june 2025
Table OF contents
Pg 3. Buckeyes looking to repeat.
Pg 4-5. Top 10 College Football Preview.
Pg 6-7. Toughest Places to Play.
Pg 8-9. Arch Manning Interview w/ RedBull.
Pg 10-11. Heisman Watch.
O-H-I-O!
Why the Buckeyes look to repeat as champions!
By: Athlon Sports
The loss of talent is staggering, and in the vapor trail left behind are lots of questions. Are quarterback Julian Sayin and new coordinator Brian Hartline ready to take over the offense? Who are difference-makers along the defensive line? Are the special teams an asset or liability? Is this the OSU team that finally ends the misery vs. Michigan? The rings have been dispersed and the celebration in Columbus has subsided; now it’s time for head coach Ryan Day to find out who is ready to lead this program back to contention.
Previewing Ohio State’s Offense for 2025
Jeremiah Smith not only crushed several of Cris Carter’s Ohio State freshman records in 2024, but he also
cemented himself as one of the nation’s top weapons. Now, the 6-foot-3 phenom will have to do it with a new quarterback and without the steady Emeka Egbuka on the other side. Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss will provide needed support — and former Purdue tight end Max Klare is another key target. Julian Sayin appears to be QB1 ahead of mainstay Lincoln Kienholz, but he’ll need to try to emulate the arm talent and accountability of predecessor Will Howard to earn full trust. The run game is a bit of a mystery as several backs may play a role, and unproven James Peoples is the listed starter.
Previewing Ohio State’s Defense for 2025, Even with the loss of several standouts, the Buckeyes still will showcase one of college football’s elite defenders in safety Caleb Downs, who anchors the back end. He’ll have help in the secondary from Davison Igbinosun, a physical corner who seems to rise to big moments. Another cover man to watch is Jermaine Mathews Jr. Up front, the Buckeyes will try to build a new identity with C.J. Hicks as a featured performer, but OSU may need to dip into the portal for reinforcements.
College Football Rankings: ESPN releases Way-Too
Early Top 10
By: ESPN
1. Ohio State Buckeyes
Key Returners: RB Quinshon Judkins, WR Jeremiah Smith, WR Carnell Tate, S Caleb Downs. 2025 outlook: Despite a multitude of key losses off its 2024 CFP National Championship-winning roster, the still-loaded Buckeyes should start 2025 at No.1 and once again be serious contenders in the highly-competitive Big Ten Conference as well the CFP. Ohio State will likely turn its offense over to former five-star QB Julian Sayin, who redshirted last season after transferring from Alabama. And Sayin will have plenty of options with Judkins, who has yet to announce his future plans, as well as Smith and Tate all potentially back. The Buckeyes defense will take a hit, but OSU has talent waiting in the wings on that side of the ball too.
2. Texas Longhorns
Key Returners: QB Arch Manning, RB Cedric Baxter, RB Quintrevion Wisner, LB Anthony Hill, S Michael Taaffe, DE Colin Simmons, DE Trey Moore. 2025 outlook: The highly-anticipated Arch Manning Era is finally here in Austin. It might be addition by subtraction at QB for the Longhorns, as Steve Sarkisian finally turns the offensive reins over to the SEC and NFL legacy quarterback. Texas must find replacements for several other key offensive standouts, including along the offensive line with four of the five starters moving on. But a quality nucleus returning on defense, especially in the front seven, will go a long way to helping the Longhorns be an SEC and national champion contender in 2025.
3. Penn State Nittany Lions
Key Returners: QB Drew Allar, RB Kaytron Allen, RB Nick Singleton, C Nick Dawkins, DE Danai Dennis-Sutton, S Zakee Wheatley, CB Aj Harris. 2025 Outlook: Expect the Nittany Lions to be back in the Big Ten and national championship discussion again in 2025 with a litany of returning stars from this
past season. Key among those are veteran backfield mates Allar, Allen and Singleton, who combined for 5,836 yards and 50 total touchdowns in 2024 — including more than 2,200 rushing yards from Allen and Singleton. Penn State’s defense takes a hit, especially losing DC Tom Allen to Clemson, but a favorable schedule could be key to weathering any growing pains on that side of the ball
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Key Returners: RB Jeremiyah Love, RB Jadarian Prince, WR Jordan Faison, Jaden Greathouse, LB Drayk Bowen, S Adon Shuler. 2025 Outlook: despite the national championship loss, Notre Dame has plenty to be optimistic about and build upon in 2025. And while losing Leonard at QB is tough, the Irish have redshirt freshman CJ Carr, a former four-star signee, and backup Steve Angeli ready to compete for the QB1 job. That’s in addition to RBs Love and Price back offensively, as well as the arrivals of key transfers in WRs Malachi Fields (Virginia) and Will Paulding (Wisconsin), and defensive additions in DLs Jared Dawson (Louisville) and Elijah Hughes (USC), and safety DeVonta Smith (Alabama).
5. Georgia Bulldogs
Key Returners: QB Gunerr Stockton, RB Nate Frazier, TE Oscar Delp, TE Lawson Luckie, LB Cj Allen, LB Raylen Wilson, S Kj Bolden, CB Daylen Everette. 2025 Outlook: Despite a rollercoaster 2024 that saw the Bulldogs win the SEC Championship but get bounced in the CFP, ESPN remains high on Georgia as a Top 5 team in 2025. Much of that is based on what the Bulldogs have coming back with Stockton, Frazier and Delp on offense and Allen, Bolden, Everette and Wilson on defense. Kirby Smart added a pair of WRs in Noah Thomas (Texas A&M) and Zachariah Branch (USC), as well as DBs Jaden Harris (Miami) and Adrian Maddox (UAB) out of the portal to fill key holes. Still, Georgia will need to show improvements on the line of scrimmage if its going to redeem itself next season.
6. Oregon Ducks
Key Returners: WR Evan Stewart, LB Devon Jackson, LB Teitum Tuioti, Matayo Uiagalelie, RB Noah Whittington, C Iapani Laloulu. 2025 Outlook: The Ducks were the only team to go undefeated through Championship Week, including winning the Big Ten Championship in their first season in the league. Dan Lanning
faces a significant overhaul on both sides of the ball entering Year 4 after losing multiple key figures, led by Gabriel and James on offense and Burch, Harmon and Muhammad on defense.
7. Clemson Tigers
Key Returners: QB Cade Klubnik, WR Antonio Williams, WR Bryant Wesco Jr, LB Sammy Brown, LB Wade Woodaz, DL Tj Parker. 2025 Outlook: ESPN believes Clemson is once again “the team to beat” in the ACC after rebounding to win the league championship in 2024. Certainly helping matters is the return of Klubnik, who ranked third in the ACC with 3,639 passing yards and 36 TDs last season. Add to that a loaded defense that returns two of its top three tacklers in Brown and Woodaz.
8. LSU Tigers
Key Returners: QB Garrett Nussmeier, RB Caden Durham, WR Aaron Anderson, LB Whit Weeks, CB Ashton Stamps. 2025 Outlook: The Tigers enter Year 4 under Brian Kelly needing to rebuild an offensive line that loses multi-year starters Campbell, Dellinger and Jones. But other than that, LSU appears in great shape with returning offensive stars like Anderson, Durham and Nussmeier, the latter of whom ranked second in the SEC with 4,052 passing yards and 29 touchdowns in 2024.
9. BYU Cougars
Key Returners: QB Jake Retzlaff, RB Lj Martin, WR Chase Roberts, LB Jack Kelly, S Tanner Wall, LB Isaiah Glasker. 2025 Outlook: ESPN likes the Cougars’ chances in the Big 12 in 2025, especially given the wealth of quality offensive returners in Retzlaff, Martin, Marion and Roberts. Additionally, they return four of the top five tacklers from 2024 but will need to rebuild the defensive front. ESPN also loves the Cougars’ 2025 schedule.
10. South Carolina gamecocks
Key Returners: QB LaNorris Sellers, DE Dylan Stewart, DE Bryan Thomas Jr, WR Mazeo Bennett Jr. 2025 Outlook: ESPN points out the Gamecocks are losing the “heart and soul” of their defense with Kennard and several other key standouts out the door. That’s in addition to losing leading rusher “Rocket” Sanders, who had 881 rushing yards and 11 TDs in 2024 after transferring from Arkansas. The saving grace is the return of Sellers, who will be working under new offensive coordinator Mike Shula after a breakout 2024 season as a redshirt freshman.
What is college football’s toughest stadium to play in? LSU
No. 1.
By: Bruce Feldman
1. LSU: Tiger Stadium
The place is just pure mayhem, and it starts way before kickoff. I’ve heard from so many coaches over the years about how hostile the treatment of their teams is, from rattling their bus on arrival to dousing the visitors with booze. Just seeing Mike the Tiger in person adds another layer of intimidation to this. Mike Leach told me the story of the first time he went in there when he was the offensive coordinator at Kentucky. “There were these little old ladies with their grand- children flip- ping off our bus,” Leach said.
“Then as we got closer, they start rocking our bus!” Count Leach among those awed by Mike the Tiger — and the entire experience. I remember being there in 2007 when Florida and Tim Tebow came into Death Valley on a Saturday night for a top-10 showdown. Les Miles went for it five times on fourth down and his team — and their faithful — had his back every step of the way for a come-from-behind 28-24 win. It was a record crowd at the time of 92,910. It sounded like twice as many people were packed in there at a stadium that now holds more than 100,000. Ja’Marr (Chase’s) TD and our stop on fourth down in the red zone was almost as good as the Earthquake Game or Rueben Randle’s catch and run in 2010 against Alabama.
2. Alabama: Bryant-Denny Stadium
My favorite visit here was for the 2010 Iron Bowl — the Cam Newton game. There was a ton of drama surrounding Auburn and Newton that season based on the NCAA’s investigation into his recruitment. In the wake of this game, an Alabama staffer was let go because of their decision to play the Steve Miller Band song “Take the Money and Run” over the stadium sound system during warmups. It only added to the raucous energy in the building that day. The Tide jumped all over the Tigers early, going up 24-0, but Newton was Superman that season. He led Auburn to a 28-27 comeback win, snapping a 20-game home win streak for the Crimson Tide. Bama also deserves a lot of credit for ratcheting up the stadium energy with the lights, audio and video boards they’ve added over the years. It can feel like a pretty mind-scrambling experience when they got rolling.
3. Penn State Nittany Lions
The Nittany Lions’ White Out games are deafenin Penn State usually saves it for its toughest matchup of the season, although with Fox’s recent “Big Noon” strategy factoring into Big Ten scheduling, sometimes it doesn’t end up that way. The Nittany Lions have won six of their past seven prime-time White Outs,
Welcome to Death valley
with six of those being against ranked opponents — including the 2016 win over No. 2 Ohio State. The lone defeat was against No. 4 Ohio State by one point, 27-26, in 2018. Last year, Penn State shut out No. 24 Iowa, 31-0. The atmo- sphere last No- vember when No. 3 Michigan visited Happy Valley was the loudest noon kickoff game I can re- member in the last decade — louder than any other “Big Noon” game I’ve been at — with almost 111,000 people in attendance. 4. Ohio State: Ohio Stadium, The Buckeyes have been the Big Ten’s most dominant program for a long time now, so whoever shows up usually, is facing a stacked team with a more talented roster. Still, the Horseshoe is a towering building that feels much different, and more intimidating, than the Big House at archrival Michigan. The crowd comes in ready to break its opponent early and consistently.
5. Virginia Tech: Lane Stadium*
The asterisk is here because I’m thinking of what this place has been in the past, not necessarily what it’s been in recent years. I get it. The results recently indicate otherwise. As colleague Pete Sampson noted, The Hokies are 2-10 at home against Top 25 teams in the past decade, but when the Hokies are playing well, this place is unique. I’ve been here for a few Hokies beatdowns of top-10 teams where the place rocks. It has some Tiger Stadium vibes to it, and there’s something special to it as well. It only takes the first two seconds of “Enter Sandman” to play and I get goosebumps. It happens every time, even more than a decade later. It immediately takes me back to how Lane Stadium comes alive like no other venue.
Arch Manning Stays
Grounded Under Red Bull’s Wings
By: Shlomo Sprung
Despite how much money Manning could make, he’s been far more selective about who he partners with when other players in his shoes would probably take more NIL deals to capitalize on that marketability. “It’s all about the people and the relationships rather than just having a bunch of deals,” Manning told Boardroom. “It’s really just dialing in on who you want to be partnered with and who you want to represent you. I’m focused on playing football. That’s what I love to do. That’s why I’m here. I’m not here to do NIL deals, but I do like to drink a Red Bull every now and then, that’s for sure.” Still humble and mature for someone who doesn’t turn 20 until April 27, Manning appears grounded as he approaches this most important year of his life. The way-too-early preseason poll has Texas ranked third in the country, with Arch a major Heisman con- tender and a con- tender for the first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. With last year’s starter Quinn Ewers moving on to the NFL, Manning will start and play every snap for the Longhorns for the first time, a role he was seemingly born to play. “I’ve dreamed of being a college football quarterback at a big time school since I was a little kid,” he said, “but I’m not going to take that opportunity for granted. I’m going to work hard, be a good teammate, and focus on team success. And with team success comes individual accolades, so I’m just worried about getting wins.” His family and group of advisors have helped support
Manning reminding young Arch to be a good person and treat people well daily. And whether that’s hanging with friends, exploring parks, lakes, and restaurants in Austin or visiting people at other schools when he’s not in the classroom as a communications and leadership major, Arch is trying to maintain balance on and off the field. “I’m also a regular college student,” he said. “Obviously, we prep and work hard in football and that’s a priority in my life, but it’s not my identity. I still want to have friends and laugh and go to dinner and be a normal kid.” Manning has made new friends, and you can sense that this feeling of self-sufficiency is important to him. He also possesses the nonchalant demeanor of someone without the weight of the world on his shoulders. Manning is about to embark on a year that could springboard him to the promised land on and off the field, leading Texas to its first national title since 2005, the first Longhorn since Ricky Williams in 1998 to win the Heisman, and the fourth Manning to be a top-two NFL Draft pick. Yet with all the hype, expectations, distractions, and brand deals thrown his way, Arch remains grounded, focused, and determined. “I don’t really think there’s any pressure on me all the time. We’re just playing a game,” Manning said. “I just want to be the best teammate I can be and move the ball forward and score touchdowns.
who will be h1m?
heisman watch
gridiron Aura
2025 Heisman Trophy Odds
By: Alex Byington
With the college football world in the midst of its Summer offseason, ESPN took the opportunity to embrace Ranking Season. ESPN unveiled a litany of Top 10 rankings of everything from best games to watch and top freshmen. ESPN also took its shot at predicting the Top 10 candidates to win the 2025 Heisman Trophy next season, with a particular focus on the quarterback position. But while much of the college football world is anxious- ly awaiting the debut of the Arch Manning Era at Texas, including ESPN, the World- wide Leader actually has its collective eyes on an- other former five-star QB that could be primed for a true breakout season in his third as Clemson‘s starter — Cade Klubnik. Sensational sophomore receivers Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State and Ryan Williams of Alabama also cracking the Top 10 list. 1. Cade Klubnik, QB, Clemson, Klubnik enters his third and final season as the Tigers’ QB1 poised to further supplant himself atop Clemson’s all-time quarterback list already in the Top 5 of nearly every program passing record. Klubnik ranked Top 10 nationally with 3,639 yards on 63.4-percent passing and was second in the ACC with 36 passing touchdowns and just six interceptions in 2024. 2. Arch Manning, QB, Texas, The former No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 cycle is finally getting his opportunity to start after two seasons of backing up Quinn Ewers in Austin. Manning comes in with sky high hype and is already the favorite to win the heisman. 3. Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State, the 19 year old Smith is coming off a rookie
season which he led the Big Ten with 1,315 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns on 76 receptions in 2024, 4. Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU, The NFL legacy made the most of his opportunity as the Tigers’ QB1 following three seasons as a backup in Baton Rouge. He finished second in the SEC with 4,052 yards on 64.2-percent passing and 29 touchdowns in 2024. If he cuts back on his SECworst 12 interceptions last season, Nussmeier has the talent for a special season and may make his Heisman Trophy case as the potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. 5.
DJ Lag- way, QB, Florida, Lagway was another star prospect that more than lived up to the hype as a rookie. Despite missing Spring while rehabbing multiple injuries, Lagway is primed for a breakout 2025 season. 6. Drew Allar, QB, Penn State, The 6-foot-5, 235 -pound Nittany Lions QB bypassed the 2025 NFL Draft to run it back in Happy Valley after throwing for 3,327 yards on 66.5-percent passing and 24 touchdowns to 8 interceptions in 2024. 7. LaNorris Sellers, QB, South Carolina, The physically-gifted 6-foot-3, 245-pound Sellers combined for 2,929 yards of total offense and 24 total touchdowns while leading the Gamecocks to an impressive 8-3 record in his first season as QB1.
8. Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame, One of just three non-QBs in ESPN’s list, Love has the talent to make Heisman voters think twice about leaving him off their ballot after leading the Irish with 1,125 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns in 2024. 9. John Mateer, QB, Oklahoma, The former Washington State transfer was the Sooners’ prized portal addition this offseason after throwing for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns on 64.6-percent passing in 2024. 10. Ryan Williams, WR, Alabama, Williams leading receiver in receiving yards with 865 yards and 10 total touchdowns as a true freshman, is ready for a dominant sophmore seseason.
