College Football Preview Part XV

Welcome Back!

I apologize for being so late today; I had so much extra to do at work today that instead of leaving at 12 noon like I've done the last few weeks, I couldn't leave until 4:45 pm. Anyway, here's the top of the list!

Today I continue my 5 weeks of my college football previews. I begin with 3 weeks of individual team previews, and then conclude with 2 weeks of conference previews.

In case you are interested, I get all of my information from various sources. I use the 3 main preview magazines (Phil Steele, Lindy's, and Athlon), but I also use many different websites, including (but not limited to): Google, Winsipedia, sports-reference.com, ESPN.com, TeamRankings.com, NCAA.com, and, of course, individual school websites.

I don't have a staff- it's just me- so all of the research is my own from these various sources (it doesn't help when they contradict each other...), so any mistakes are mine. I also don't have an editor/proofreader, so you are likely to find several (many? I hope not) typos, such as commas where periods should be (or vice versa), a misspelled or missing word, doubled words ("the the" in the middle of a sentence, for example), etc. 

Finally, feel free to leave a comment. Interacting is much of the fun! Of course, if you know me personally, just text me. I'll get that a lot quicker.

So, on with the previews! 

5- Notre Dame Fighting Irish 14-2

Coach: Marcus Freeman (4th year, 4th overall FBS)

Coach FBS Record/Rank: 33-10/.767/12th

3-year record/rank: 33-9/.786/7th

6-year record/rank: 65-15/.813/4th

10-year record/rank: 101-30/.771/5th

Last League Title: N/A

Bowl Streak/Last Bowl Season/Last Bowl Win: 8 years/2024/2024

Bowl Record/Rank: 23-22/.511/52nd

CFP Playoff Appearances: 3

AP Championships/Last AP Championship: 8/1988

Last Undefeated Season: 1988/12-0 under HC Lou Holtz

Last Winless Season: 1887/0-1 with no coach listed (1st year ever)

All-time Record/Rank: 962-340-42/.731/4th

Offense/ranks:

Scoring: 36.1/10th

Rushing: 200.9/19th

Passing: 198.1/101st

Total: 399.1/55th

Defense/ranks:

Scoring: 15.5/4th

Rushing: 138.1/49th

Passing: 169.4/4th

Total: 307.4/11th

Returning Starters (Off/Def): 7/7

Schedule: 

Aug 31 @ Miami, Fl

Sep 13 Texas A&M

Sep 20 Purdue

Sep 27 @ Arkansas

Oct 4 Boise State

Oct 11 NC State

Oct 18 USC

Nov 1 @ Boston College

Nov 8 Navy

Nov 15 @ Pittsburgh

Nov 22 Syracuse

Nov 29 @ Stanford

Notes: The Fighting Irish have the 6th longest bowl streak at 8 straight appearances; ND has 962 all-time wins, 4th most all-time, but just 1 win ahead of 5th place Texas, and 12 behind 3rd place Alabama; the Irish have appeared in the CFP 3 times, but have not been able to win a championship; the Irish have won 13 of their last 14 games (only loss in CFP CG), 29 of their last 35, their last 7 home games, 10 of their last 11 home games, and 10 of their last 11 road/neutral site games; ND has won at least 9 games for 10 consecutive seasons; offense scored 31+ points in 9 games, and 49+ in 6 contests, while the defense held 14 teams to 24 points or less, and 12 teams to 17 points or less; 12 of 14 wins were by at least 10 points (31-24 over Louisville and 27-24 over Penn State in the CFP Semifinal); the Fighting Irish are the only team to have never been in a conference (except for the 2020 season when they were part of the ACC); ND was +18 in turnovers, with their +1.13/game rate 5th in the FBS; QB will probably be CJ Carr, but RB1 will definitely be Jeremiyah Love (1,125 yds, 6.9 ypc, 17 TDs); K will likely be UNC transfer Noah Burnette (15-21 FGs, long 52, 38-39 PATs), but P James Rendell (41.8 avg/40.2 net) returns.


Outlook: This is a team that knows what it takes to reach the CFP, and how to win when it gets there. Except for the QB, who has zero playing experience, much less playoff experience. The good news is that they have a schedule that’s difficult enough to impress, but not too difficult to get through with 2 losses or less. Possible stumbling blocks include the opener at Miami, Texas A&M, Boise State and USC at home, and games at Pitt and vs Syracuse in November. Challenging, but not Goliaths. Then again, I would hardly call NIU a giant, and they pulled off the 2-point win in Notre Dame Stadium last year, which is still the most inexplicable result of the entire 2024 season. Ten-plus wins for a 3rd straight year appears to be on the docket, and that should be good enough for another CFP appearance.

4- Clemson Tigers 10-4/7-1

Coach: Dabo Swinney (18th year, 18th overall)

Coach FBS Record/Rank: 180-47/.793/7th

3-year record/rank: 30-11/.732/16th

6-year record/rank: 64-17/.790/6th

10-year record/rank: 119-21/.850/3rd

Last League Title: 2024 ACC champions

Bowl Streak/Last Bowl Season/Last Bowl Win: 20 years/2024/2023

Bowl Record/Rank: 27-24/.529/42nd

CFP Playoff Appearances: 7

AP Championships/Last AP Championship: 3/2018

Last Undefeated Season: 2018/15-0 under HC Dabo Swinney

Last Winless Season: Never (since 1896); worst season was 1-7 in 1925 under HC Bud Saunders 

All-time Record/Rank: 808-476-45/.625/20th

Offense/ranks:

Scoring: 34.7/18th/4th ACC

Rushing: 173.4/48th/6th

Passing: 278.5/15th/3rd

Total: 451.9/11th/3rd

Defense/ranks:

Scoring: 23.0/42nd/4th

Rushing: 160.6/85th/16th

Passing: 213.5/54th/3rd

Total: 374.1/69th/9th

Returning Starters (Off/Def): 8/9

Schedule: 

Aug 30 LSU

Sep 6 Troy

Sep 13 @ Georgia Tech

Sep 20 Syracuse

Oct 4 @ North Carolina

Oct 11 @ Boston College

Oct 18 SMU

Nov 1 Duke

Nov 8 FSU

Nov 15 @ Louisville

Nov 22 Furman

Nov 29 @ South Carolina

Notes: The Tigers have the 4th longest bowl streak at 20 years; HC Dabo Swinney has been at Clemson since 2009, the 5th longest tenure in FBS; HC Swinney has 180 career wins, the 2nd most among active coaches and only 5 ahead of LSU HC Brian Kelly; Clemson has 808 all-time wins, 13th most all-time, only 7 behind #12 LSU and just 4 ahead of #14 Auburn; CU has appeared in 7 out of 11 CFB Playoffs, 2nd most behind Alabama’s 8, winning 2; the Tigers have lost 2 of their last 3 games, including a loss to Texas in the CFP 1st Round; CU has won 5 true road games in a row; only 2 of 10 wins were by less than 10 points, and only 1 of 4 losses were by less than 12 points; offense scored 40+ points 6 times, while the defense held 7 opponents to 20 points or less, and allowed 31+ points 6 times; Clemson has won 10+ games every year since 2011 except for 2023 (9-4), a span of 13 times in the last 14 years (one of only 3 programs in history with 14 consecutive 9-win seasons); CU’s turnover margin was +16, or +1.14/game, good enough for 4th in all FBS; QB Cade Klubnick (3,639 yds, 63.4%, 36 TDs, 6 INT, 463 yds, 3.9 ypc, 7 TDs) returns for his 3rd season; defense allowed 4.71 ypc rushing, the highest for CU since 1975; K Nolan Hauser (18-24 FGs, long 56, 5 kicks blocked) returns, but P will be new; the Tigers were 0-3 against the SEC last year; HC Swinney is the all-time winningest ACC coach.


Outlook: Clemson is one of the few contenders that has an experienced QB returning, and that makes them dangerous. We may have a good gauge of how dangerous after their opener against LSU in Death Valley- the one in SC, not in Baton Rouge. The ACC schedule isn’t overly challenging, but they do have Syracuse, SMU, and FSU at home and Louisville on the road. But I think they should be wary of a trip to Atlanta to take on the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech, and of course the game at South Carolina in Columbia is usually a tough one. Overall, this is a legitimate national title contender, and the main favorite to win the ACC for a 2nd straight year, and for the 3rd time in the last 4 years.

3- Penn State Nittany Lions 13-3/8-1

Coach: James Franklin (12th year, 15th overall)

Coach FBS Record/Rank: 125-57/.687/19th

3-year record/rank: 34-8/.810/5th

6-year record/rank: 56-21/.727/8th

10-year record/rank: 94-36/.723/9th

Last League Title: 2016 Big Ten champions

Bowl Streak/Last Bowl Season/Last Bowl Win: 4 years/2024/2024

Bowl Record/Rank: 33-21-2/.607/18th

CFP Playoff Appearances: 1

AP Championships/Last AP Championship: 2/1986

Last Undefeated Season: 1994/12-0 under HC Joe Paterno

Last Winless Season: 1888/0-2-1 with no coach listed

All-time Record/Rank: 943-412-42/.690/9th

Offense/ranks:

Scoring: 33.1/28th/4th Big Ten

Rushing: 202.3/17th/1st

Passing: 227.9/66th/9th

Total: 430.2/26th/3rd

Defense/ranks:

Scoring: 16.5/8th/3rd

Rushing: 101.9/9th/6th

Passing: 192.9/31st/7th

Total: 294.8/7th/4th

Returning Starters (Off/Def): 9/6

Schedule: 

Aug 30 Nevada

Sep 6 FIU

Sep 13 Villanova

Sep 27 Oregon

Oct 4 @ UCLA

Oct 11 Northwestern

Oct 18 @ Iowa

Nov 1 @ Ohio State

Nov 8 Indiana

Nov 15 @ Michigan State

Nov 22 Nebraska

Nov 29 @ Rutgers

Notes: HC James Franklin has been in Happy Valley since 2014, the 8th longest tenure in FBS; the Nittany Lions have 943 all-time wins putting them in 7th place overall, 7 behind 6th place Oklahoma and 19 ahead of 8th place Nebraska; the Lions are tied with LSU and USC with 56 bowl appearances, 7th most all-time; Penn State has won 6 of their last 8 games, losing in the Big Ten CG to Oregon and in the CFP Semifinals to Notre Dame; PSU has won their last 6 true road games, and are 34-8 over the last 3 seasons; their 3 consecutive seasons of 10+ wins is their longest since 1980-82 (10-2, 10-2, and 11-1 under HC Joe Paterno), and tied for their 2nd longest such streak ever, behind 1971-74 (11-1, 10-2, 12-0, 10-2, also under HC Paterno); the Lions had a +11 turnover margin, or +0.69/game (21st FBS); OL returns 4 starters; K Ryan Barker (15-18 FGs, long 49) and P Riley Thompson (42.8 avg/38.3 net) both return; QB Drew Allar (3,327 yds, 66.5%, 24 TDs, 8 INT, 302 yds rushing, 3.1 ypc, 6 TDs) returns, as do RBs Kaytron Allen (1,108 yds, 5.0 ypc, 8 TDs) and Nick Singleton (1,099 yds, 6.4 ypc, 12 TDs)- both runners are less than 1,000 yds from passing 2nd place all-time on the school record books (currently held by Saquon Barkley), and need slightly more than 1,000 yards to surpass Evan Royster in 1st place; all 3 losses were by 8 points or less (a combined 18 points); offense scored 31+ points in 10 games, while defense held 10 opponents to 14 points or less.


Outlook: The Nittany Lions will be looking to make it back to the Big Ten Championship Game for a 2nd straight year, but that would be only their 3rd time ever (since 2011- they won in 2016 over Wisconsin). Penn State just may have the best backfield in the country, with Allar, Allen, and Singleton, and now they’ve added some receivers to help loosen up the defense, something they haven’t been able to do much of the last few years. The defense should be very good again, though DC Jim Knowles is their 3rd in the last 3 years. The real question, though, is if they can handle the pressure situations in the big games, something else they’ve struggled with the last few years. Their OOC games are a joke, and then they get the week off before Oregon comes to Beaver Stadium. Their toughest stretch will probably be at Ohio State followed immediately with Indiana at home. With such a favorable schedule, they should easily make 10+ wins, possibly making the Big Ten CG, and almost certainly making the CFP, where anything can happen, maybe even a National Championship.

2- Georgia Bulldogs 11-3/6-2

Coach: Kirby Smart (10th year, 10th overall)

Coach FBS Record/Rank: 105-19/.847/3rd

3-year record/rank: 49-4/.907/1st

6-year record/rank: 73-9/.890/1st

10-year record/rank: 115-22/.839/4th

Last League Title: 2024 SEC champions

Bowl Streak/Last Bowl Season/Last Bowl Win: 28 years/2024/2023

Bowl Record/Rank: 38-22-3/.627/16th

CFP Playoff Appearances: 4

AP Championships/Last AP Championship: 3/2022

Last Undefeated Season: 2022/15-0 under HC Kirby Smart

Last Winless Season: Never (since 1892); worst seasons were 1-5-2 in 1901 under HC William A. Reynolds, and 1-5 in both 1904 and 1905 under HC Marvin M. Dickinson
All-time Record/Rank: 892-432-54/.667/12th

Offense/ranks:

Scoring: 31.5/38th/5th SEC

Rushing: 124.4/102nd/15th

Passing: 281.0/12th/3rd

Total: 405.4/51st/10th

Defense/ranks:

Scoring: 20.6/23rd/7th

Rushing: 129.6/36th/8th

Passing: 200.2/38th/6th

Total: 329.9/30th/8th

Returning Starters (Off/Def): 5/6

Schedule: 

Aug 30 Marshall

Sep 6 Austin Peay

Sep 13 @ Tennessee

Sep 27 Alabama

Oct 4 Kentucky

Oct 11 @ Auburn

Oct 18 Ole Miss

Nov 1 Florida (Jacksonville)

Nov 8 @ Mississippi State

Nov 15 Texas

Nov 22 Charlotte

Nov 28 @ Georgia Tech (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)

Notes: The Bulldogs continue to have the longest bowl streak at 28 years, which places them in 4th place all-time, behind Michigan (33 seasons, 1975-2007), Nebraska (35 seasons, 1969-2003), and FSU (36 seasons, 1982-2017); UGA has 892 all-time wins, 9th most and just 10 more than USC at #10; the Dawgs have played in 63 bowl games, 2nd all-time behind Alabama’s 77; UGA has 4 CFP appearances, 4th most in the FBS, winning 2; the Dawgs have been to their conference championship game in 4 consecutive years, the longest current streak, and 1 behind Florida (1992-96) and Oklahoma (2010, then 2017-20; Big 12 had no CG between 2011-16) with 5, and 2 behind Marshall (1997-02 in the MAC, Northern Illinois (2010-15, also in the MAC), and Clemson (2015-20) with 6 appearances in a row; UGA has won 4 of their last 5 games (loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl), 31 home games in a row (dating back to loss to South Carolina on Oct 12, 2019), 18 straight SEC home games (same game vs SC), 8 or more games for 14 consecutive seasons, and has had double-digit wins in 4 straight seasons for the 3rd time (2002-05 under HC Mark Richt and 1980-83 under HC Vince Dooley), but they’ve had 10+ wins in 7 of the last 8 seasons, broken up only by the 2020 pandemic year; offense scored 30+ points in 10 games, while defense held 10 opponents to 23 points or less (5 to 15 points or less); only 3 of 11 wins were by less than 10 points, and only 1 of 3 losses were by less than 13 points; QB will be Gunnar Stockton (440 yds, 70.3%, 1 TD, 1 INT); K Peyton Woodring (21-23 FGs, long 55) returns, as does P Brett Thorson (47.6 avg/43.5 net), but Thorson suffered a torn ACL in the SEC CG and may not be 100% when the season starts; Dawgs are 53-5 over the last 4 seasons, with 2 national championships and 2 SEC championships.


Outlook: This seems like a pivotal year for the Georgia Bulldogs, as they’ve won fewer games the last 2 years than the one before, by 2 wins each year. Can they reverse that slide, or will it continue? Last year, the Dawgs, who pride themselves on being called RBU, was next to last in rushing in the SEC, and their defense was merely middle-of-the-pack instead of at the top, where they are used to being. So again, this seems like a pivotal season for the direction of the program. I feel the keys to the offense will be reestablishing a punishing running game, and avoiding turnovers; on defense it will be stopping the run again, getting pressure on the opposing QB, and creating turnovers. Fortunately, the Dawgs will get to ease their QB and young defense into the season before facing their 1st real challenge at Tennessee in Game 3. After a week off, Alabama comes to town, followed by Kentucky and then a trip to Auburn for only their 2nd road game in the 1st six contests. After their trip to The Plains, Ole Miss visits Sanford Stadium, and the Dawgs will get a chance for revenge for last year’s loss in Oxford. Then comes the annual off week before the trip to Jacksonville to take on the Florida Gators in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, followed up by their third (and last) true road game of the season in Starkville to take on the SEC’s other Bulldogs. Finally they end the season with Texas and Charlotte at home and Clean Old Fashioned Hate in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the home of the Atlanta Falcons (and nominally a GT home game). In my mind, the most likely games for a loss to appear are at Tennessee (1st road start for an inexperienced QB), Alabama (because, well, Bama), Texas (the Longhorns will be looking to avenge both losses from last year), and, believe it or not, Georgia Tech, who I believe will sneak up on several teams this year and may challenge for a spot in the ACC CG. Having laid all this out, I’m going to assume 2 things: 1st, UGA will win all the rest of their games, and 2nd, that they will win at least 2 of the 4 listed above, which gets them to 10 wins, perhaps a 5th straight berth in the SEC CG, and probably a spot in the CFP.

1- Ohio State Buckeyes 14-2/7-2

Coach: Ryan Day (8th year, 8th overall)

Coach FBS Record/Rank: 70-10/.875/1st

3-year record/rank: 36-6/.857/2nd

6-year record/rank: 67-10/.870/2nd

10-year record/rank: 115-16/.878/2nd

Last League Title: 2019 Big Ten champions/2021 Big East co-champs

Bowl Streak/Last Bowl Season/Last Bowl Win: 12 years/2024/2024

Bowl Record/Rank: 30-29/.508/53rd

CFP Playoff Appearances: 6

AP Championships/Last AP Championship: 6/2024

Last Undefeated Season: 2012/12-0 under HC Urban Meyer

Last Winless Season: Never (since 1890); worst seasons were 1-7-1 in 1897 under HC David F. Edwards, and 2-6-1 in 1947 under HC Wes Fesler
All-time Record/Rank: 978-335-53/.735/1st

Offense/ranks:

Scoring: 32.83/32nd/3rd Big Ten

Rushing: 142.3/85th/8th

Passing: 282.7/22nd/2nd

Total: 425/37th/1st

Defense/ranks:

Scoring: 11/2nd/2nd

Rushing: 112.5/23rd/5th

Passing: 147.5/1st/1st

Total: 260/3rd/3rd

Returning Starters (Off/Def): 6/3

Schedule: 

Aug 30 Texas

Sep 6 Grambling

Sep 13 Ohio

Sep 27 @ Washington

Oct 4 Minnesota

Oct 11 @ Illinois

Oct 18 @ Wisconsin

Nov 1 Penn State

Nov 8 @ Purdue

Nov 15 UCLA

Nov 22 Rutgers

Nov 29 @ Michigan

Notes: The Buckeyes have the 5th longest bowl streak at 12 years; OSU is in 2nd place in all-time wins with 978, just 4 ahead of 3rd place Alabama; the Bucks have been in 59 bowl games, 4th most all-time; OSU has 6 CFP appearances, good enough for 3rd most, and has won 2 CFP championships; both losses were by 3 points or less (a combined 4 points); offense scored 31+ points in 12 games, while defense held 15 opponents to 23 points or less (Oregon scored 32 in Autzen Stadium in mid-season); OSU’s last regular season loss to any team other than Michigan (4 losses) or Oregon (2 losses) was a 49-20 loss at Purdue on Oct 20, 2018, and their last home loss to anyone other than those 2 was 31-16 to visiting Oklahoma on Sep 9, 2017; the Buckeyes have been to a bowl in 35 of the last 37 years, missing only 2012 (12-0 under HC Urban Meyer- team ineligible for a bowl) and 1999 (6-6 under HC John Cooper), and their last losing season was 4-6-1 in 1988 (HC John Cooper’s 1st season), and before that was a 4-5 record in 1966 under HC Woody Hayes- that’s 2 losing seasons since they were 3-5-1 in 1959; Ohio State hasn’t had back-to-back losing seasons since they had 3 in a row from 1922-24 (3-4, 3-4-1, 2-3-3 under HC John Wilce), their only B2B losing seasons in their history; QB will be Julian Sayin (84 yds, 42%, 1 TD, 0 INT); OSU has not had a KOR for a TD in 15 years, but blocked 2 punts last year; K Jayden Fielding (13-17 FGs) returns, as does P Joe McGuire (42.1 avg/39.8 net); the Buckeyes won their 4 CFP games by an average of 17.5 ppg; WR Jeremiah Smith (76 receptions, 1,315 yds, 17.3 ypc, 15 TDs) returns for his sophomore season; OSU has been to the CFP in 4 of the 6 full years Ryan Day has been HC.


Outlook: Though the Buckeyes just won the national title, they have not won a Big Ten Championship since 2020, mostly due to 4 straight losses to Michigan keeping them out of the title game. Like so many of the expected CFP contenders, Ohio State will be inexperienced at QB, so he’ll need some time to grow. Unfortunately, OSU opens against Texas, not the ideal opponent when you have a new QB, but at least it’s in Ohio Stadium. After 2 games against FCS and MAC (Ohio) opponents, the Bucks get an off week before starting their Big Ten journey with a game at Washington, as 3 of their 1st 4 conference games are on the road (others at Illinois and Wisconsin). After that stretch, they have another off week before facing Penn State in the friendly confines of Columbus. Finally, after what should be 3 easy wins, OU travels to The Big House to try to break their losing streak to the Michigan Wolverines. All in all, the schedule isn’t too daunting, with the likelihood that Ohio State will win at least 10 games for the 13th time in the last 14 years (7-1 in 2020), which should put them in consideration for both a Big Ten CG spot and a CFP slot. And the Buckeyes just might repeat as National Champions.

Make sure you come back Monday as I begin my conference previews!

Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!