Probably a little early for a post like this but finally feels like there’s some optimism around the program. Things looked bleak after the Utah game but I think 2025 could end up being a better year than most think and 2026 is a year to make some noise.
Here are a few things I think are going in our favor
-QB Play
Statistically it was our worst year since 2015 and even that is aided by Rizk having a strong finish to the year. Rizk had zero development so whether he or Jackson win the job the floor for that position is much higher. As overrated as KJ was I think Jackson is pretty underrated. In his time at Indiana he had to play OSU and Michigan which were top 5 defenses and a top 25 Louisville with a run game that averaged about 2 YPC. Last year Washington was the 7th ranked Passing defense. I could see him having a big year this year
-Turnovers
We had a -8 turnover margin in the XII and won the turnover margin in a single game against Arizona +1
-Schedule
We play 3 teams replacing their HC (UNC, WVU, Jax State) and OK State going through a huge rebuild all at home. Only played 1 team like that last year (Arizona). Cincinnati and Houston are still going through rebuilds as well. Add in NC A&T and there’s a path to 7 wins without having to pull any big upsets.
Hopefully we don’t have any big exits in the Spring Portal and can keep most of our impact guys together. 2 years is an eternity in the portal era but I think we could be looking at 6-8 wins next year with the majority of impact players returning in 2026.
Here are a few things I think are going in our favor
-QB Play
Statistically it was our worst year since 2015 and even that is aided by Rizk having a strong finish to the year. Rizk had zero development so whether he or Jackson win the job the floor for that position is much higher. As overrated as KJ was I think Jackson is pretty underrated. In his time at Indiana he had to play OSU and Michigan which were top 5 defenses and a top 25 Louisville with a run game that averaged about 2 YPC. Last year Washington was the 7th ranked Passing defense. I could see him having a big year this year
-Turnovers
We had a -8 turnover margin in the XII and won the turnover margin in a single game against Arizona +1
-Schedule
We play 3 teams replacing their HC (UNC, WVU, Jax State) and OK State going through a huge rebuild all at home. Only played 1 team like that last year (Arizona). Cincinnati and Houston are still going through rebuilds as well. Add in NC A&T and there’s a path to 7 wins without having to pull any big upsets.
Hopefully we don’t have any big exits in the Spring Portal and can keep most of our impact guys together. 2 years is an eternity in the portal era but I think we could be looking at 6-8 wins next year with the majority of impact players returning in 2026.
