10 Reasons to Believe 2016 College Football Season Will Be Better Than 2015
The 2015 college football season is over, and it was a lot of fun. A well-played, competitive season ended with a tremendous College Football Playoff National Championship Game in which Alabama outlasted Clemson 45-40 for its fourth national title under Nick Saban’s watch. With the deadline to declare for the NFL draft behind us, it’s time to turn attention toward the 2016 regular season, which is just over seven months away.
While a number of top juniors declared for the draft, college football should be just as exciting in 2016 as it was in 2015. With five of the top seven finishers in Heisman Trophy voting returning and talented players departing, previously unheralded backups have a chance to shine. USA Today's Daniel Uthman put together a great list of the best players who passed up the draft this month.
Here are some reasons why college football will be even better in 2016.
Baylor Will Be Healthier
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Entering 2015, Baylor Football was expected to contend for the College Football Playoff, thanks in part to a loaded offense. The Bears began the season 8-0 but struggled to a 1-3 regular-season finish. They finished the season without starting quarterback Seth Russell (neck surgery), talented freshman backup Jarrett Stidham (leg injury), standout wide receiver Corey Coleman (groin) and 1,300-yard rusher Shock Linwood (foot).
In addition to losing Coleman to the NFL draft, Baylor must replace four starting offensive lineman. Linwood is back, as is KD Cannon, who will be the Bears’ No. 1 receiver after an 868-yard, six-touchdown sophomore season. Assuming Russell returns healthy, head coach Art Briles’ offense should be as potent as ever.
Clemson's Talented Offense Is Largely Intact
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2015 will go down as the year that Clemson forced college football fans across the nation to buy in. The Tigers entered the national title game 14-0 as the last unbeaten team in FBS and pushed an excellent Alabama team to the wire before falling 45-40. It was the Tigers’ fifth consecutive season with at least 10 victories, and head coach Dabo Swinney made it clear afterward that his team isn’t going anywhere.
While the Tigers sustained serious losses to the NFL draft on defense (including defensive ends Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd and defensive backs Mackensie Alexander, Jayron Kearse and T.J. Green), their offense returns largely intact with eight returning starters. Running back Wayne Gallman (1,527 yards, 13 touchdowns) and tight end Jordan Leggett (40 receptions, 525 yards, eight touchdowns) both return, as does the core of a very talented receiver corps.
So will receiver Mike Williams. He had a 1,000-yard campaign in 2014 before running into the goalpost in the 2015 opener and suffering a broken bone in his neck that ended his season. Oh, and he’ll catch passes from some guy named Deshaun Watson. Watson emerged as the best quarterback in the college game as a sophomore, throwing for 4,104 yards and 35 touchdowns against 13 interceptions. He also rushed for 1,105 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Watson is the first player in FBS history to pass for 4,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in the same season, and he has room for improvement. Clemson averaged 38.5 points per game this fall, No. 15 nationally, and should be even better in 2016.
Florida State Should Be Back to Normal
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As far as “transition” years go, 2015 was pretty good to Florida State Football. The Seminoles ended a three-year run of Atlantic Coast Conference titles that included a BCS National Championship and a College Football Playoff berth. They finished 10-3 with losses to Clemson, Houston and Georgia Tech (on a final-play blocked field goal touchdown return). That was expected, however, after those talented teams lost their cores.
Florida State and head coach Jimbo Fisher lost All-American cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the NFL draft, but 17 starters will return, including all 11 on offense. The offensive unit will be led by Heisman Trophy contender Dalvin Cook, who battled through leg injuries to rush for 1,691 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Fisher must decide if Sean Maguire (who threw for 1,520 yards and 11 touchdowns against six interceptions) or a younger player will be his starting quarterback, but the roster as a whole is very talented. If a team wanted to get its licks in against the Seminoles, it might already be out of time.
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Houston and Tom Herman Are Back for More
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Houston Football was one of the nation’s most pleasant surprises in 2015. Tom Herman tapped the Cougars’ potential in his first season as head coach and emerged as one of the next great coaching prospects after leading Houston to a 13-1 record capped by a Peach Bowl win over Florida State.
Herman decided to remain at Houston following a contract extension and a raise, which is excellent news for those who want to see a “Group of Five conference” team pursue a College Football Playoff berth.
The Cougars return 12 starters, and while they must replace both starting offensive tackles and top receiver Demarcus Ayers, quarterback Greg Ward Jr. (who accounted for 3,936 yards of total offense and 38 total touchdowns) returns.
Houston would have to finish the season unbeaten to even have a shot at a playoff berth, but the Cougars host Oklahoma to start the season and will also face Louisville. An AAC team chasing a final-four berth would be one of 2016’s most intriguing stories, and now it has a chance to unfold.
Mark Richt Should Be Happier at Miami
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It’s fair to say that head coach Mark Richt got one of the softer landings in the 2015-16 college football coaching carousel. Richt was fired by Georgia after failing to win a national title and missing the SEC title game for three consecutive seasons, but he found an excellent fallback job in Miami.
Richt is a Miami alum, and now he gets the challenge of pushing the Hurricanes to the top of the ACC heap, something Al Golden couldn’t do. He’s a south Florida native and Miami alum, and the former Hurricane QB gets to work with a talented signal-caller in junior Brad Kaaya.
Miami faces challenges in getting the attention of south Florida fans, but Richt should be a bit more relaxed in his homecoming.
Michigan and Jim Harbaugh Should Be Even Better
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Entering his first season as Michigan head coach, Jim Harbaugh was positively ubiquitous last offseason. It was impossible to avoid coverage of Harbaugh or the Wolverines’ exploits in the run-up to the season opener at Utah, as the hype reached saturation levels. But Harbaugh lived up to his billing, taking a team that finished 5-7 in former head coach Brady Hoke’s final season to 10-3 with a Citrus Bowl blowout of Florida.
The Wolverines should be even better in 2016. Michigan returns 15 starters, including eight on offense. While Harbaugh must replace quarterback Jake Rudock, Houston transfer John O’Korn (the 2013 American Athletic Conference offensive rookie of the year) is poised to step into the role. A nasty defense will bring back star cornerback Jourdan Lewis and versatile defensive back Jabrill Peppers, one of the Big Ten’s most talented players.
Michigan must travel to Michigan State, Ohio State and Iowa, but the Wolverines should be even tougher in Year 2 of the Harbaugh era, which is good news for college football fans.
Nick Chubb Is Back at Georgia
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Georgia Football finished 10-3 again in 2015 but again fell short of the SEC title game, which ultimately cost Mark Richt his job. While Richt found a soft landing at Miami, he has to wonder what might have been had Nick Chubb stayed healthy.
The hard-charging tailback was well on his way to an excellent sophomore season when his season ended abruptly in Week 6 against Tennessee. Chubb suffered a season-ending knee injury on the first play from scrimmage, finishing his year with 747 yards and seven touchdowns. He rushed for at least 120 yards in each of the season’s first five games, extending a 100-yard rushing streak to 13 games before it ended against the Vols.
Assuming Chubb returns healthy following knee surgery, he’ll bring a powerful force to new head coach Kirby Smart’s first offense. Chubb has the talent to emerge as a Heisman Trophy candidate, and that’s good news for every fan who loves watching him bowl over linebackers.
Southern California Will Be More Settled
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USC Football endured one of the most tumultuous seasons of any team nationally in 2015. The Trojans began the season as a College Football Playoff candidate but fought through coach Steve Sarkisian’s firing and finished with a Pac-12 South title before falling to Wisconsin in the Holiday Bowl.
Head coach Clay Helton was elevated from interim status following Sarkisian’s departure and will return 14 starters, including nine on offense. Only five defensive starters return, but cornerback Adoree’ Jackson is one of the nation’s most exciting all-around players. Helton must find a replacement for quarterback Cody Kessler, but it’ll be fascinating to watch how he handles his new full-time role as the leader of one of America’s most prominent football programs.
Stanford's Christian McCaffrey Is Back for Another Go-Round
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If you haven’t seen Christian McCaffrey terrorize collegiate defenses yet, you can’t blame West Coast kickoff times anymore. Now, it’s your fault.
The Stanford tailback made sure of that on New Year’s Day, putting on a show in the Rose Bowl against Iowa. He took a pass 75 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first play, rushed 18 times for 172 yards and returned a punt for a touchdown for good measure.
It was the capper for an incredible sophomore season. McCaffrey rushed for 2,019 yards and eight touchdowns and also served as Stanford’s leading receiver, making 45 receptions for 645 yards and five scores. He led the nation in all-purpose yardage and was the game’s most dynamic all-around talent.
"He could have played anywhere and been the best player on the team no matter what position he played,'' Stanford alum and NFL Hall of Famer John Elway told Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News. "We're seeing that now.''
The best part? He was only a sophomore and has at least one more season left in college football. Stanford should get some better time slots this fall, but if you don’t witness his magic with your own eyes, you have no one to blame but yourself for missing out. He should be even more outstanding as a junior.
We Get Another Season of LSU's Leonard Fournette
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LSU finished 2015 in the middle-tier Texas Bowl, a sign of just how disappointing the Tigers’ 2015 finish was. Head coach Les Miles was fortunate to keep his job after beginning the regular season 7-0 and No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings and finishing it on a 1-3 skid. Rushing for a combined 122 yards in losses to Alabama and Arkansas, standout tailback Leonard Fournette hit a slump, but it’s hard to blame him totally for the Tigers’ troubles.
Fournette was outstanding as a sophomore, with 1,953 rushing yards, 22 touchdowns and 6.5 average yards per carry. The only thing that kept him from a 2,000-yard season was the fact that LSU’s opener against McNeese State was cancelled following severe storms. He racked up 10 100-yard games and four 200-yard efforts, including the 212-yard, four-touchdown effort against Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl.
LSU’s late fade removed Fournette from Heisman talk, but he was one of the most explosive players in the nation regardless. With nine offensive starters returning in 2016, he’ll be special again and a joy to watch in what will almost certainly be his final collegiate season.
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