusaders into a Patriot League power. This offseason, he brought over a familiar face from that momentous stretch: Matthew Sluka, who infamously opted out at UNLV over an NIL dispute after leading the Rebels to a 3-0 start last season. Sluka is one of two transfer quarterbacks Chesney added, the other being Richmond's Camden Coleman. But if Alonza Barnett III is healthy, he's likely QB1. Before suffering a leg injury in the regular season finale, Barnett threw for 26 touchdowns, and only four picks, while notching 669 non-sack rushing yards in 2024.
Dual-threat quarterback play and a dazzling collection of running backs could result in JMU boasting one of the nation's best backfields. George Pettaway flirted with a 1,000-yard season on the ground last year, and Ayo Adeyi got there with North Texas in 2023. Flip to the other side of the ball, and you'll find 13 transfers. Cignetti has a knack for identifying smaller-school gems, and Chesney is a whisperer in that art too. So it's not far-fetched to expect good things from a JMU defense that also has some key returners such as linebacker Trent Hendrick and nickel DJ Barksdale.
Toledo (2024: 8-5, 4-4 MAC)
In a conference where roster retention is increasingly difficult, Toledo has a comforting level of continuity entering 2025. The Rockets are the only MAC team bringing back at least 60% of their output from last season, according to ESPN's returning production rankings. Like JMU, Toledo surprisingly underperformed with a .500 league record in 2024. Even so, head coach Jason Candle's team pocketed program-building wins over Mississippi State and Pitt. And now the Rockets are in a good position to reclaim MAC bragging rights and maybe even return to the AP Top 25 this year. Toledo had a hard time getting going on the ground last season. The Rockets ranked 108th nationally in rushing yards per game and third to last in the MAC with 3.45 yards per carry.
Enter: four transfer offensive linemen and a pair of transfer running backs, including Chip Trayanum, who was part of the Ohio State backfield rotation just two seasons ago. That should make things easier for an aerial attack that's headlined by senior quarterback Tucker Gleason, who connected with Junior Vandeross III 85 times for 957 yards in 2024. Vandeross is back, and he's joined by Trayvon Rudolph. The Northern Illinois transfer has reeled in 37 or more passes each of his last three seasons. The Rockets are set for takeoff on offense and built to limit explosion on the other side of the ball, where they have an experienced secondary that finished inside the top 50 in pass defense this past year and helped Toledo tie Miami (Ohio) and Buffalo for the most interceptions (13) of any MAC team last season. Braden Awls was the star of the show with a team-high four picks, one of which he took back to the house.