College Football 2012 Preseason: Projecting the 25 Most High-Powered Offenses

In college football, the old adage about defense winning championships is still true.

But you still can't win without offensive production, as LSU discovered in last season's BCS National Championship Game.

But as surely as seasons change, so too does the makeup of each team's offense.

Last season, Houston led the nation is scoring offense averaging 49.3 points per game. Is there anyone who thinks the Cougars have a snowball's chance in Texas of repeating that accomplishment?

We'll take a look ahead to the 2012 season as we project the 25 most high-powered offenses of the upcoming year.

Kansas State

We'll get things started with the Wildcats from Kansas State.

It's clear that K-State was one of the nice surprises from 2011with the Wildcats coming out of nowhere to compete for a Big 12 title and BCS berth.

While many thought KSU deserved an invite, the BCS left the Wildcats out, and Kansas State instead accepted a Cotton Bowl Classic invitation.

Last season was certainly a success by most metrics, but the Wildcats still finished just 34th in scoring offense in the FBS last season. If the Wildcats have any shot of improving on last season, they'll need big time production from the cast of eight returning offensive starters.

Most of the key skill position players are back from last season, and head coach Bill Snyder has proven year after year that he can get the most out of every man on his roster.

A leap into the top 25 of offenses could be just the extra little bit the Wildcats need for the elusive BCS invitation.

Cincinnati

Cincinnati finished just outside of the 25 top-scoring offenses in 2011 despite finishing 61st in the FBS in terms of total offense.

Clearly, finding ways to score has been key to the Bearcats' success such as it was in 2011. With West Virginia, a perennial Big East favorite leaving the conference for the Big 12, there's going to be a wide-open race for the conference's automatic BCS berth this season.

With the Big East looking to become comically weak in 2012, why would we put Cincinnati into our 25 top high-powered offenses list?

Well, it's exactly because of that weakness that Cincinnati may enjoy a little offensive explosion in 2012. Playing against the defenses the Big East are fielding these days would make any half-way decent team look pretty darn good.

The Bearcats may enter 2012 as an early favorite to win the Big East, but it will be tough sledding outside of the conference schedule.

Arizona

Really, can Arizona get much worse?

Finishing 4-8 is a good way to lose your job, and that's exactly what happened to Mike Stoops. His replacement, however, should bring a new style of wide open, high-octane offense to Tuscon.

Rich Rodriguez is in town, and his signature spread offense will be making its appearance out west—in an environment much more favorable to the spread that stuffy old Michigan.

Even though the Wildcats will still be playing in the same division as USC, realistically there's no other team in the South that Arizona can't beat. And if Rich Rodriguez can incorporate his unique style quickly enough, the Wildcats could be staring a bowl game squarely in the face come December.

Incidentally, Arizona wasn't that terrible on offense last season. The Wildcats scored nearly 31 points per game in 2011—better than Florida State, South Carolina, Notre Dame and Texas.

Just something to think about...

Texas

Longhorns fans can dream, can't they?

After years of residing near the top of the Big 12, Texas has taken quite a tumble these past two seasons. At least the Horns were able to find their way to a bowl game in 2011—not something they could say about 2010.

The real question for Texas is and has been the quarterback position. Mack Brown seems to have most of the pieces of a decent offense in place, but the all-important quarterback position is still a little soft.

As the inevitable quarterback battle heats up in Austin, someone is bound to rise to the top of the depth chart. If—and that's a mighty big, Texas-sized if—the Longhorns can find a reliable, big game quarterback 2012, there just might be hope for this team after all.

With nine offensive starters coming back and some (hopefully) solid play from the quarterback, whoever that turns out to be, will have Texas back near the top of the Big 12 and in search of a BCS berth.

Hawai'i

It's no surprise any more that Hawai'i has an offense that can give statisticians carpal tunnel syndrome.

The Warriors have been putting up big numbers for years. The problem has been that Hawai'i's level of competition has been relatively weak, and the Warriors have struggled against power conference opponents.

In 2012, the Warriors will move to the Mountain West Conference reuniting with old nemesis Boise State. Funny enough, it may be Boise State that is dreading the reunion.

As the Broncos are looking at a prospect of an offensive fall-off, the Warriors show no signs of slowing down. In fact, with the level of returning talent heading back to Aloha Stadium in 2012, we might even see a few more yards put up this season.

The Warriors were just outside of the top 30 offensive teams last season, putting up nearly 32 points per game in 2011. With a number of teams in front of them—including Boise State—looking at the potential for a drop-off in 2012, we may once against see the Warriors back in the top 25, at least offensively.

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech finished the 2011 season with a nail-biting loss to Michigan in the Sugar Bowl.

The Hokies weren't particularly good on offense last season and made the mediocre Michigan secondary look pretty darn good in New Orleans.

So with just four or five returning offensive starters for last season returning, why are we raving out Va Tech's offensive chances in 2012?

To be honest, it's exactly the influx of new blood that Virginia Tech needs to climb back to the top of the ACC. Frank Beamer has constantly shown himself to be an able recruiter, and there should be no doubt that some of the youngsters ready to step out onto the field will be amongst the best first-year starters in the nation.

Virginia Tech also has a solid defensive unit returning nine starters. That should help the young offense with decent field position throughout the season. So while the Hokies may not crush an opponent with pure offensive yardage, there should be ample opportunity to light up the scoreboard in 2012.

Toledo

Yes, we'll admit that this is probably the most boring pick on our list. But whenever any MAC team makes a top-25 list, it's worth mentioning.

The MAC is so dreadfully awful, there were several instances of teams scoring 60-or-more points in a game and still losing.

Toledo was one of them.

On November 1, Toledo hosted Northern Illinois. The Rockets scored 60 points, but couldn't find a way to keep the Huskies out of the end zone. Northern Illinois won, 63-60.

Not to be outdone, Toledo came out the very next week and put up 66 points on Western Michigan—but the Broncos still managed 63 points of their own in the loss.

In all, Toledo scored 42-or-more points eight times last season and 49-or-more five times.

Toledo will need to adjust some under new head coach Matt Campbell, but if this past season's Military Bowl is any indication, we probably won't be saying good-bye to the Rockets' high-flying offense any time soon (Campbell coached the Rockets to a 42-41 shoot-out win against Air Force).

The biggest loss for Toledo is probably junior wide receiver Eric Page, who declared himself eligible for the NFL draft in early January.

While Page was an important part of the point-a-minute offense, there are still plenty of capable MAC stars at Toledo ready to pick up the slack.

Besides, it's not like the Rockets are trying to score on Big Ten defenses...

Michigan State

Michigan State has certainly had an impressive run over the past two seasons with a Big Ten co-championship in 2010 and a Legends Division title in 2011.

Much of that had to do with the on-field leadership of Kirk Cousins.

Cousins was an absolutely solid pocket passer, and was capable of making the big play when called upon to do so. But he never really was a spectacular quarterback—at least not the same way others in the Big Ten are.

As MSU moves forward, the question becomes whether or not Cousins' replacement—likely junior Andrew Maxwell—can outweigh the leadership of Cousins with his playmaking abilities.

Michigan State will also need to replace five other offensive starters besides Cousins, but the offensive line returns almost completely intact.

So what makes us believe that Michigan State can transition into one of the more prolific offenses this season?

Two words: Mark Dantonio.

Coach Dantonio has been the coach MSU fans have been longing for. Ever since Nick Saban departed East Lansing for Baton Rouge over a decade ago, the Spartans have been hapless most of the time. Dantonio has transformed the program into an emerging Big Ten power and quality bowl wins over teams like Georgia will only add to the program's prestige.

Dantonio and his staff have their work cut out for them in 2012, but they've shown no compunction about pulling out all the stops to get the win.

That won't change any time soon, and Michigan State could be on the verge of truly emerging on the national scene.

Nebraska

It's time for the Cornhuskers to put up or shut up.

We all heard a lot from Nebraska about the move to the Big Ten, and how the Nebraska brand of football was coming to wreak havoc on a new conference that would be able to provide mere token resistance.

But after the Cornhuskers entered the conference with a resounding thud, getting blown out on national television by a clearly superior Wisconsin team, Nebraska never really made much of a move in the Legends Division.

Losses down the stretch to Northwestern and Michigan essentially ended any talk of Nebraska taking over the conference. Now, it's time for the Cornhuskers to show that they can in fact hang with the big boys in the Big Ten.

With the talent coming back, there's no reason they can't.

Last season, Nebraska was fairly unimpressive in scoring offense, with just 29.2 points per game. The Huskers were just 66th in the nation in total offense, with 379.9 yards per game. Both of those numbers are going to need improvement if we're to really see a resurgent Nebraska in 2012.

The key to Nebraska this season won't change much from last year: Taylor Martinez.

Over the past two seasons, he's been prone to the mistakes of youth. Bad decisions here and impulsive moves there can be excused from a freshman or sophomore with the pure talent he possesses.

But he's a junior now and will be expected to shoulder the burden of moving his team up the tough Big Ten ladder. Martinez's 13-to-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio should improve this season, and he will always remain a threat with his feet (he averaged 4.6 yards per carry last season, which is spectacular for a quarterback).

Were it not for Denard Robinson, we might be talking about the biggest dual-threat quarterback in the conference for 2012. And even with Robinson in the same division, a more mature Martinez could upstage his counterpart from Michigan with a solid throwing performance this season—especially with all of his favorite targets returning.

Florida State

There's no doubt that the Seminoles didn't live up to the hype last season.

While Florida State fans may try to explain away their team's shortcomings, the fact remains that even when the Seminoles were healthy, they just didn't match up well against the best their schedule had to offer in 2011.

Luckily, everyone's slates are wiped clean with the approach of a new season, and just going by first appearances, Florida State looks to stack up well next season.

And not just in the ACC.

The Seminoles will return nine offensive starters from last season where Florida State finished 39th in the FBS in terms of scoring offense.

The biggest thing to watch for in 2012 is how well the Noles can avoid the injury bug. The young offensive line was run by committee last season due to all the injuries. Even when healthy, the line had trouble protecting EJ Manuel.

It's probably safe to say that if the O-line can solidify things up front, then you can expect Florida State to quickly jump into the top 25 offenses of 2012.

Missouri

Missouri had a bit of a let-down season in 2011, but it wasn't because of the offense.

The Tigers finished with 32.8 points per game last year—good enough for 30th in the nation. But it was the defense—coming in at 61st in the nation in total defense—that really hurt the Tigers last season.

If the Tigers are to really make it into the top 25 of high-powered offenses in 2012, they'll need to do it against one of the best collection of defensive teams anywhere in the nation—the SEC. Luckily, it was Texas A&M who drew the short stick and got stuck with the West Division, but the SEC-East is no picnic either.

Missouri will be returning starting quarterback James Franklin who will have a new toy this season—Dorial Green-Beckham. This wide receiver from Springfield was the nation's top high school prospect this year, and he has the ability to make an instant impact for his new team in the nation's top conference.

While Missouri may not win the SEC in 2012, or even come close, you can expect Franklin to Green-Beckham to become a familiar phrase.

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech was one of a few surprises out of the ACC last season, seemingly coming from nowhere to come within a game of winning the Coastal Division.

Mainly on the back of a killer rushing attack, the Yellow Jackets literally ran past much of their early competition last season and skyrocketed in the polls before falling back to earth a bit late in the year.

The good news is the Georgia Tech offense returns eight starters, including quarterback Tevin Washington and backs Orwin Smith and David Sims.

While the Rambling Wreck won't sneak up on anyone in 2012, you can rest assured that we'll see another top 25 offense in Atlanta come the fall.

Oklahoma State

The Oklahoma State Cowboys may be one of the more difficult teams to predict accurately for the 2012 season.

The Cowboys return just five offensive starters from last season's Big 12 and Fiesta Bowl championship team. While the Cowboys will maintain their running game intact, it wasn't the rushing attack that caused opposing defensive coordinators to lose sleep.

The biggest weapons in Mike “I'm a Man” Gundy's arsenal—quarterback Brandon Weeden and do-it-all wide out Justin Blackmon—are gone, as are most of the offensive line.

There's enough talent left to prevent a total collapse, but just how close Oklahoma State will be able to come to its 2011 pace of 48.7 points per game (second in the FBS) remains a very open question.

Texas A&M

After a disappointing 7-6 season in 2011 which saw the Aggies post a 4-5 record in the Big 12, the casual observer might think that Texas A&M has absolutely no shot at success in the short term in the SEC.

But if you scratch beneath the surface, you'll find that not only did A&M have one of the best scoring offenses in 2011 (39.1 points per game, 11th in the FBS), but A&M is bringing back nine offensive starters from that prolific team.

That's not to say that everything will come easy for the Aggies and new head coach Kevin Sumlin. The SEC is a cut-throat environment where even the smallest of mistakes can sink your championship hopes.

Add to the fact that A&M will also be fielding a new quarterback to replace the departing Ryan Tannehill, and there's ample reason for concern in College Station.

Concern or no, it will be entertaining to see this Texas brand of football introduced to the SEC West.

Clemson

There are probably a lot of Clemson fans who look back on 2011 as a disappointment. A blowout loss in a BCS bowl is never fun.

But considering where the Tigers began 2011—unheralded, unremarkable and unranked—the fact that the Tigers won the ACC title and earned a trip to the Orange Bowl is pretty darn good.

Clemson's success was due in large part to the success of the offense which put up 33.6 points per game, good enough for 23rd in the nation.

All of the experience of dealing with the ups and downs of last season should serve the Tigers well moving forward, as seven starters return to the Clemson offense in 2012. Tajh Boyd, Andre Ellington, Jaron Brown, Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins will all be back in action this season. Unlike last season, the Tigers will likely be an early favorite in the ACC-Atlantic Division.

Also unlike last season, Clemson will have the bitter taste of an epic loss in the Orange Bowl to wash out from their mouths. Gargling a few conference foes and spitting them out should do the trick nicely.

Texas Christian

Apparently, TCU finally got the memo.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? That's the road taken by Texas Christian this season as the Horned Frogs finally join the ranks of the BCS automatic qualifiers.

But before you go thinking that the Horned Frogs don't have a realistic shot at the Big 12 this season, take a close look at what head coach Gary Patterson will be working with this season.

While only six offensive starters return, those starters are spread around the field, including the quarterback, the entire backfield, half the offensive line and a handful of receivers.

Now add the fact that those starters were part of a TCU team that led the No. 9 scoring offense in the nation last season en route to a MWC championship which included a win on the road in Boise—something that hasn't been done by any team since what seems like an eternity ago.

The Big 12 is certainly a different animal than the Mountain West, but TCU isn't afraid of the big boys. From the Frogs' 2011 Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin to the aforementioned win over then-No. 5 Boise State last season, it looks as if the Horned Frogs have arrived on the national scene for good.

They should feel right at home in the high-octane Big 12, too. We may not see another top ten offensive performance, but there's absolutely no reason the Frogs won't be part of the best 25 offenses in the nation.

West Virginia

West Virginia wasn't much to write home about during the course of the 2011 regular season, and the Mountaineers could only manage to claim a share of the inferior Big East title which was split three ways with Cincinnati and Louisville.

Still, once WVU got to the Orange Bowl, the offense absolutely came alive and blew the doors off of a Clemson team that looked as if it was standing still by comparison.

Statistically, the Mountaineers weren't all that bad last season, averaging 37.6 points per game (13th in the FBS) and 469.5 yards per game (15th in the FBS).

People who aren't blinded by sheer loyalty to WVU attribute much of that success to the utter lack of quality competition in the Big East while WVU fans will tell you that West Virginia is actually that good.

We'll all find out soon enough.

The Mountaineers are taking a step up in class this fall as they move to the Big 12—a conference actually worthy of its status as a BCS automatic qualifier. Dana Holgorsen knows the Big 12 well having spent time as the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State before the move to Morgantown.

The real question becomes can West Virginia keep pace with the high-flying offenses the Big 12 has to offer?

WVU returns eight starters on offense from last season, and the passing attack should be in top form. Senior quarterback Geno Smith will have all of his favorite targets to play catch with this fall, and it should be interesting to see how closely WVU can keep pace with the big boys in the Big 12.

Even if the Mountaineers can't, it will be fun to watch them try.

Michigan

It's now or never.

Put up or shut up.

Move it or lose it.

If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.

Denard Robinson is nearing the end of his collegiate journey, and his senior season at Michigan will be for all the marbles, so to speak.

Despite Denard's undeniable ability to run the ball, his passing ability—or lack thereof—has kept him off most lists for major awards.

That doesn't mean he's not invaluable to the Wolverines and their success. Even when he's not carrying the ball, or having a particularly great game, he demands so much respect from opposing defenses, other players are able to step up and through the giant hole created.

Besides major awards, the one thing missing from Denard's college résumé is a lack of a conference title.

It used to be that the Big Ten essentially came down to either Michigan or Ohio State each and every season. In fact, 2011 was the first season since World War II where the game had absolutely no bearing on the conference championship (as neither team could earn a title, a share of a title, or in this case, a trip to the conference title game).

A Sugar Bowl win last season means Michigan and its six returning offensive starters will likely enter the 2012 season with a lofty preseason ranking. But before there's any talk of restoring national glory in Ann Arbor, Denard will need to do one more thing he's never done—beat Michigan State.

Expect an all-out effort from Michigan this season as second-year head coach Brady Hoke attempts to do the unthinkable just 12 months ago—lead the Wolverines back to the Rose Bowl.

LSU

Louisiana State may have fallen short of its ultimate goal of winning a BCS championship last season, but the defending SEC champs still have quite a cast of characters returning for 2012.

But perhaps just as important is the list of players not returning for Les Miles.

A recurring problem for the Tigers last season was the inconsistency at quarterback and the team's inability to find a reliable starter at the position. LSU fans still have issues dealing with the Jefferson vs. Lee issue that took place in the BCS National Championship Game, and it may be a question that never gets answered.

There likely won't be any such problems moving forward as all signs point to Zach Mettenberger taking over for the Jefferson/Lee quarterbacking committee.

Like Alabama, LSU is capable of completely replenishing the talent pool from one year to the next, and the SEC-West may again come down to which team is better on November 3 in Baton Rouge.

Alabama

Was Alabama good last season? A BCS title tells us, yes.

Will Alabama be good next season? History similarly tells us, yes.

The Crimson Tide rolled to an impressive win over a hapless LSU team that had seemed unbeatable up until that final game.

But even with Alabama's ugly loss in an ugly game to LSU in November in which the Tide scored just six points, they still ranked 20th in the FBS in terms of scoring offense.

Even if Alabama was graduating the vast majority of stars from last season, the Tide would still be a favorite to win the SEC West. Nick Saban is that good of a coach and recruiter. But Saban has seven offensive starters returning in 2012, including some of the most productive members of the squad.

Quarterback AJ McCarron will be calling the signals again for his junior campaign in Tuscaloosa, and he'll be protected by a veteran offensive line.

And in case you thought the loss of Trent Richardson might be an exploitable crack in the offensive armor of Alabama, don't get your hopes up. The Crimson Tide have shown us time and time again that they are capable of replacing great talent with great talent.

Eddie Lacy and Jalston Fowler might not have names everyone knows, but it's a safe bet to assume they will come October.

Arkansas

Of all the great teams in the SEC last season, none were better than the Razorbacks at putting points on the board.

The Hogs led the SEC with 36.8 points per game which also made Arkansas the 15th-best scoring offense in the nation in 2011.

With seven starers returning on the offensive side of the ball, Bobby Petrino's team will be well-situated to finally break though in the West and challenge LSU and Alabama for a trip to Atlanta in December.

Besides senior quarterback Tyler Wilson, senior tailback Dennis Johnson, senior wideout Cobi Hamilton, and senior end Chris Gregg all return to their skill positions.

There are also three returning lineman from last season making Arkansas' potent offense just as dangerous as any in the conference.

Georgia

Head coach Mark Richt certainly removed his fanny from the hot seat pretty quickly last season.

After an unexpected SEC East title in 2011, there are high hopes for 2012 and plenty of reasons to believe Georgia can live up to expectations.

While the Bulldogs return just six starters for last season, those six starters could not be more important to the offense. Without question, junior quarterback Aaron Murray will be one of the top signal-callers in the SEC this season.

He'll have his top two targets—Tavarres King and Malcolm Mitchell—back as well.

We could be on the verge of seeing something very special in Athens this season. Murray has shown some signs of dominance over his first two seasons. Coaches and fans are hoping his junior season could be his breakout year.

Considering Murray had 35 passing touchdowns in 2011, we're very excited to see just how that breakout performance will look.

Oregon

When both quarterback Darron Thomas and running back LaMichael James announced they would forgo their senior season and enter the 2012 NFL draft, Oregon fans staged a minor nutty.

When rumors began to swirl that head coach Chip Kelly might be on his way out of Eugene as well, the panic really began to set in.

Luckly, the latter turned out to be an ugly rumor, and Kelly is staying put for the foreseeable future.

But that doesn't change the fact that Thomas and James are gone.

Ducks fans will be looking to Bryan Bennett, a sophomore, to fill Thomas's cleats, and we're not totally confident Bennett will be able to produce at quite the same level.

But while Bennett is a question mark, James's replacement, Kenjon Barner is decidedly not. He has shown himself to be a quality contributor to the Ducks' offense, but there's no question he can't replace everything James provided to the team. Who could?

It's likely that the Pac-12 will come down to two teams this season. Oregon should have a solid hold on the North Division, but the Ducks will likely fall off a bit from last season's 46.1 points per game (third in the FBS).

But don't, for a second, think they still won't be one of the more electrifying teams this fall.

Oklahoma

Despite falling well short of the preseason goal of a BCS National Championship Game berth, the Oklahoma Sooners had a moderately successful season.

Despite an inexplicable loss to Texas Tech and slip-ups against Baylor and Oklahoma State, the Sooners still managed to put together an offensively splendid 2011.

The Sooners were outscored by just nine teams in the entire nation, and only four of them were teams that participated in BCS bowls. Looking forward, the Sooners also appear to have the inside track for 2012, as Bob Stoops has eight starters back next season—including senior quarterback Landry Jones.

In addition to being a highly ranked scoring team, there were even fewer teams with more yardage than Oklahoma in 2011. The Sooners averaged a whopping 512.3 yards per game last season (fifth in the FBS).

Last season's numbers obviously don't always accurately predict the upcoming season's success, but with so much talent returning with so much experience, you can't help but like the Sooners' chances in the Big 12 this season.

USC

Well, we hope you enjoyed your two years of not hearing about USC closing in on another Rose Bowl or another BCS title because those days are gone.

The Trojans are back, and in 2012, they'll actually get to play for something more meaningful that a box score.

Even with all of the NCAA sanctions and the perceived futility, the Trojans were a darn good team in 2011. Despite a loss to Arizona State and an overtime letdown against Stanford, the Trojans were one of the best teams in the nation on both sides of the ball.

And the nation's 16th-best scoring offense from 2011 will have a whopping nine starters returning for 2012. Most importantly, Matt Barkley opted to forgo his millions of NFL dollars for another year and return to SC for a run at the Pac-12 title and the Rose Bowl—or maybe even more.

If you thought USC's 35.8 points per game last year was impressive, wait until you see what they do when it actually matters in 2012!