1. QB Arch Manning, Texas
A rough start vs. the defending champion Ohio State and their top defense/secondary exposed Manning in week 1. His status as #1 QB in the draft is in the air for now with other QB’s moving up, but he has all season to show off his dual threat abilities and why he’s so highly rated.
2. Alabama / HC Kalen DeBoer
Alabama came out flat and unprepared vs. Florida State in an embarrassing loss. The fans and alumni are calling for DeBoer’s job and a lot of people believe he’s not the guy for the job after his success at Washington. This team will need to fix things quickly to please the fanbase.
3. UNC / HC Bill Belichick
UNC came out with big expectations at home mostly because of Coach Belichick but the team came out flat and got embarrassed in front of a celebrity fanbase including Michael Jordan. The team was a tough rebuild to begin, but was expected to be competitive, the QB play is bad again and the defense didn’t look good.
4. QB Nico Iamaleava / UCLA
Imaleava went from talented prospect QB to NIL enemy asking Tennessee for more money which was said to be coming from his father. He settled for a deal with less talented UCLA as what basically turned into a QB swap. Tennessee put up big passing numbers as usual, Imaleava struggled to get anything going in the game against a tough Utah defense. UCLA doesn’t seem to have the talent on both sides of the ball.
5. Boise State
Boise State was viewed as the power 5 school that would likely push into the new playoff format as a school that usually puts up good numbers especially offensively. Boise State was embarrassed at USF with the quarterback and run game making plays all over them and a sloppy offense without Ashton Jeanty leading the way anymore.
