BETTER OR WORSE? 2026 edition Part one

t

he CFB landscape changes rapidly.

In College Football, a lot can change in a year. In this article, we shine a spotlight on three teams that struggled mightily a year ago that rebuilt well over the offseason and now find themselves in a better position than a year ago. Learn about CFBs biggest stock risers below…

Virginia Tech 📈📈📈📈

VTs offense has stepped up from last year. Through 5 games this season, the Hokies already have a better passing completion rating of 74.3% than through 12 games last year at 56.3%. On top of that, their passing game overall is better through 5 games this year than it was last year. During the 25’-26’ season, the Hokies had a total of 1996 yards through the air paired with 17 TDs and 9 INTs. Just 5 games through the 26’-27’ season they have already accrued 1573 yards and 12 TDs with only two INTs. The ground game for the Hokies hasn't nearly improved as much as the passing game has, only accruing 776 yards on the ground with 12 TDs through 5 games, whereas last year they had 2189 yards and 13 TDs. But that is partially due to new head coach James Franklin. But be on the look out for him to implement his pro-style offense even further on the ground for the Hokies. The Hokies defense from last year has transferred over seasons being solid overall, with 256 team tackles, 18.0 sacks, with no INTs yet. Last season the Hokies had 825 team tackles, 19.0 sacks, and 4 INTs, so if I was to guess which category would take a step up in the next 7 weeks, it would have to be the sack total due to them already almost having it through 5 games. 

Most of this offensive explosion comes from new head coach James Franklin bringing in a few Penn State players. Those include WR Tyseer Denmark who on the season has 6 receptions for 59 yards and QB Ethan Grunkenmeyer who so far has a 74.0 completion percentage for 1446 yards and 11 TDs through the air with only 2 INTs. On the defense, Keon Wylie has 17 total tackles, 3 TFLs, and 1 sack. So far through this season, the Hokies have taken a noticeable step in the right direction for the future. If they keep this momentum going, they could be competing for the ACC championship in a few years. 

Minnesota 📈📈📈📈

 The Gopher’s offense has put on a show so far this year in comparison to last year. Drake Lindsey has taken another step forward as the Gophers commander with a completion percentage of 66.9 which is better than last year's 63.2. Lindsey already has around 1100 passing yards through 5 games, which at the pace he’s going, he could easily surpass his previous year total at 2382. He is also at 8 TDs through the air which is still on track to meet his last year's total of 18. For the ground game, Darious Taylor is still getting better. Last year through 10 games, he had 143 attempts for 670 yards (4.7 yards per attempt) and 4 TDs. This year he is poised to quite handedly surpass that, already being at 57 attempts for 139 yards and 4 TDs. Seeing this increase in production from Taylor is great to see, given that he was highly touted in the B1G for the past few years. On the defensive side of things, the Gophers are trending in the right direction. Last year, the Gophers had 802 total tackles and this year are following suit by sitting around 300. Granted the defensive side of the ball hasn't done much or put up a lot of stats, they have projected 3rd rounder Anthony Smith leading the charge on the front 7, which will be a problem for any offense that comes into Huntington Bank Stadium. A notable transfer making an impact for the Gophers is Elon transfer TJ Thomas, who through 5 games has 46 attempts for 307 yards and a TD. With how Coach PJ Fleck likes to run his offensive scheme, look out for Thomas’ name to be called a lot more on Saturday. On defense, Cal transfer defensive lineman TJ Bush has made an impact early on in Minnesota. So far on the season he has 21 total tackles and 6 TFLs to go along with a team leading 4 sacks. This 6’3” 250lb defensive end out of Woodbridge,VA has made his name known alongside Anthony Smith.  

San Jose State 📈📈📈📈

 The Spartans have started the year off hot, tying their win total from last year of 3. The Spartans have accrued 1278 yards through the air with 11 TDs to pair with only 5 INTs. That is an improvement due to the fact that they have already thrown less INTs this time year round than last year. With the way they are playing through the air, they are slated to get more than 3400 yards in the air, on top of more than 17 touchdowns as well. Leading that charge for the Spartans is QB Luke Weaver. On the ground, the Spartans have accrued almost 670 yards with only a single touchdown. In comparison to last year, they had 1400 yards with 14 TDs, so beating those stats is nowhere near out of the question with the hot start they’ve had. On the defensive side of things, the Spartans have been solid. So far they've almost matched their interception total from last year at 6, they are also 7 sacks shy of tying their last season's total. On top of that, the teams leading sack holder Jeremiah Tuilleila is at 2.5 sacks, which is a half sack less than the 2025 season’s total. The few transfers the Spartans have haven't made a noticeable impact yet, but expect them to make some noise in the rest of the season Overall, the Spartans are on a good track to win the weakened Mountain West Conference with these performances so far.