Family ties, Patrick Mahomes comps (kind of) and the true freshman QB Nebraska has been waiting for
-
Max Olson, ESPN Staff Writer
LINCOLN, Neb. — In his first college game at Nebraska, Dylan Raiola led the way.
He walked through the bright lights, strobes and smoke and stared straight ahead as his teammates followed. His path was lined with fans clutching their phones to capture something special. He nodded his head and raised his right hand, gesturing to say bring it on.
Nebraska’s freshman phenom quarterback was out in front for the first Tunnel Walk of the season onto the Memorial Stadium turf, offering promise of a more thrilling future for the program.
Dominic Raiola, Dylan’s father and a former Cornhusker himself, was overwhelmed. From the team’s unity walk through campus to pregame warmups to the sheer number of fans in his son’s No. 15 jersey, it brought Dominic back to 1998, reliving all his firsts inside this historic stadium.
“I know it’s more than 25 years later, but man, it’s so cool that he gets to experience this and make it his own,” Dominic told ESPN. “It’s a freaking special place, man. It’s not like everywhere else.”
His son took the field against UTEP and showed the world what Nebraska coaches and players have seen from the five-star signee since January: elite arm talent, excellent poise, extreme potential. Raiola threw for 238 yards and two memorable touchdowns while calmly guiding his team to a 40-7 rout. Wide receiver Jahmal Banks said Raiola’s “killer mentality” was on full display in his debut.
“He’s been having that in his eyes since he got on campus,” Banks said. “Like, ‘I’m humble, but I’m him.'”
In an era in which 80 college football teams found their quarterbacks in the transfer portal, Raiola was the lone true freshman starting QB for a Power 4 team in Week 1. The 19-year-old doesn’t look, act or play like one. He’s a 6-foot-3, 230-pound passer with rare gifts, an uncommon work ethic and all of the pedigree as the son of a Husker Hall of Famer and NFL great. He’s been drawing comparisons to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on social media for months. This Saturday, against Hall of Famer Deion Sanders and Colorado (7:30 p.m. ET), he plans to show he wasn’t just raised for this. Dylan Raiola believes it’s in his blood.
“It was always tugging at my heart,” he said on signing day.
He could’ve been the next great at Ohio State. He fell in love with Georgia’s powerhouse program. But in the end, Raiola surprised even his own family by choosing to help coach Matt Rhule lead a revival at Nebraska. Kids his age weren’t alive for the days of Husker dominance. The five-time national champs haven’t won a conference title in his lifetime, haven’t gone to a bowl game since 2016.
Raiola chose to buy into a bold vision. He believed in himself enough to go where he could make the greatest impact. You could already see it on Saturday.
“I think it finally hit him: ‘I’m here,'” Dominic Raiola said. “He told me something cool about walking out of the Tunnel Walk. He said he told himself, ‘It’s time for a new era of Nebraska football.'”
BEFORE THE CHAOS kicked in, the Raiolas huddled together on the Memorial Stadium sideline for their pregame ritual. Dylan held his helmet in his left hand and ducked his head in as his mother led the family in prayer. Yvonne, Dominic, Taylor, Dylan and Dayton were finally together again.
Mom started this tradition for Dylan’s high school games and Taylor’s volleyball matches. But here they were, arm in arm, in front of more than 86,000 inside a venue steeped in familial legacy.
Dominic’s name and number are on the walls of this 100-year-old stadium, just below the scoreboard alongside all-time greats Will Shields, Grant Wistrom and Eric Crouch. He took immense pride in playing for Nebraska, arriving from Hawaii during the program’s heyday and devoting himself to maintaining the standard of excellence.
Dominic battled and scuffled with Wistrom and Jason Peter as a young lineman and put in the work to become the Huskers’ center as a redshirt freshman, a rarity in its venerated “Pipeline” era. Raiola made a name for himself as a two-year starter and consensus All-American with his fiery intensity and a school record 140 pancake blocks in 1999. Legendary Nebraska offensive line coach Milt Tenopir called him the finest center he coached in his 29-year tenure.
He agonized over his decision to enter the draft after the 2000 season. Dominic didn’t know if he was ready to leave a program that had done so much for him, but he was ready to be a pro. The second-round pick found a new home in Detroit, spending his entire 14-year career with the Lions and starting a franchise record 203 games.
Dylan was born in 2005 and grew up around that NFL locker room, running around playing with Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson and so many welcoming teammates. Dominic got calls and texts from plenty of them over the weekend. He knows that environment showed his son what was possible.
In their household, faith and family came before football. “Family is everything for us,” said Nebraska offensive line coach Donovan Raiola, Dylan’s uncle. The extended Raiola clan is a tight-knit unit, their support for one another unyielding. Dominic likens the loyalty and brotherhood ingrained in their family heritage to the line from “Lilo & Stitch”: Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. When he talks about the Nebraska legacy his son is continuing, it’s never been just about himself.
“When you wear your name on the back of your jersey and walk around town, your last name represents a lot of people, not just yourself,” Dominic said. “My name’s in the stadium, but that ain’t just my name. It represents a lot. You are carrying the torch of a lot of people, wearing a coat with a lot of names on your back.”
But Dylan grew up watching sports as a kid, not Disney movies. Taylor, the oldest, played volleyball at TCU and is now working in Nebraska’s recruiting department. Dylan always preferred baseball growing up and played travel ball before embracing football in high school. Dayton is up next, starting at quarterback for Buford High School in Georgia as a junior. The kids spent much of their childhood together on courts and fields.
When he got into high school, Dylan started working with health and performance trainer Bobby Stroupe and quarterback trainer Jeff Christensen. One trait that was easy to see from the start? Raiola was blessed with a “cannon,” as Stroupe put it, and an uncommon range of motion in his shoulder blade.
“That kind of stuff is handed out by God most of the time,” Stroupe said.
In that way, the Mahomes comparisons are undeniable, even if Dylan pushes back on them at times. They’ve met through their time spent training with Stroupe and Christensen and are friendly. Mahomes calls him “cuzzo” and has been supportive from the start. Dylan says he wears 15 as a tribute to Tim Tebow, but the Mahomes inspirations in his game and style easily stand out to any observer. Like the Chiefs superstar, Raiola can extend plays, throw against the grain and complete off-platform passes others cannot.
He flashed it in the first quarter against UTEP, converting on a third-and-11 by side-arming a dart in a tight window to receiver Isaiah Neyor for a 16-yard gain. It was the kind of conversion Mahomes has delivered time and time again and evoked instant comps to the three-time Super Bowl champ.
“He was like a freakin’ surgeon,” Nebraska offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said of Dylan. “It was amazing to see him and his maturity way beyond his years.”
“Everyone looks at him like a freshman,” Donovan Raiola added. “But I don’t.”
SOON AFTER RHULE accepted the Nebraska job in November 2022, he started hearing about the QB everybody wanted him to flip.
“I remember Trev [Alberts] saying pretty early on, ‘Do you think we’ll ever have a chance at Dylan?'” Rhule told ESPN.
Like the rest of the fan base, Nebraska’s now-former athletic director recognized this recruitment was of the utmost importance. Rhule, coming off a three-year stint with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, had a ton of catching up to do in recruiting. But he was quickly brought up to speed on the Raiolas and what they meant to Nebraska.
In the final weeks of a 2½-year recruiting process, Dylan came to appreciate what the opportunity truly meant.
Georgia was his first scholarship offer in the summer of 2021. Nebraska offered a week later at a summer camp. And then everybody else did. Dylan was anointed as a top-50 recruit in his class before he’d started a varsity game. After one high school season, he was bumped up to No. 1 recruit status in the spring of 2022. That’s a long time to live with those expectations.
Nebraska never stopped chasing him. The courtship began with Scott Frost, who hired Donovan Raiola away from the Chicago Bears at the end of 2021, but he and his staff were on the hot seat. “It was a little rough patch at Nebraska, some unsettled times,” Dominic said. Dylan made an early commitment to Ohio State in May 2022 but decided to reopen his recruitment in December, three weeks after Rhule landed in Lincoln.
Kirby Smart pushed hard and had just won consecutive national titles. Lincoln Riley made him USC’s top priority. At that point, the Huskers were selling hope more than hype. Rhule was impressed by Dylan’s humble, kind-hearted nature right away.
“How we had always recruited him was I said to him: ‘I made the decision to come here. I show up here and I see a program that’s down, but I see a program that’s been at the top,'” Rhule said. “‘I see an opportunity for me to come make a difference at a place that matters. So why don’t you come here and make a difference at a place that matters? The easy thing would be to go to the place that’s already winning.'”
After taking more visits in the spring, Dylan picked Georgia last May. Dad wasn’t surprised.
“I knew he loved Georgia the whole time,” Dominic said. “It almost felt inevitable it was going that way. I mean, how could you not?”
Rhule and his staff moved on, turning their focus to in-state passer Daniel Kaelin and flipping him from Missouri. The Raiola family relocated from Arizona to Georgia ahead of his senior year and attended every Bulldogs home game last season, most of them blowouts.
But on Sept. 30, they made a curious choice. The Raiolas flew back to Lincoln for Nebraska’s game against Michigan. The trip was intended to be for Dayton, who has a Husker offer, but Dylan tagged along. They watched the No. 2 Wolverines shred Nebraska 45-7. “It was ugly,” Dominic said. The showdown with the future national champs showed just how far the Huskers were from being a Big Ten contender. “You saw us at our worst,” Rhule told the Raiolas. Dylan gave no indication he was rethinking his decision, and Nebraska’s staff did not push him. But his uncle hadn’t totally given up.
“I didn’t want to feel like it was over, but you never know, right?” Donovan said. “I was holding out hope.”
Dylan kept his focus on his senior season at Buford. Smart and Georgia OC Mike Bobo came over for their in-home visit with the Raiolas on Dec. 5 to close out the recruitment. Four days later, Dylan came to his parents and confessed he was still thinking about Nebraska. He wanted to take one more visit. Dominic said he and Yvonne were more puzzled than elated. Why now?
“I’ll tell you what changed in his heart,” Dominic said. “He knew he had a different kind of talent. He told us: ‘God has bigger plans for me than just going to Georgia and being the next five-star and being in line to win the national title. God has different plans for me.’ And those plans were to go to Nebraska and do something hard.”
Rhule insists he didn’t see it coming.
“I remember when he called me,” Rhule said, “I was like, ‘Really?'”
Dylan saw past an offense that finished last in the Big Ten in passing yards with the second worst turnover margin (minus-17) in the sport, a team that kept finding ways to lose close games even under a new front office. He liked Rhule and the culture he was trying to establish. He felt a different vibe during the Michigan game, even in defeat.
“Nebraska’s the only place that you can bring back and it can mean something more than just we won a game or won a championship,” Dylan said this spring. “I think if we do that here, it’ll make a lot of people happy and be special.”
On the following Monday, the news of Dylan contemplating a flip leaked out. Nebraska had been courting experienced transfer QBs and got Ohio State’s Kyle McCord on campus for a visit. Then they backed off. By the time Dylan got on the plane to Nebraska for his weekend official visit, it was a done deal.
Nebraska offensive tackle Teddy Prochazka was at home doing laundry when he first heard the Raiola rumors.
“I thought it was fake,” Prochazka said. “Someone texted me like, ‘Yo, check Twitter, is this real?’ I’m like, ‘Dude, I have no idea.’ And then sure enough, a few weeks later, he was committed. Donny kept it close to the chest. Everyone was just kind of like, ‘I don’t know, it could be happening …'”
The Elkhorn, Nebraska, native understood the magnitude of the moment.
“One of the biggest things is it gets people talking about Nebraska,” Prochazka said. “We deserve to be in the national spotlight. We want to play in those big games and be talked about. That definitely got the word out that, hey, Nebraska’s got something building over here.”
EARLY MORNINGS AND late nights. That’s how Dylan got ready to start.
Satterfield, his offensive coordinator, calls him a young pro. He was purposeful throughout the process of installing Nebraska’s offense and instilling confidence. Rhule got used to early morning texts and finding him in the weight room doing extra workouts or stretching at 6 a.m. The freshman would ask permission to break curfew during fall camp to keep working. He’d write and rewrite notes and play calls late into the night to get the cadence and rhythm down. Tight end Thomas Fidone said Dylan finds the magic in the minutiae.
“He’s just obsessed with trying to be really, really, really, really good,” Satterfield said.
The starting job had to be earned along with the respect of his new team. Dylan took his receivers down to Texas in June to train together. He took his linemen out for pizza and wings and they ran up a big bill. They’d gather at his uncle’s house to watch UFC fights and play video games.
“The team is everything to him,” Donovan said. “He’s a very thoughtful, authentic, genuine guy. He’s always been like that since he was a little kid. Every team he’s been on, it was always the team first.”
Added Rhule: “He doesn’t have to be the focus of everything.”
Players have been wowed by his composure, steadiness and poise in practice. Everyone got to see it on Saturday. Dylan checked a play and checked again and reloaded on a third-and-5 to get to an Emmett Johnson run that broke for 42 yards. When he did so in his first spring practice, flipping a play to adjust for a blitzer, Rhule joked that it brought a tear to his eye. Dylan got his first two-minute drill late in the first half against UTEP and let it rip, tossing a perfectly placed back-shoulder touchdown throw to Banks with 8 seconds left.
You don’t see many freshmen doing what he’s trying to do these days. Back in 2019, it wasn’t unusual to see Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, Sam Howell, Max Duggan and Kedon Slovis all starting as true freshmen. The increasing popularity of the portal ever since then has led to far fewer play-right-away opportunities at the highest level.
In fact, over the past four seasons, only one top-50 QB recruit has started 10-plus games as a freshman for a Power 4 squad: Georgia Tech’s Jeff Sims, who later transferred to Nebraska and then Arizona State. Even if it’s the plan going into the year, getting through the season can be easier said than done. Last year, five-star recruit Dante Moore was UCLA’s opening day starter. He was benched after five games. Now he’s at Oregon.
In Dylan’s case, there won’t be training wheels. Satterfield didn’t hand him a pared-down playbook. They’re giving him trust to run their system, progress through his reads, make mistakes and improve.
“How we want him to play when he’s a junior, we’re going to start Day 1 that way,” Rhule said. “We’re not easing into anything.”
But here’s an important distinction: Nobody is asking the kid to fix Nebraska football all by himself.
Rhule has coached freshman starting QBs before, but he’s never had a five-star. He’s been measured in his public praise of Dylan. The last thing he wants to do is add more pressure. He learned from working with first-round picks in Carolina and seeing the burden they felt in trying to live up to big contracts.
Rhule reminds him that when you’re Nebraska’s starting quarterback, you better be prepared to ride the highs and lows and can’t live by what others think of you. This is a fine week for the freshman to listen to that lesson. Colorado is coming to his house on Saturday night for one of the Huskers’ most anticipated home games in years. Winning this one certainly gets people talking about Nebraska.
“I want him to take everything in stride,” Rhule said. “He doesn’t have to put everything on his shoulders. He just has to do his part and have fun doing it.”
Dominic Raiola raised his son to believe no moment is ever too big if you go in prepared. When asked last week what fans could expect from him, Dylan knew the answer. The process of building up to this didn’t start with a commitment in December or a workout in January. It began the day he picked up a football.
“Buckle up,” Dylan said with a smile. “It’s going to be a fun ride.”
We are one month away from having college football back, with Iowa State and Kansas State kicking things off from Dublin on Aug. 23.
With games so close at hand, we asked our reporters to single out one contest for each of our post-spring Top 25 teams that could swing their season one way or the other. On paper, what is the one game that will play the biggest role in determining whether the season is a success or a dud?
Some will come in major nonconference battles over the first couple of weeks, some are more traditional league games that could set the tone for the things to come. But they’re all worth circling on your calendars and contemplating as the season nears.
Other Top 25 lists: X factors | Areas of concern | Sleepers
Swing game: vs. Oregon, Sept. 27
Among the national title contenders, Penn State will provide the fewest clues during the first portion of the schedule, which includes nonleague games against Nevada, Florida International and Villanova. But after an open week, the Lions will face their first mega test, as they host Oregon in a rematch of the 2024 Big Ten championship game. The Ducks ran the table during their first season as a league member, but they didn’t face a road test like Beaver Stadium at night. Coaches and quarterbacks are always linked, but Penn State’s James Franklin and Drew Allar will be under an especially bright spotlight as they try to reverse their big-game trend lines. A win stamps Penn State as the team to beat in the Big Ten this season, about a month before it heads to Ohio State on Nov 1. — Adam Rittenberg
Swing game: vs. LSU, Aug. 30
This one is fairly obvious. The Tigers open the season at home against LSU, a huge game that will serve to show whether all the hype surrounding Clemson is warranted. Clemson has lost three of its last four season openers, including two to another SEC school in Georgia. Winning is hugely important, but so is the way Clemson looks right out of the gate with an experienced team that returns its best playmakers on offense and some of its best defenders from a year ago. Here is why that “eye test” matters to perception: In those three season-opening losses to Georgia (2021, 2024) and Duke (2023), Clemson managed to score a combined 13 points and just one total touchdown. That simply cannot happen with Cade Klubnik entering Year 3 as the starter. — Andrea Adelson
Swing game: vs. Oklahoma at Cotton Bowl, Oct. 11
It’s always Oklahoma. It’s early October. The SEC schedule is getting under way. And no matter what, this game ends up being unpredictable and usually a dogfight. Like when the 0-4 Sooners were 22-point underdogs in John Blake’s first season in 1996, or in 2013 and 2015 when unranked Texas teams beat No. 12 and No. 10 OU teams. The last three years show the swings. In 2022, Texas won 49-0. In 2023, No. 12 Oklahoma stunned No. 3 Texas in the final seconds 34-30, then the Longhorns bounced back to crush the Sooners 34-3 last season. — Dave Wilson
Swing game: at Tennessee, Sept. 13
After hosting Marshall and FCS program Austin Peay to start the season, the Bulldogs will play an early SEC road game at Tennessee on Sept. 13. It will be a significant road test for starting quarterback Gunner Stockton and the offense playing in one of the most intimidating road environments in the SEC. The Volunteers dominated the Bulldogs throughout the 1990s, but Georgia has flipped the script, winning eight in a row and 13 of the past 15 contests in the series. The Bulldogs won each of their past four games at Neyland Stadium by at least 24 points. With a home game against Alabama coming next on the schedule, coach Kirby Smart will be looking for a similar performance at Rocky Top. — Mark Schlabach
Swing game: vs. Texas, Aug. 30
In 2006, the Buckeyes throttled Texas in Week 2 in Austin 24-7, setting the tone for Ohio State’s undefeated regular season and trip to the national title game. The Buckeyes face Texas again, this time in the opener in Columbus. The Longhorns are loaded, led by unproven but ultra-talented quarterback Arch Manning. Texas will also be aiming for revenge after falling to Ohio State in dramatic fashion during last season’s College Football Playoff semifinal. Even with so many key players off last year’s team gone, the Buckeyes can announce to the rest of college football that they remain a serious national title threat with a Week 1 victory over Manning and the Longhorns. Such an impressive nonconference win would also give Ohio State an early inside track to one of the four coveted playoff byes. — Jake Trotter
Swing game: at Clemson, Aug. 30
LSU is 0-3 in season openers under Brian Kelly. If there were a year to change that and set the table for the season, this is it. Cade Klubnik is expected by many to be among the best quarterbacks in college football this season, with Clemson primed for another run into the CFP this season. LSU looks just about as talented and ready to make a national championship push as any team in the country, but the Tigers need to look closer to their final form from the jump than they have in recent years. — Harry Lyles Jr.
Swing game: at Miami, Aug. 31
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman won’t have to wait long to learn if his team is a CFP national title contender. The Fighting Irish open the season at Miami on Aug. 31, then host Texas A&M two weeks later on Sept. 13. The opener against the Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, will be a tremendous test for Notre Dame’s new starting quarterback, presumably redshirt freshman CJ Carr. The Hurricanes have CFP aspirations of their own after adding former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, LSU receiver CJ Daniels and a plethora of defensive backs from the transfer portal. The Irish lost to Miami 41-8 in their last trip to South Florida in 2017. Notre Dame’s 23-13 victory at Texas A&M in the 2024 opener gave Freeman’s team belief it could be a CFP contender. It was a physical heavyweight fight until the Irish scored twice in the final two minutes to break open a 13-13 tie. — Mark Schlabach
Swing game: at Penn State, Sept. 27
The Ducks’ matchup in Happy Valley against Penn State in late September may just be the biggest game of their entire season. Both Oregon and Penn State are not only top-10 ranked teams heading into the year (if not top-5), they are also both legitimate national title contenders. This is also a rematch of last year’s Big Ten title game, which the Ducks won in convincing fashion. Round 2, this time in a hostile environment for the defending conference champions, will have plenty of juice. — Paolo Uggetti
Swing game: Alabama at Georgia, Sept. 27
Alabama closes the month of September by traveling to Georgia on Sept. 27, and it doesn’t figure to be a cushy first month for the Tide. They open the season at Florida State on Aug. 30 and face Wisconsin at home two weeks prior to the trip to Georgia. A loss at Georgia wouldn’t necessarily be a crippling blow, especially since Georgia hasn’t lost a game at home in five years, but winning in Athens would afford Alabama a mulligan (or two) if the Tide were to trip up the rest of the way against somebody they shouldn’t lose to. — Chris Low
Swing game: vs. West Virginia, Oct. 3
The Big 12 opener against Colorado on Sept. 27 is one to circle but it’s the next week — at home against West Virginia — that could really swing momentum one way or the other. If the Cougars start 4-0 (they play Portland State, Stanford and East Carolina in nonconference), a win here to move to 2-0 in conference play would be huge — especially since they’ll be breaking in a new quarterback and that early-season experience will matter. And if they lose to Colorado, they’ll need a win over the Mountaineers to avoid an 0-2 start, which would essentially end any hopes of building off of last year’s brilliant campaign before the season even has a chance to really get going. — Kyle Bonagura
Swing game: at Indiana, Sept. 20
The Illini face two September road tests that could shape how the rest of the season goes. Picking between Duke (Sept. 6) and Indiana (Sept. 20) is difficult, but the visit to the Hoosiers jumps out because they made the CFP last season and return several stars from a very stout defense. Cal quarterback transfer Fernando Mendoza will provide a good test for an Illinois defense that was susceptible against the pass last year, finishing 78th nationally. The Illini also have struggled lately in Bloomington, dropping their last two games there and three of the last four. A win in the Big Ten opener could propel Illinois entering a pivotal stretch that includes home games against USC and Ohio State, and a trip to Washington. — Rittenberg
Swing game: at Baylor, Sept. 20
The nonconference schedule should allow ASU to ease into 2025 a bit — the Sun Devils will likely be double-digit favorites or close to it in each of their first three games. But starting with their Week 4 trip to Baylor, things get awfully tricky. Baylor is among many aspiring Big 12 contenders, and the Bears will already be battle-tested, having begun the season with Auburn and SMU. The Big 12 spoils go to the teams that win super-close games, and on paper this one is likely to be super close. Beginning a conference title defense with a loss would be awfully ominous. — Bill Connelly
Swing game: at Texas A&M, Nov. 15
South Carolina has an absolute gauntlet of a five-game stretch in the middle of the season that starts with a trip to LSU before hosting Oklahoma and Alabama, then going on the road to Ole Miss and Texas A&M. If the Gamecocks want to make a playoff run, they’ll likely need to win at least two of those five — and maybe three, given that Missouri and Clemson are also on the docket — which could be a big ask. So what’s the pivot point? If we assume the Gamecocks can take care of business at home — a big assumption, to be sure — that means they’ll need to steal at least one on the road. Ole Miss smoked South Carolina in Columbia last year, so that could be a tall order, and winning in Baton Rouge is never easy. So that puts the focus squarely on Texas A&M. A big win on the road over the Aggies in mid-November could be a statement to the playoff committee and put South Carolina squarely in the mix for a top-12 position. — David Hale
Swing game: vs. Arizona, Sept. 27
The Hawkeyes have a Big 12 game to open the season against Kansas State, so there is no easing into the season — and that’s before factoring in Iowa coming to town Sept. 6. So Cyclones fans won’t have to wait long before having a decent sense of what to expect this year. Let’s go ahead and assume they beat South Dakota and Arkansas State and could be 2-2, 3-1 or 4-0 headed in the fifth game against Arizona. The result of that game against the Wildcats would significantly shape expectations for the rest of the way. — Bonagura
Swing game: at Clemson, Oct. 18
SMU’s schedule for the first half of the season is manageable, with home dates against Baylor and Syracuse and a road trip to TCU providing the toughest matchups. The Mustangs won’t be at a serious talent disadvantage in any of them, making a strong start to the season imperative. The back half of the schedule, however, gets much tougher, starting with the clear swing game — and a chance for revenge from last year’s ACC championship — when the Mustangs travel to Death Valley to take on Clemson on Oct. 18. That game kicks off a gauntlet that sees SMU hosting Miami and Louisville and making tough road trips to BC and Cal in the season’s final weeks. Whether SMU was a one-hit wonder in the ACC or is a power ready to compete will be determined down the stretch in 2025, with no game looming larger than the date with the Tigers. — Hale
Swing game: at Arizona State, Oct. 18.
The Red Raiders’ game in Salt Lake City against Utah could be a challenge, facing a revamped team that is always a tough out in Rice-Eccles Stadium. But Texas Tech and Arizona State are viewed as two of the clear cut favorites in the Big 12. This game comes two weeks before the Red Raiders have to go to Manhattan and face another conference contender in Kansas State. As we learned in 2024, this new-look Big 12 can be quite unpredictable. — Lyles Jr.
Swing game: at Iowa, Sept. 27
After what should be a straightforward start to the season with some nonconference matchups the Hoosiers should be able to take care of, the season ramps up with their first road trip to Iowa. While the Hawkeyes aren’t projected to be a surefire top-25 team this season, playing at Kinnick is never easy. Going into that environment and emerging with a victory could be a tone-setter for Indiana’s season in large part because of the game that precedes that matchup and the one that follows it. The conference opener against Illinois a week prior will be a tough first hurdle, while a road trip to Eugene to face Oregon after the Iowa game will be even tougher. Playing that stretch 2-1 instead of 1-2 (or even 0-3!) will be imperative. — Uggetti
Swing game: vs. Iowa State at Dublin, Aug. 23
Week 0 swing games are rarely a thing, but wow, is Farmageddon big this season. The Wildcats’ battle with Iowa State in Dublin on Aug. 23 will make the winner an automatic Big 12 front-runner and will leave the loser on wobbly ground before the official first Saturday of the 2025 campaign. With Avery Johnson entering his second year as the Wildcats’ starting quarterback, K-State has a bit more upside, and is facing a bit more pressure, than usual. Starting the season 0-1 would double that pressure. — Connelly
Swing game: at LSU, Sept. 13
Florida once again didn’t get any favors from the schedule makers, and the Gators will get an early test in Baton Rouge against LSU. On paper, this feels like a year that Brian Kelly is going to have things put together in the Bayou, in part because he’s got the coveted returning starter at QB in Garrett Nussmeier. Along with the incumbent talent, Kelly and his staff did a really good job in the transfer portal and will be a tough out every Saturday this fall. If Florida wins this game, or even loses a close one, it will bode well for the rest of the season. — Lyles Jr.
Swing game: at Oklahoma, Sept. 6
The Wolverines head to Oklahoma in Week 2 to face Sherrone Moore’s alma mater. Beating Ohio State for a fourth straight time salvaged last season for the Wolverines, who had to surge late in the year just to secure a winning record in Moore’s first full season as head coach. Michigan will have bigger expectations in 2025, especially with the arrival of five-star freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood. If the Wolverines can knock off the Sooners in Norman, they’ll be sending a statement that they’re potentially ready to contend for a playoff spot again. But if the Wolverines fall to Oklahoma, they could then have to weather a proposed two-game suspension for Moore, which includes a trip to Nebraska on Sept. 20, just to keep their postseason hopes afloat early. — Trotter
Swing game: vs. Notre Dame, Aug. 31
I am going to put a caveat on my answer here because of the way last season turned out. The season opener against Notre Dame is going to tell us plenty about where Miami stands in 2025. That starts at quarterback, where Georgia transfer Carson Beck is expected to be fully recovered from an elbow injury he sustained in the SEC championship game. Will he be able to bring the same dynamic play to the table that Cam Ward did last year to set the tone? How will the new-look receivers and revamped defense look? So much about Miami is unknown headed into this game because of the complete roster revamp, which was much needed on the defensive side. Having said that, we all thought the season would go differently for Miami a year ago after its trouncing of Florida in the season opener. For the most part, it went well, with 10 wins. But the Canes fell short of playing for a title, and that has to change sooner rather than later. — Adelson
Swing game: at Miami, Oct. 17
Louisville took Miami to the wire last year in front of the home fans, and only a disastrous performance by the secondary against Cam Ward allowed the Canes to escape with a win. This year’s rematch in south Florida will be a chance for a little revenge and, likely, an opportunity for the Cardinals to establish their playoff bona fides in a big way. While there are no guarantees, the early part of Louisville’s slate sets up nicely for the Cards to enter the Oct. 17 date with Miami at 5-0, and if they can add a win against the Canes to that résumé, there’s a good chance Louisville would be flirting with a top-10 ranking. Just as important, it would set the stage for stretch run in November that includes games against Clemson, SMU and Kentucky. — Hale
Swing game: at Notre Dame, Sept. 13
The Sept. 13 trip to Notre Dame should be a slugfest akin to last year’s 23-13 shoving match at Kyle Field. The Aggies’ offensive line has morphed from a weakness under Jimbo Fisher to a strength in two years and the Notre Dame D-line is one of the best in the country. It’s likely to be the only game in the first seven weeks of the season in which the Aggies will be an underdog, and in Year 2 of the Mike Elko era, it’s a key test to measure how ready they are to push the rest of the SEC. — Wilson
Swing game: vs. LSU, Sept. 27
Ole Miss has games before this that they shouldn’t sleep on — in Lexington in Week 2, then against Arkansas and Tulane the following weeks. But LSU appears to be one of the three best teams in the SEC heading into the season, and having this game at home is big for Ole Miss. Down the road, a more difficult task awaits on the road in Athens against Georgia, so building up a callus against the Tigers will be key. — Lyles Jr.
Swing game: vs. Michigan, Sept. 6
Four of Oklahoma’s first five games are at home, and the only road contest is at Temple on Sept. 13. But in Week 2, the Sooners could build some serious momentum when Michigan comes to town for a prime-time game. A win against the Wolverines would give the Sooners a real chance at a 5-0 start entering the Red River Showdown against Texas on Oct. 6. The back end of Oklahoma’s schedule is especially difficult (Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama all away from home, plus Ole Miss and LSU at home), so getting off to a good start will be critical for the Sooners. — Low
-
Adam Rittenberg
LAS VEGAS — Maryland football coach Mike Locksley admitted Tuesday he “lost” the locker room in 2024 over which players to compensate, a factor that led to the Terrapins’ worst season since his debut in 2019.
The Terrapins finished 4-8 and dropped all but one of their Big Ten contests. Maryland had more players selected in the NFL draft (six) than wins, as it lost its final five games, all by 14 points or more. Locksley attributed part of the struggles to the changing financial landscape in college football, as Maryland had to make decisions on how to compensate players through NIL deals and ultimately created some divisions.
“I own the fact that I lost my locker room,” Locksley told ESPN. “And this is Coach Locks, the locker room king, telling you this landscape, I had to choose between paying young players who were coming in or reward the older players that have been through the fire, three bowl wins, and I tried to do both with limited resources. And that’s what you get: a locker room with the haves and have-nots.”
Locksley, who is entering his seventh season at Maryland and 10th overall as an FBS coach, called the experience “a valuable lesson” in how to manage players, relationships and expectations. Maryland won three consecutive bowl games under Locksley, from 2021 to 2023.
“You go outside my locker room [now] and I have a sign that says: ‘Leave your Louis belts, leave your financial statements and your car keys outside of this locker room, because in here we’re all going to pay the same price for success or failure,'” he said. “If I’ve got to put my desk in that locker room, I will. A valuable lesson learned.”
Locksley said the House settlement and the money Maryland distributes to its players have allowed him to focus more on the locker room rather than external fundraising.
Maryland will enter the season with questions at quarterback — where UCLA transfer Justyn Martin, redshirt freshman Khristian Martin and decorated incoming freshman Malik Washington, ESPN’s No. 134 overall recruit, will compete — and other positions.
“I call this a year of vulnerability for me, because I’ve been torn about what to say about our team when people ask; but I don’t know what type of team we have yet,” he said. “Some people, as a coach, it’s like a bad thing to say, ‘I don’t know.’ But it’s a good thing that I don’t know.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike