People forget how good Syracuse looked early last season.

That feels strange now because the season ended so badly, but before Steve Angeli got hurt, the Orange looked interesting. Not perfect. Not like an ACC title favorite. But dangerous.

They played a high-scoring game against Tennessee. Angeli threw five touchdowns against Colgate. He played really well at Clemson, and Syracuse pulled one of the bigger ACC surprises of the year.

Then Angeli got hurt.

And everything fell apart.

Syracuse started 3-1 with Angeli involved and then did not win another game. The Orange finished 3-9, and the year went from promising to ugly fast.

So now the question is pretty simple.

What does Syracuse look like if Angeli actually stays healthy?

HEAD COACH:

• Fran Brown, entering year three at Syracuse
• Brown is 13-12 with the Orange.
• Syracuse went 3-9 last season.
• The Orange started 3-1 before the season collapsed.
• Syracuse has had only three 10-win seasons since 1993.

I still think Fran Brown has something here.

I know last year ended terribly. There is no way to sugarcoat that. Syracuse lost eight straight after Angeli went down, and some of those losses were not close.

But the beginning of the season mattered too.

Syracuse went into Clemson and won. That does not happen by accident, even if Clemson was not the old Clemson. The Orange had a quarterback, had confidence and looked like a team that could be annoying in the ACC.

Then the injury changed the whole season.

That is not an excuse for everything. The defense was bad. The offense did not have enough answers. The backup quarterback plan was not good enough.

But it is context.

Now Brown has to prove Syracuse is closer to the team we saw in September than the team we saw after Angeli got hurt.

That is the entire season.

QUARTERBACK:

Steve Angeli is back, and that is the reason Syracuse fans should have some hope.

He threw for 1,317 yards, 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions last season. But the raw numbers do not really explain why I like him so much.

The dude is not afraid to throw the ball down the field.

Angeli went 13-of-27 on deep balls last season for 436 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. By deep balls, I mean throws traveling 20-plus air yards.

That is exactly what I want to see.

He also threw 27 deep balls compared to only 10 passes behind the line of scrimmage. That is wild.

A lot of quarterbacks live on screens, quick throws and easy completions. Angeli was pushing the ball vertically. He was giving Syracuse a real chance to create explosive plays.

That is what made the offense fun early.

The pressure numbers were interesting too. He completed about 64% of his passes from a clean pocket and right around 60% under pressure. He did not throw a touchdown or an interception under pressure, but he did not completely fall apart either.

The concern is obvious.

Can he stay healthy?

Because last year showed what happens if he cannot.

Syracuse brought in insurance this time. Amari Odom is on the roster after coming from Kennesaw State, Malachi Nelson is there as the former five-star, and Danny Lauter came in from Georgetown. Syracuse’s official roster lists Angeli, Odom, Nelson and Lauter in the quarterback room, so the Orange at least have more options than they had when last year fell apart.

That matters.

But let’s be honest.

If Syracuse is going to surprise people, it is probably because Angeli stays healthy and plays like the guy we saw early last year.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

The offense was awful after Angeli got hurt.

Syracuse averaged only 16 points per game last season. The Orange averaged just 3.3 yards per rush. They were not in the top 100 nationally in basically any meaningful offensive statistic.

Some of that was the quarterback injury. Some of it was the offensive line. Some of it was a lack of playmakers. Some of it was everything stacking on top of itself.

The good news is Syracuse does bring back Joe Cruz and Trevion Mack on the offensive line. The official roster lists Cruz and Mack as returning offensive linemen, and those two have to be part of the answer up front.

The bad news is there is still a lot to figure out.

The receiver room has options, but not a ton of proven ACC production.

Cole Weaver comes in from Miami (Ohio) after catching 45 passes for 642 yards and a touchdown last season. That is the most proven college production of the group.

Elijah Moore comes in from Florida State, and Matthew Outten comes in from Penn State. Both are interesting talents, but they did not do much at their previous stops. Syracuse’s official roster lists Weaver, Moore and Outten at wide receiver.

So somebody has to emerge.

That is the key.

Angeli can throw it deep, but somebody has to win down the field. Somebody has to become reliable on third down. Somebody has to scare defenses enough that Syracuse is not just asking Angeli to make perfect throws every week.

At running back, Ju’Juan Johnson transfers in from LSU. He had 41 carries for 155 yards and two touchdowns last season, and he also caught 17 passes. Syracuse lists Johnson as a running back on the 2026 roster.

That receiving ability could matter.

Because if Syracuse cannot run the ball better, it needs easy touches somewhere.

The offense does not have to be elite.

But it has to be functional when Angeli is not hitting deep shots.

That is the part we still have to see.

DEFENSE

This side of the ball needed a reset.

Syracuse allowed 36 points per game last season. The Orange gave up 430 yards per game. That is not just bad. That is the kind of defense that makes it hard to even evaluate the rest of the team.

When the offense lost Angeli and stopped moving the ball, the defense got exposed even more.

But the defense was not good enough regardless.

That is why the Vince Kehres hire matters so much.

Kehres comes over from Toledo, where he led one of the nation’s top defenses in 2025. Toledo ranked near the top nationally in several categories under Kehres, including total defense, scoring defense, passing defense, rushing defense, sacks, red zone defense and third-down defense.

That is a strong résumé.

Now he has to prove it translates to the ACC.

The returning defensive names include Gary Bryant III, Antoine Deslauriers, Chris Peal, Cornell Perry and Demetres Samuel Jr.

That gives Kehres some pieces to work with.

But this is not a small fix.

The Orange need to be better everywhere. They need to tackle better. They need to get off the field. They need to avoid giving up explosive plays. They need to make opponents actually earn points.

Last year, once things started going wrong, they snowballed.

A new defensive coordinator does not magically fix everything.

But this was the right kind of swing.

If Kehres can make Syracuse even average defensively, the Orange can be much more competitive.

SCHEDULE

The schedule is tricky.

Syracuse opens at home against New Hampshire, then hosts Cal. After that, the Orange hit the road for three straight: at Pittsburgh, at UConn and at Virginia.

That is a rough setup.

The Cal game is on Sept. 12. The Pitt game is on Sept. 17.

So Syracuse has only a short break between Cal and a Thursday road game at Pitt.

Then comes an extended bye before UConn, which helps, but it still means Syracuse goes more than a month without another home game.

That is not ideal.

After the road stretch, Syracuse hosts Louisville, goes to North Carolina, then hosts SMU and Clemson. The official schedule has Louisville on Oct. 17, North Carolina on Oct. 24, SMU on Oct. 31 and Clemson on Nov. 7.

Those home games are big names.

Louisville thinks it can contend in the ACC. SMU has Kevin Jennings back and expects to be near the top of the league. Clemson will want revenge after what happened last year.

Then Syracuse goes to NC State and Boston College before finishing at home against Notre Dame.

That Notre Dame game is a fun storyline.

Angeli came from Notre Dame. Syracuse did not really get the proper Angeli-against-Notre-Dame game last year because he was hurt and the Orange were a mess. This time, Notre Dame comes to Syracuse to end the regular season.

That could be fun.

But the schedule overall is not easy.

The strange part is that many of the biggest opponents come to Syracuse: Cal, Louisville, SMU, Clemson and Notre Dame.

That sounds good.

But the more winnable games — UConn, Virginia, North Carolina, NC State and Boston College — are on the road.

That is what makes this schedule hard to project.

If Syracuse protects home field and steals a couple road games, the season can look pretty good.

If the Orange struggle away from home, it can get ugly again.

OUTLOOK

Syracuse is hard to figure out because last season feels like two different seasons.

There was the Steve Angeli version.

Then there was everything after that.

The Angeli version was fun. The Orange could throw it deep. They could score. They could beat Clemson. They looked like a team with a pulse.

The post-Angeli version was a disaster.

So what do we trust?

I lean toward believing Syracuse is better than last year’s final record, but I am not ready to go crazy with it.

The best-case scenario is that Angeli stays healthy, the deep passing game comes back, one of the new receivers becomes a real target, Johnson helps the backfield, the offensive line improves and Kehres fixes enough of the defense to keep Syracuse in games.

If that happens, Syracuse can absolutely be a bowl team.

The worst-case scenario is that Angeli gets hurt again, the offensive line still cannot open run lanes, the receivers do not separate, and the defense remains a mess even with a new coordinator.

If that happens, last year’s collapse could start to feel less like an injury story and more like a roster problem.

Syracuse is going to be better. But the schedule makes a huge jump difficult.

The Orange have the quarterback to be interesting. They have a defensive coordinator worth believing in. They have brought in enough portal pieces to avoid being helpless if injuries hit again.

Now they need the version of Syracuse we saw early last year to show up for 12 games.

Because if Steve Angeli stays healthy, this team is not boring.

And after last year, boring would be a big upgrade anyway.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.

Man, things feel different for James Franklin now than they did a year ago.

Last offseason, the conversation around Franklin was simple: Penn State had the best roster he was probably ever going to have, and it felt like a now-or-never year.

Then it all fell apart.

Now Franklin gets a fresh start at Virginia Tech, and honestly, this might be one of the more interesting Year 1 situations in the entire country.

The Hokies were bad last season. They went 3-9, finished 2-6 in the ACC, and never looked close to being the program people remember from the Frank Beamer years.

But there are pieces here.

A lot of them.

And for a coach like Franklin, that makes this fascinating.

HEAD COACH:

• James Franklin, entering year one at Virginia Tech
• Franklin is 128-60 as a college head coach.
• Virginia Tech went 3-9 last season and 2-6 in the ACC.
• The Hokies have not won 10 games since 2016.
• Virginia Tech won 10 games every year from 2004-2011, but only once since.

It is still hard to believe Virginia Tech has been this far away from national relevance for this long.

There was a time when the Hokies were not just an ACC factor. They were a national factor. Beamer had that thing rolling. Blacksburg was a nightmare road trip. Lane Stadium felt like a place where weird things happened and ranked teams went to die.

That has not been the case lately.

Virginia Tech has not won 10 games since 2016. That is wild for anyone who remembers what this program used to be.

That is why Franklin is such an interesting hire.

You can criticize what happened at Penn State. You can point out that he did not beat Ohio State and Michigan enough. You can say he never quite got Penn State over the top.

But Virginia Tech would love to have Penn State’s problems right now.

Franklin won 10 games six times in his final nine seasons at Penn State. He knows how to build a winning program, and Virginia Tech is not asking him to beat Ohio State in Year 1. It is asking him to make the Hokies relevant again.

That feels doable.

The other interesting piece is Brent Pry.

Pry was fired as Virginia Tech’s head coach, then returned as Franklin’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. That is a strange situation on paper, but it also gives the staff some continuity. Pry knows the roster. He knows the building. He knows the league. And Franklin knows Pry well from their time together at Penn State and Vanderbilt.

That does not guarantee it works.

But it makes this one of the most fascinating staffs in the ACC.

QUARTERBACK:

The quarterback is Ethan Grunkemeyer, and that is where the Penn State connection really matters.

Grunkemeyer followed Franklin from Penn State to Virginia Tech, and he appears to be the guy. Virginia Tech’s official roster lists him as a redshirt sophomore quarterback from Penn State, and his official bio says he played in 11 games last season, started the final seven, completed 69% of his passes for 1,339 yards and eight touchdowns.

That is a solid starting point.

It is not superstar stuff. It is not “hand him the Heisman campaign” stuff. But it is real experience.

Grunkemeyer went 4-3 as a starter last season, and the losses came against Iowa, Ohio State and eventual national champion Indiana. That matters. If your losses come against teams like that, I am not going to crush you for the record.

The concern is the lack of explosive passing.

He did not throw for 300 yards in any game last season. He also was not a high-volume deep-ball guy, going 6-of-22 on throws of 20-plus air yards, with one touchdown and one interception.

That is something to watch.

Virginia Tech does not need him to be reckless, but it does need more downfield juice than it had last year. The Hokies’ offense was way too limited. They ran the ball a ton, but they did not score enough. They could not consistently scare teams through the air.

The encouraging part is that Grunkemeyer was good when kept clean and actually held up well under pressure.

He completed 74% of his passes from a clean pocket and 56% under pressure. That pressure number is pretty good, especially for a quarterback with limited starting experience.

So the question is not whether he can play.

The question is whether he can become more than just steady.

If Grunkemeyer is a smart, efficient quarterback who protects the ball and lets the roster around him work, Virginia Tech can be much better.

If he becomes a quarterback who can also hit explosives, the Hokies get a lot more interesting.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

This is where Virginia Tech has a chance to help its new quarterback.

The Hokies bring back a lot.

A lot.

Virginia Tech returns 14 starters, which is near the top of the country. It also returns 62% of its snaps, which is top five nationally. In the transfer-portal era, that kind of continuity matters.

Now, I know what some people will say.

“Do you really want that many guys back from a 3-9 team?”

Fair question.

But I think there is value in having players who have started ACC games, taken the hits, learned what does not work and now get a reset with a proven head coach.

That can matter.

The offense starts with Marcellous Hawkins at running back. He is listed on the official roster as a redshirt senior running back, and he gives Virginia Tech a bigger, experienced option in the backfield.

Hawkins ran for 749 yards last season, and if Franklin wants to play physical football, he is going to be important.

At receiver, the names to know are Ayden Greene and Takye Heath. Virginia Tech’s official roster lists Greene as a senior wide receiver and Heath as a redshirt junior wide receiver.

Greene had 31 catches for 516 yards and three touchdowns last season. That is a good piece to have back.

Then Virginia Tech added Que’Sean Brown from Duke, and that is a big one. The official roster lists Brown as a wide receiver from Duke, and he gives the Hokies a proven ACC target.

Brown caught 64 passes last year while playing with Darian Mensah in that Duke offense. That is exactly the kind of transfer piece Virginia Tech needed.

The tight end room also gets interesting because Benji Gosnell is back, and Luke Reynolds comes over from Penn State. Virginia Tech’s roster lists both Gosnell and Reynolds at tight end.

So there are options.

The offensive line may be the biggest key.

The Hokies have names back and brought in help. The roster includes Kyle Altuner, Johnny Garrett, Layth Ghannam, Aidan Lynch, Logan Howland, Justin Terry and Michael Troutman III among the offensive linemen.

That group has to be better in pass protection.

Last year, Virginia Tech was not good enough there. If Grunkemeyer is going to be more than a game manager, he needs time. If Hawkins is going to carry the run game, the line has to move people.

The offense does not need to become elite overnight.

But it has to be competent.

Last year, Virginia Tech ran the ball at about the same rate as Penn State but scored about 10 fewer points per game. That tells you the style was not the only problem.

The execution was.

Franklin has to fix that quickly.

DEFENSE

This is where the Brent Pry piece gets fascinating.

Virginia Tech was bad defensively last season.

There is really no way around it.

The Hokies allowed too many points, gave up too many yards, and never felt like a team that could lean on its defense when things got hard.

That is a problem at Virginia Tech.

When this program has been good, defense has been part of the identity. Special teams, defense, toughness, home-field energy — that was the Virginia Tech formula for years.

Now Pry is back in a defensive coordinator role, which is probably where he is most comfortable.

And there are some pieces.

The defensive line includes Kemari Copeland and Elhadj Fall. The linebacker group includes Noah Chambers. The secondary has Isaiah Brown-Murray, Tyson Flowers and Thomas Williams among the names to know. Virginia Tech’s official roster confirms those spellings and positions.

The Hokies also added defensive help through the portal.

Keon Wylie comes in from Penn State. Kaleb Spencer comes in from Miami. Jaquez White comes in from Troy, and he is especially interesting after a strong season there. Virginia Tech’s roster lists Wylie, Spencer and White on the defensive side of the ball.

White is a name I would watch.

He had a big year at Troy and gives Virginia Tech a corner with real production. That matters because the Hokies need the secondary to be better, especially with the road games they have later in the year.

The defense does not have to become vintage Bud Foster overnight.

That is not realistic.

But it has to be tougher. It has to be more organized. It has to stop giving away easy points.

If Pry can get the defense to just be solid, Virginia Tech’s win total can jump.

If it is actually good?

Then the Hokies become one of the more interesting teams in the ACC.

SCHEDULE

The schedule can be viewed two different ways.

The first half gives Virginia Tech a chance.

The second half gets real.

The Hokies open with VMI and Old Dominion at home. Then they play back-to-back road games at Maryland and Boston College. After that, they host Pitt on a Friday night before going to Cal on Oct. 10. That is the official early schedule.

I do not want to disrespect Maryland or Boston College, but if you are Virginia Tech, you can talk yourself into a good start.

The first two are at home. Maryland is a Power Four road game, but not one that should terrify you. Boston College is a league road game, but also not one that feels impossible.

There is a world where Virginia Tech is 4-0 going into the Pitt game.

I am not saying it will happen.

But it is possible.

That is what makes the Pitt-Cal stretch so important.

If the Hokies start well, Pitt at home and Cal on the road could turn the season into something fun very quickly.

But after that, the schedule gets harder.

Virginia Tech hosts Georgia Tech, goes to Clemson, then after a break goes to SMU on Nov. 6. The Hokies then host Stanford, go to Miami, and finish at home against Virginia.

That is not easy.

The road trips are the issue.

Virginia Tech plays at Cal and at SMU, which puts the Hokies in the group of ACC teams dealing with two of the longer travel spots in the league. They also go to Clemson and Miami.

That is a lot.

The good news is the first two games are at home, and the Hokies get Virginia at home to end the year.

The bad news is that the ACC road schedule is rough.

If Virginia Tech is going to surprise people, it probably has to bank wins early.

Because late October and November are not forgiving.

OUTLOOK

I am intrigued by Virginia Tech.

That is probably the best way to say it.

This is not a team I am ready to pick for the ACC Championship Game. Not yet.

But I absolutely understand why people are going to talk themselves into the Hokies.

James Franklin is a proven head coach. Ethan Grunkemeyer gives them a quarterback who knows the system and has played real football. Marcellous Hawkins gives them a running back. Ayden Greene, Takye Heath and Que’Sean Brown give them receivers. Benji Gosnell and Luke Reynolds give them tight end options. The offensive line has experience and competition.

There is a lot more here than the 3-9 record suggests.

The defense is the bigger question.

Can Brent Pry fix it from the coordinator chair? Can the portal additions help right away? Can the Hokies stop beating themselves after ranking near the bottom nationally in turnover margin and penalties?

That might decide the season.

Because if Virginia Tech just cleans up the turnovers and penalties, it is probably much more competitive right away.

The best-case scenario is that Grunkemeyer is steady, the offensive line improves, Hawkins gives them a real run game, Brown becomes a major target, and Pry gets the defense back to being respectable.

If that happens, Virginia Tech can be one of the surprise teams in the ACC.

The worst-case scenario is that the offense still lacks explosiveness, the line remains shaky in pass protection, the defense does not improve enough, and the road schedule catches up with them.

My gut?

Virginia Tech is going to be better.

Maybe a lot better.

The Hokies may still be a year away from being a real ACC contender, but they are one of those teams that could start 4-0, get confidence, and suddenly become a problem for everybody else on the schedule.

Franklin does not need to make Virginia Tech what Penn State was overnight.

He just needs to make Virginia Tech feel like Virginia Tech again.

And for the first time in a while, that feels possible.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.

Going into last season, the ACC felt wide open after Clemson slipped.

There was Clemson, maybe Florida State, maybe Miami, maybe SMU, and then a whole bunch of teams trying to jump into the conversation.

One of the teams that actually did it was Wake Forest.

And not enough people talked about it.

The Demon Deacons went 9-4, finished 4-4 in ACC play, and put together only the fourth nine-win season in program history.

That is a big deal at Wake Forest.

This is not a program that just rolls out nine-win seasons every other year. In fact, Wake has never had back-to-back nine-win seasons.

So now the question is pretty simple.

Can Jake Dickert keep this thing moving, or was last year the high point?

HEAD COACH:

• Jake Dickert, entering year two at Wake Forest
• Dickert is 32-24 in five years as a head coach.
• Wake Forest went 9-4 last season.

I thought Wake Forest was one of the better under-the-radar stories in the ACC last season.

They were not perfect. They were not dominant. But they were tough, organized and good enough defensively to hang around with a lot of teams.

They beat SMU by one in a crazy game.

They beat Virginia, which played for the ACC title.

They lost to Duke by three, and Duke won the ACC.

So this was not some fake nine-win team that just beat up on bad opponents.

Wake was competitive in a league that had a lot of weirdness and a lot of parity.

Now Dickert has to show he can stack seasons.

That is always the hard part at Wake Forest.

One good year is great.

Two in a row would mean something more.

QUARTERBACK:

This is where the season gets interesting.

Robbie Ashford is gone, and Wake Forest likely turns to Gio Lopez, the transfer from North Carolina.

And Lopez is a really interesting story.

He was the guy Bill Belichick wanted at North Carolina. He came in, led the Tar Heels right down the field for a touchdown against TCU, and for about three minutes it felt like the Belichick era in Chapel Hill was going to be something.

Then TCU scored about 50 straight points, and North Carolina’s offense never looked that good again.

Now Lopez is at Wake Forest, and maybe this is the fresh start he needs.

Last year, Lopez threw for 1,747 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. The numbers are not amazing, but the UNC offense was a disaster.

The bigger question is what kind of passer Wake is getting.

When Lopez was kept clean, he completed around 74% of his passes. That is very good. Under pressure, that number dropped closer to 50%.

That is not shocking. Almost every quarterback is worse under pressure.

But it tells you Wake has to protect him.

The deep ball is another question. Lopez completed only 25% of his deep passes last season, going 10-of-40 on throws of 20-plus air yards.

That matters because Dickert has talked about wanting more of a vertical passing game.

If Wake wants to push the ball down the field more, Lopez has to be better there.

The encouraging part is that he was much better in the intermediate range. On throws from 10 to 19 yards, Lopez completed around 62.7% of his passes.

That is where an offense can live.

I love the deep-ball numbers, and I always look at them, but the real meat and potatoes of a passing game often comes in that intermediate area. If Lopez can keep hitting those throws and add a little more downfield success, Wake may have something.

He does not need to be a superstar.

But he does need to be a better passer than Ashford.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

Wake Forest has to replace the centerpiece of its offense.

Demond Claiborne is gone, and that is a big loss.

Claiborne was the guy everything ran through last season. He was one of the most underrated backs in the ACC, and Wake leaned on him heavily because the passing game was not always good enough to carry the offense.

Now the Demon Deacons have to find a new answer.

KD Daniels comes in from Florida, where he just never got enough carries to become the guy. Florida had a good running back room, and Daniels did not really get the chance to be the featured back.

Maybe he gets that chance now.

Wake also has returning backs like Ty Clark and Jamar Searcy, so there are options. But replacing Claiborne is not easy.

The receiver room is also a question.

Carlos Hernandez is back, and that matters because Wake lost Chris Barnes and Sterling Burkhalter to the portal. The Demon Deacons also lost both offensive tackles, Melvin Siani and Mateen Ibirogba.

That is a lot of change around a new quarterback.

So while Lopez gives Wake a more natural passing option, the support system has to come together quickly.

The overall offensive numbers last year were fine, but not great.

Wake averaged 26.9 points per game, which ranked around the middle of the country. The Demon Deacons averaged 381.5 yards per game, also pretty average nationally.

That is the area that has to jump.

The defense was good enough last year.

The offense needs to be better if Wake wants to take another step.

And it starts with Lopez being more than just the guy who transferred from North Carolina.

He has to become Wake’s guy.

DEFENSE

This is the reason Wake Forest has a chance to stay relevant.

The defense was good last year.

Really good, actually.

Wake held opponents to 23.1 points per game, which ranked 44th nationally. The Demon Deacons gave up 336 yards per game, which ranked 26th.

That is strong.

That is good enough to win in the ACC.

And Wake brings back a lot on that side of the ball.

The defensive line has pieces with Dallas Afalava, Gabe Kirschke and Zach Lohavichn. Aiden Hall is back at linebacker. Langston Hardy and Braylen Johnson give them experience in the secondary.

Hardy and Devaughn Patterson were honorable mention All-ACC players, and Patterson is another key piece in the defensive backfield.

Wake also added Deuce Blades, who made 36 starts at FIU.

That is the kind of transfer addition that can help right away.

The defense was not perfect. The Florida State game was a disaster. Wake lost 42-7 in Tallahassee to a bad Seminoles team, and that game made no sense compared to a lot of the rest of the season.

But outside of that, Wake was usually competitive.

The Demon Deacons were good enough defensively to beat Virginia, beat SMU and nearly beat Duke.

If the defense stays at that level, Wake has a chance in a lot of games.

But if the defense slips even a little and the offense does not improve, last year’s nine wins will be hard to repeat.

SCHEDULE

I do not love this schedule for Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons open with Akron on a Thursday, then get nine days before going to Purdue.

That Purdue game is tricky. If you are picking a Power Four non-conference road game you feel like you can win, Purdue is probably one of the more manageable options.

But it is still a road game in the Big Ten.

Then comes the real test.

Wake hosts Miami six days later.

Miami is probably the ACC favorite and maybe one of the best teams in the country. Getting the Hurricanes at home helps, but playing them on short rest after a road trip to Purdue is not ideal.

Then Wake goes to Louisville.

So three of the first four games are not easy: at Purdue, Miami, at Louisville.

That is a rough early stretch for a team trying to replace its quarterback and best running back.

After that, Stanford comes to Wake Forest, then the Demon Deacons hit back-to-back road games at NC State and Cal.

That Cal trip matters.

Wake is one of only two ACC teams that plays at Cal or Stanford and also at SMU. Those are two of the longest travel spots an East Coast ACC team can draw.

And Wake gets both.

After the Cal trip, Wake has a bye before hosting Virginia on Halloween, then gets Merrimack.

Then come more back-to-back road games: at SMU and at Georgia Tech.

I hate that stretch.

Road trip to Dallas. Road trip to Atlanta. Back-to-back.

Then Wake finishes at home against Duke, the defending ACC champion.

The good news is that some of Wake’s toughest games are at home. Miami, Virginia and Duke all come to Winston-Salem.

The bad news is the travel is rough, and the road pairings are not friendly.

Wake has enough talent to make this schedule interesting.

But it is not a schedule that gives much away.

OUTLOOK

The Demon Deacons were better than people realized last year, and the defense gives them a real foundation. This was not some soft nine-win season. Wake beat good teams and was right there with the ACC champion.

But repeating nine wins is hard.

Especially at Wake Forest.

Especially with this schedule.

Especially when you are replacing Robbie Ashford, Demond Claiborne, multiple receivers and both offensive tackles.

The optimistic case is easy enough to see.

Gio Lopez gives Wake a better passing option. KD Daniels finally gets a real chance at running back. Carlos Hernandez becomes the clear top receiver. The defense stays strong. The home games against Miami, Virginia and Duke give Wake a chance to steal something big.

If that happens, Wake can absolutely be a tough out again.

The concern is that the offense may take time, the run game may miss Claiborne badly, the pass protection may be shaky without the tackles, and the schedule may punish any slow start.

The best-case scenario is that Lopez gives Wake a real passing game, Daniels and the backs replace enough of Claiborne’s production, and the defense remains one of the better units in the ACC.

If that happens, Wake could push for another strong season.

The worst-case scenario is that the offense is still too limited, the defense takes a step back, and the travel-heavy schedule turns close games into losses.

Last year was a breakthrough.

This year is about proving it was not the ceiling.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.

One of the best moments of the 2025 college football season happened on a Friday night in Charlottesville.

Florida State came in ranked. The Seminoles had already beaten Alabama. It felt like they were starting to build some momentum again.

Then Virginia beat them.

The students rushed the field almost the second the ball hit the ground. It was one of those scenes that makes college football great. For a while, it felt like the sport was not just about Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, Miami and the same national brands we talk about every year.

Virginia was having a moment.

And it turned into much more than that.

The Cavaliers went 11-3, finished 7-1 in the ACC, and played for the ACC Championship. That was the best season in program history.

Now comes the hard part.

Can they do it again?

HEAD COACH:

• Tony Elliott, entering year five at Virginia
• Elliott is 22-26 at UVA.
• Virginia went 11-3 last season and 7-1 in the ACC.
• The Cavaliers played for the ACC Championship.
• UVA has never had back-to-back 10-win seasons.

I give Tony Elliott a ton of credit.

Virginia was not exactly rolling before last season. The program had been searching for something to believe in, and then suddenly the Cavaliers became one of the best stories in college football.

They beat Florida State. They won 11 games. They played for the ACC title. They looked like they might actually represent the league in the playoff for a good chunk of the season.

That is a massive jump.

But now the job changes.

Last year, Virginia was the surprise. This year, people know the Cavaliers can play. They are not going to sneak up on everybody the same way.

That is what makes this season interesting.

QUARTERBACK:

This is where the season starts.

Chandler Morris is gone, and that is a big deal.

Morris gave Virginia exactly what it needed last year. He was experienced, productive and steady enough to keep the offense moving while the defense did its job.

Now Virginia likely turns to Beau Pribula, the transfer from Missouri.

Eli Holstein, the transfer from Pitt, is also in the mix, but Pribula feels like the likely starter.

Pribula completed 67% of his passes last season for 1,941 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also got sacked 23 times.

There is good and bad there.

The good is that he has played Power Four football. He has experience. He can move around. He is not some complete unknown walking into a team trying to get back to the ACC title game.

The concern is how last season went after the hot start.

Pribula threw five touchdowns and no interceptions in his first two games. After that, he threw six touchdowns and nine interceptions over his final eight games.

That is the number Virginia fans have to worry about.

Now, there is context. Missouri started last season with a long home stretch, and once the schedule got tougher and the Tigers had to get on the road, things got harder. Pribula was part of that.

But Virginia needs the early-season version of Pribula more than the late-season version.

Holstein is an interesting insurance policy. He looked like he might be the guy at Pittsburgh before Mason Heintschel took over. He has thrown 29 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his career, so there is experience there too.

That is the good news.

Virginia did not replace Morris with a prayer.

The Cavaliers brought in two quarterbacks who have actually played.

But there is still probably a drop-off from Morris.

The question is how big.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

Virginia has one thing every new quarterback wants.

An offensive line.

The Cavaliers bring back McKale Boley, Noah Josey and Drake Metcalf, and all three started every game last year.

That is huge.

If you are replacing a quarterback, replacing a running back and trying to figure out the receivers, you better have something stable up front. Virginia does.

That gives the offense a chance.

The running back room is the next question because J’Mari Taylor is gone after rushing for 1,067 yards.

That is a lot of production to replace.

But Virginia did a nice job giving itself options.

Peyton Lewis comes in from Tennessee after rushing for 290 yards. Solomon Beebe comes in from UAB after rushing for 338 yards and six touchdowns. Jekail Middlebrook comes in from Middle Tennessee after rushing for 752 yards and four touchdowns.

None of those guys is guaranteed to be Taylor.

But at least Virginia has choices.

The bigger concern is receiver.

The Cavaliers do not have much proven production there. Dre’Sean Martin transfers in from Kent State. Rico Flores comes in from UCLA. Jacquon Gibson comes in from UMass. Freshman Dylan Cope is another name to watch.

The returning group includes Cam Courtney, Tyler Coleman, Dylan Newton-Short, Isaiah Robinson and Josiah Abdullah.

There may be talent there.

But right now, I do not know who the guy is.

That matters because Virginia can solve quarterback. It can patch together running back. It can lean on the offensive line.

But somebody has to win outside.

Somebody has to be the third-down target. Somebody has to scare a defense. Somebody has to make teams pay if they crowd the box and try to make Pribula beat them.

That is probably the biggest offensive question.

DEFENSE

This is the side of the ball that made Virginia real last year.

The Cavaliers allowed only 19.8 points per game, which ranked 18th nationally. They allowed 313 yards per game, which ranked 17th.

That is not fake.

Virginia was legitimately good on defense.

The third-down numbers were even better.

Virginia converted 49% of its own third downs, which was one of the best marks in the country. On defense, the Cavaliers allowed opponents to convert only 29% of their third downs.

That is how you win games.

You stay on the field when you have the ball. You get off the field when you do not.

It sounds simple, but that was a huge part of Virginia’s season.

Now the question is whether they can do that again.

The returning defensive pieces are solid. Fisher Camac and Jason Hammond are back on the defensive line. Kam Robinson is back at linebacker. Ethan Minter and Donovan Platt are back in the secondary.

Virginia also added help. Zion Wilson comes in from East Carolina, and Brandyn Hillman comes in from Michigan as one of the bigger transfer names in the secondary.

There are also several new defensive backs on the roster, which tells you the staff knew it needed more depth and competition.

The defense should still be good.

But can it be that good again?

That is harder.

Being elite on third down is not easy to repeat. Sometimes it is a sign of a great defense. Sometimes it is a sign of a defense that was good and also got the right breaks at the right time.

Virginia cannot afford a big regression there.

If the offense takes a step back without Morris and Taylor, the defense may have to carry even more weight.

That is a lot to ask.

SCHEDULE

I actually do not hate the schedule for Virginia.

The Cavaliers open against NC State in Brazil, which is technically a non-conference game even though both teams are in the ACC.

I still do not love that.

When two teams from the same conference play each other, it feels strange that it does not count in the conference standings. We saw last year how weird tiebreakers can get in the ACC. These games can matter, even when they technically do not.

But it should be a fun opener.

And at least nobody has a true home-field advantage. Both teams have to make the long trip. Both staffs have to figure out how to handle it. Both teams are dealing with something unusual.

After that, Virginia gets Norfolk State, West Virginia and Delaware at home.

So the Cavaliers play three of their first four games at home, with the only trip being a neutral-site game.

That is a nice start.

Then comes Florida State on Oct. 3.

That game will have some edge to it because of what happened last year. You know Mike Norvell and that new-look FSU team will remember.

After that, Virginia hosts Syracuse, goes to SMU, then hosts Duke in a rematch of last year’s ACC Championship Game.

It would be great if that game mattered again.

The rest of the schedule is manageable, at least from a travel standpoint. Virginia goes to Wake Forest on Halloween, gets a bye, hosts Cal, hosts North Carolina, and then finishes at Virginia Tech.

The big thing?

Virginia does not have any back-to-back road trips.

The Cavaliers do not travel to Cal or Stanford.

They only play four true road games all season: Florida State, SMU, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech.

And eight of their 12 games are played in the state of Virginia.

That matters.

This is not an easy schedule, but it is not a brutal travel schedule either.

OUTLOOK

Virginia is one of the hardest teams in the ACC to figure out.

Last year was incredible.

It was also the kind of year that is hard to repeat.

The Cavaliers had the right quarterback. They had a 1,000-yard running back. The defense was top 20 nationally. The third-down numbers were outstanding. They won the games they needed to win and gave the program one of the best seasons it has ever had.

Now a lot changes.

Chandler Morris is gone.

J’Mari Taylor is gone.

The receiver room is unproven.

The defense has to prove those third-down numbers were sustainable.

That is the concern.

The optimistic case is easy to make too.

Virginia has three offensive linemen back. It brought in two experienced quarterbacks. It added multiple running backs. The defense still has important pieces. The schedule avoids the worst ACC travel spots. The Cavaliers get plenty of games in their home state.

That gives them a chance.

The best-case scenario is that Beau Pribula settles in quickly, one of the transfer backs becomes the lead guy, a receiver emerges, and the defense stays strong enough to keep Virginia in the ACC race.

If that happens, Virginia can be good again.

The worst-case scenario is that the offense misses Morris badly, the receiver room never gets sorted out, the defense regresses on third down, and last year starts to look like the perfect storm.

Virginia is probably still a good football team.

But I am not ready to pick the Cavaliers to get back to the ACC Championship Game.

That does not mean they can’t. Tony Elliott already proved they can get there. The schedule gives them a path. The line of scrimmage pieces give them a chance.

I just need to see the new quarterback, the new backs and the receivers before I buy the full repeat.

Last year, Virginia gave college football one of its best stories.

This year, the Cavaliers have to prove it was more than a moment.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.

I don’t think enough people are talking about SMU.

And that is strange, because this program has done nothing but win lately.

The Mustangs went 9-4 last season and 6-2 in the ACC. The year before that, they played in the ACC Championship Game and made the College Football Playoff in their first season in the league. The year before that, they ran through the American.

Here is the wild number:

SMU is 22-2 in conference play over the last three years.

Yes, one of those years was in the American. But the last two were in the ACC, and SMU has already proven it belongs.

The Mustangs are not some cute newcomer anymore.

They are a real ACC threat.

And with Kevin Jennings back at quarterback, they might be one of the teams most capable of pushing Miami at the top of the league.

HEAD COACH

• Rhett Lashlee, entering year five at SMU
• Lashlee is 34-18 with the Mustangs.
• SMU went 9-4 last season and 6-2 in the ACC.
• The Mustangs are 22-2 in conference play over the last three years.
• Three of SMU’s four losses last year came by three points or fewer.

I think people forget how good SMU was last year.

If you stopped someone on the street and asked what SMU’s record was, I am not sure how many people would immediately say 9-4.

But that is what the Mustangs were.

And the losses were thin.

SMU lost by three to Cal and by one to Wake Forest in ACC play. The Mustangs were very close to being unbeaten in conference play again.

This program is not far away. It is not trying to figure out how to compete in the ACC. It already has.

Now the challenge is different.

SMU is no longer sneaking up on anybody. Teams know the Mustangs can play. They know the offense can score. They know Kevin Jennings can hurt them. And they know Dallas is not some easy stop on the schedule.

That is the next step for Lashlee.

Can SMU go from dangerous to championship-level?

QUARTERBACK

This is the reason SMU has a real shot.

Kevin Jennings is back.

And in today’s college football, that is a huge deal.

How many true multi-year starting quarterbacks are still at their original school? Not many. If they are great, they usually go to the NFL. If they are at a smaller program, somebody usually tries to pull them into the portal.

Jennings is different.

He is entering his third year as the starter at SMU. He has played in the College Football Playoff. He has played in an ACC Championship Game. He has seen big moments, rough moments and everything in between.

Jennings threw 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions last season. For his career, he has 49 touchdowns and 24 interceptions.

The interceptions are a little higher than you would like, but the production is real.

And the deep ball is a major part of why I like him.

Jennings went 32-of-68 on throws of 20-plus air yards last season for more than 1,100 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions.

That is big-time.

If you listen to these breakdowns, you know I love that stat. I want to know which quarterbacks are willing and able to stretch defenses. Jennings absolutely is.

He was also very good under pressure. He completed almost 53% of his passes under pressure with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions, according to PFF.

That is impressive.

The one thing I want to see return is the running threat.

Jennings ran much less last year than he did the year before. He had 31 fewer carries and way fewer rushing yards. If SMU can get his legs back into the offense without exposing him too much, that adds another layer.

Because Jennings is already a problem.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

SMU’s offense was already good.

The Mustangs averaged 31.9 points per game, which ranked around the top 20 nationally. They averaged 418.3 yards per game, which ranked in the top 25.

They also threw the ball a lot.

SMU passed on 55% of its plays, one of the highest rates in the country. This was not a team trying to hide the quarterback. This offense was built around Jennings and the passing game.

But there are some key pieces to replace.

TJ Harden is gone after leading SMU in rushing with 781 yards and nine touchdowns. Jordan Hudson is gone after catching 61 passes. Romello Brinson is gone too after catching 43 passes and three touchdowns.

So the offense is not just rolling back the same skill group.

The good news is there are still pieces.

Jaylen Cooper and Yamir Knight return at receiver. Derek McFall is back at running back. The offensive line has real experience with Joshua Bates, PJ Williams and Addison Nichols returning.

That offensive line matters because SMU needs to run the ball better.

The Mustangs ran the ball on only 45% of their plays and ranked near the bottom nationally in rush attempts per game. They were efficient when they ran it, averaging 4.7 yards per carry, but they did not always lean on it enough.

That is where Kendrick Raphael comes in. (And he ran in the game winner versus SMU last year too.)

Raphael transfers in from Cal after rushing for 943 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. That is a huge addition.

He gives SMU a back who can take pressure off Jennings. He gives the offense more balance. He gives the Mustangs someone who can handle a real workload.

And that might be exactly what this team needs.

If Jennings has to throw it 40 times every week, SMU can still win. But if Raphael gives them a real run game, the offense becomes much harder to defend.

The Mustangs also added Yannick Smith from East Carolina after he caught 44 passes last season, and Randy Pittman comes in from Florida State after catching 23 passes.

So there is enough here.

The offense may not look exactly the same, but with Jennings back, the floor should be high.

DEFENSE

This is where SMU has to get better. The run defense was excellent last season.

The pass defense was not.

The Mustangs allowed just 3.2 yards per carry, which was one of the best marks in the country. That is outstanding.

But opponents threw for 286 yards per game, which ranked near the bottom nationally. Teams passed on SMU on 55% of their plays, one of the highest rates in the country.

That tells you everything.

Opponents looked at SMU and decided they were not going to waste time running into that front. They were going to throw it.

And too often, it worked.

That is why the defense is the biggest concern.

SMU lost four defensive linemen who combined for 24 sacks. Seven of the top 10 tacklers are gone.

That is a lot.

The returning names start with Brandon Booker and Alexander Kilgore at linebacker, and Marcellus Barnes and William Nettles in the secondary.

Those guys have to be leaders.

The Mustangs also brought in transfer help, including Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder from Kansas State, Christian Davis from Louisiana Tech, Jarvis Lee from USF and Jimmy Wyrick from UTSA.

They need some of those guys to hit.

Because the defense does not have to be elite, but it cannot keep giving up explosive passing games.

SMU was good enough last year to win a lot of games, but the defense could not always get the stop when it needed one.

That is how you lose by one.

That is how you lose by three.

That is how you end up close to the ACC Championship Game instead of playing in it.

If the pass defense improves, SMU can absolutely contend.

If it does not, the Mustangs may be asking Jennings to win shootouts every week.

That is dangerous.

SCHEDULE

The schedule gets interesting immediately.

SMU opens at Florida State on Labor Day night.

That is a massive stage. National television. Tallahassee. Conference game. First game of the season.

And right now, SMU should feel like it can win that game.

Florida State has a lot of questions, and SMU has the quarterback. If the Mustangs go into Tallahassee and win, people are going to start paying attention quickly.

The weird part is that SMU turns around and plays UC Davis five days later.

Then comes another big one: at Louisville.

So two of SMU’s first three games are on the road against ACC teams that could be factors.

That is not ideal.

But if SMU comes out of that stretch 2-1, it is fine. If the Mustangs somehow get to 3-0, the hype is going to get loud.

After that, the schedule gives them a chance to settle in.

SMU plays four straight home games: Missouri State, Boston College, Virginia and Cal.

That is a really nice stretch.

The Cal game could be fun, especially if we get Kevin Jennings and Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele on the same field.

Then SMU goes to Syracuse on Halloween, comes back home for Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, then finishes with two road games: at Notre Dame and at Stanford.

The Notre Dame game is enormous.

That will be one of the biggest games on SMU’s schedule and could be one of the bigger national games of late November. Notre Dame is expected to be excellent, and SMU could be one of the tougher teams on that Irish schedule.

The Stanford trip is not ideal, but it is not as bad for SMU as it is for an East Coast ACC team. It is still a long trip, but Dallas to California is not the same as Miami or Pittsburgh flying across the country.

And I actually do not hate that the Stanford trip comes in the final regular-season game.

If you have to go west, maybe the best time is when there is no next regular-season opponent to prepare for.

Now, if SMU is headed to the ACC Championship Game the next week, that changes the conversation.

But as a regular-season schedule spot, it is manageable.

The biggest thing?

SMU avoids Miami entirely.

If Miami is the clear ACC favorite, not seeing the Hurricanes in the regular season is a real break.

The schedule is not easy, but it gives SMU a path.

OUTLOOK

I think SMU is one of the most dangerous teams in the ACC.

Maybe that should not even be a bold statement anymore.

The Mustangs have gone 22-2 in conference play over the last three years. They have already played for an ACC title. They have already made the Playoff. They were a few points away from being right back in the thick of it last year.

And now Kevin Jennings is back.

That alone makes them serious.

The best-case scenario is that Jennings has his best season yet, Kendrick Raphael gives SMU a real running game, the offensive line holds up, the new receivers fit quickly, and the defense improves enough against the pass to stop losing games by inches.

If that happens, SMU can absolutely play for the ACC Championship.

The worst-case scenario is that the defensive losses are too much, the pass defense still gets picked apart, the run game does not balance the offense, and the early road games put SMU in a hole before the schedule softens.

But my gut?

SMU is going to be right there.

The Mustangs are not better than Miami on paper. But they do not have to be better in May. They just have to put themselves in position to get to Charlotte.

And with Jennings back, a more balanced offense, and a schedule that avoids Miami, that is very possible.

SMU is not just trying to prove it belongs anymore.

The Mustangs already did that.

Now they are trying to win the league.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.

For a while last season, Pittsburgh looked like it might become one of the real stories in the ACC.

The Panthers got Mason Heintschel into the lineup at quarterback, ripped off wins, climbed into the top 25, and suddenly had Notre Dame and Miami sitting there as chances to make a national statement.

It was all lined up. Then Notre Dame happened. Then Miami happened.

And just like that, Pittsburgh went from “maybe this team is dangerous” to “not quite ready yet.”

Now the question is whether that late-season reality check becomes a problem or a lesson.

Because Pitt has enough coming back to be interesting.

The Panthers just need to prove they can handle the big moments better than they did last year.

HEAD COACH:

• Pat Narduzzi, entering year 12 at Pittsburgh
• Narduzzi is 80-61 at Pitt.
• Pittsburgh went 8-5 last season and 6-2 in the ACC.
• Pitt has won 10 games only once under Narduzzi, back in 2021.
• The Panthers have averaged roughly 7-5 during Narduzzi’s tenure.

At this point, you basically know what Pat Narduzzi gives Pittsburgh.

The Panthers are going to be tough. They are going to be competitive. They are going to beat some teams they probably should not beat. They are also probably going to have a season or two where you think, “Why isn’t this more?”

That has kind of been the Narduzzi era.

Good program. Solid program. Occasionally dangerous. Not consistently elite.

The weird thing is that the ACC feels open enough now for a team like Pitt to jump up and make a run. Duke just won the league. Virginia played for the ACC title. Indiana just won a national championship in this sport.

So why not Pittsburgh?

The answer may come down to whether Heintschel takes the next step and whether this defense can be more than just decent.

Because last year’s team was close enough to get your attention.

But it was not close enough to beat the best teams on the schedule.

QUARTERBACK:

This is where the hope starts.

Mason Heintschel is back, and that changes the entire feel of Pittsburgh’s season.

He threw 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions last year as a freshman, and when he got into the lineup, the offense had life. Pitt was not perfect, but it finally had a quarterback it could build around.

That matters.

The biggest question now is whether Heintschel can go from exciting young quarterback to dependable ACC starter.

Because there were flashes.

There were also some warning signs.

When Heintschel had a clean pocket, he completed around 70% of his passes, according to PFF. That is excellent. When he was under pressure, that number dropped to around 47%.

That is not unusual. Almost every quarterback gets worse under pressure.

But if Pittsburgh wants to make a real move in the ACC, it has to keep him clean. That is where the offensive line becomes huge, and Pitt does bring back experience there.

The stranger stat is this:

Heintschel did not throw a fourth-quarter touchdown last season.

He had zero touchdowns and three interceptions in the fourth quarter.

That is weird for a quarterback who played as much as he did. It does not mean he cannot become clutch. It does not mean he is not the answer. But it is something that has to change.

If Pitt is going to beat good teams, Heintschel has to make plays late.

He was also up and down on the deep ball. On throws of 20-plus air yards, he went 14-of-38 for 433 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions.

That tells you he can make explosive throws.

It also tells you there is some risk.

So the quarterback story is not “does Pitt have a guy?”

I think it does.

The story is whether Heintschel becomes a quarterback who can win the big ones.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

Pitt’s offense was pretty good last year.

The Panthers averaged 31 points per game, which ranked around 20th nationally, and put up 385 yards per game.

That is enough to win in the ACC. The problem was third down.

Pittsburgh converted only about 33% of its third downs, which ranked near the bottom of the country. That is a huge issue because it keeps the defense on the field, kills drives and forces your quarterback to be perfect on the explosive plays.

That has to improve.

The good news is the offensive line should help. Pitt brings back Ryan Baer, BJ Williams, Ryan Carretta and Kendall Stanley up front.

That is a big deal for Heintschel.

If you have a young quarterback whose numbers drop hard under pressure, the best thing you can give him is a veteran offensive line.

The run game starts with Ja’Kyrian Turner.

Turner led Pittsburgh in rushing last year with 745 yards on 140 carries and seven touchdowns. He is going to matter even more now because Pitt lost some of its running back depth, including Juelz Goff to Boise State.

Turner has to be more than just part of the offense.

He may have to become the guy who makes life easier on Heintschel.

At receiver, there is work to do.

Pitt lost its top two receivers. Raphael Williams is gone, and Kenny Johnson transferred to Texas Tech.

That leaves Cataurus Hicks as the key returning name. Hicks had 24 catches for 422 yards and four touchdowns last year, and he has 37 career catches.

Now Pitt needs more from him.

The Panthers also added Malik Knight from Western Carolina. He had 47 catches for 774 yards and seven touchdowns last season.

He caught passes from Taron Dickens, who is now in the quarterback mix at North Carolina, so he was part of a pretty explosive passing game.

The question is how quickly that translates to the ACC.

If Hicks takes a step and Knight gives Pitt a real outside weapon, this offense can be dangerous. If not, Heintschel may be doing too much with too little.

That is where the season can swing.

DEFENSE

Pittsburgh’s defense was a mixed bag.

The Panthers allowed 26 points per game. They gave up only 340 yards per game, which was actually around the top 35 nationally.

So what do you make of that?

They were not bad.

They also were not quite good enough.

Pitt forced a lot of turnovers. The Panthers took the ball away about 1.8 times per game, which ranked near the top 25 nationally. But they also gave the ball away about 1.8 times per game, so the advantage basically disappeared.

That is frustrating.

If you are going to be aggressive and create takeaways, you need the offense to reward you by not giving it right back.

The returning defensive pieces are solid.

Sean FitzSimmons and Jimmy Scott are back on the defensive line. Braylan Lovelace and Isaiah Neal are back in the second level. Cruce Brookins returns in the secondary.

Lovelace is probably the name to know. He had 141 tackles, a sack and two interceptions last season. That is a lot of production.

Pitt also added Alex Sanford from Purdue and DeMarco Ward from Memphis, and the secondary should have options with Rashon Strother, Shadarian Harrison and Shawn Lee in the mix.

There are pieces here.

The question is whether this defense can get back to feeling like a true Pat Narduzzi defense.

Because if Pitt is going to make a run, it probably cannot be a team that scores 31 points and hopes. It needs to get off the field on third down. It needs to turn those takeaways into real game-changing moments. It needs to be more than fine.

Fine gets you 8-5.

Pitt wants more than that.

SCHEDULE

The schedule gives Pittsburgh a real chance to start fast.

The Panthers open with four straight home games: Miami (Ohio), UCF, Syracuse and Bucknell.

That is a nice setup.

I am not saying UCF and Syracuse are automatic wins. They are not. But four straight at home is exactly how you want to ease into a season with a young quarterback and a team trying to build momentum.

If Pitt is good, it should come out of September feeling pretty confident.

The schedule changes quickly after that.

The Panthers play three of their next four on the road: at Virginia Tech, home against North Carolina, then at Boston College and at Miami.

The Hurricanes might be a top-five type team nationally. They are the ACC favorite. If Pittsburgh wants to prove it belongs in the top tier of the league, that is the kind of game where it has to show it.

After Miami, Pitt gets Georgia Tech and Florida State at home, with a bye mixed in there.

That is a nice break in the schedule.

Then the Panthers close at Louisville and at Cal.

That is not easy.

The Cal trip is especially interesting because nobody in the ACC wants to travel all the way to California late in the season. But if you have to make that trip, maybe the end of the year is the best time to do it. At that point, the whole season is right in front of you.

It is one more game before bowl season, or maybe before something bigger if things have gone really well.

Still, five of Pitt’s last eight games are on the road.

That matters.

The good news is there is no Notre Dame on the schedule. No West Virginia either after the Backyard Brawl got wild last year.

The schedule is not easy, but it is manageable.

If Pitt is going to make a move, the path is there.

OUTLOOK

I do not know if I am fully buying Pittsburgh as an ACC title contender.

But I am interested.

That is probably the best way to say it.

The Panthers have a quarterback with real upside. They have four offensive linemen back. They have a productive running back. They return enough defensive snaps to feel stable. And the schedule starts in a way that could let them build some early confidence.

There is a path to a good season.

But there are also questions that keep me from going all-in.

Mason Heintschel has to be better under pressure. He has to make plays in the fourth quarter. The receivers have to prove they can replace the top two guys who left. The defense has to be more consistent. And Pittsburgh has to survive a back half of the schedule that includes road games at Miami, Louisville and Cal.

That is a lot.

The best-case scenario is that Heintschel becomes one of the better quarterbacks in the ACC, Turner gives Pitt a steady run game, Hicks and Knight become reliable targets, and the defense turns those takeaways into actual wins against good teams.

If that happens, Pittsburgh can be in the mix.

The worst-case scenario is that the offense stalls on third down again, the passing game misses the departed receivers, Heintschel has too many young-quarterback moments, and the road schedule catches up with the Panthers.

My gut says Pitt is probably going to be what Pitt usually is under Narduzzi.

Tough. Competitive. Annoying. Good enough to scare people.

But if Heintschel takes a real jump, there is room for more.

Last year, Pittsburgh got close enough to make people notice.

This year, the Panthers have to prove they can stay in the conversation after the schedule gets serious.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.