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There is a tremendous amount of hype around Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning going into the 2025 season – and rightfully so.
Manning has all the intangibles any college football coach would want in a quarterback in today’s game. Plus, he has the famous football name on the back of his jersey. He’s also not going to back down from a challenge as Texas gets ready to take on the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes to kick off the 2025 season.
Fans can get lost in the hype over one player and forget there are several other quarterbacks who are very good and even better than Manning.
There are at least seven other college football quarterbacks the average fan should know before settling in for a big weekend of top-tier matchups.
Garrett Nussmeier, LSU Tigers
Garrett Nussmeier has shown exactly what he can bring to the table for Brian Kelly’s offense. He threw for 4,502 passing yards and 29 touchdown passes last season as LSU went 9-4 and won the Texas Bowl over Baylor.
This year, the pressure is a bit stronger. Nussmeier has shown flashes of being a star quarterback but putting together wins in one of the toughest conferences in the nation is something he’ll have to focus on moving forward this year.
His first challenge? Oh, just No. 4 Clemson.
Cade Klubnik, Clemson Tigers
Waiting for Nussmeier on the other side of the field on Saturday night will be Cade Klubnik.
Klubnik is likely in his final season at Clemson and played a major role in keeping the Tigers’ season from spiraling out of control. He led Clemson to the ACC Championship, putting together a win over SMU. Clemson made it to the College Football Playoff but lost in the first round to Texas.
He had 3,639 passing yards and 36 touchdown passes last season. He improved from his sophomore year to his junior season with the expectations being high for his senior year.
LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina Gamecocks
The SEC has had its fair share of amazing quarterbacks run through each program. But it’s been quite a while since anyone talked about who was under center for the South Carolina Gamecocks.
LaNorris Sellers is a redshirt sophomore for the Gamecocks and started to draw some attention last season when South Carolina nearly defeated Alabama and then went on a run of wins over Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and Clemson.
Shane Beamer’s squad now has an interesting talent at the QB position that everyone will want to see. He had 2,534 passing yards and 18 touchdown passes in 2024. He added 674 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns as well.
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South Carolina begins the year against Virginia Tech on Sunday.
Julian Sayin, Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes will go with Julian Sayin to start its national championship defense after Will Howard led the offense last season.
Sayin is a relative unknown but the rest of the nation will be introduced to him when he goes up against Manning and the Longhorns to begin the year. He transferred from Alabama in 2024 and won the job over Lincoln Kienholz.
On Saturday, he’ll get to start in the biggest game of his life so far. Luckily, he has weapons like Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate around him which would make it easier to transition into that starting role.
Drew Allar, Penn State Nittany Lions
Drew Allar could very well be one of the first quarterbacks to be selected in next year’s NFL Draft. It’s why this season at Penn State is so crucial for him and the Nittany Lions.
Allar had 3,327 passing yards and 24 touchdown passes last year. The dream season was thought to have been in reach. Penn State made a deep run in the College Football Playoff. However, it turned out to be a nightmare as they suffered a three-point loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.
The 2025 season could be the year for Penn State. Fans should get used to Allar now.
DJ Lagway, Florida Gators
The Florida Gators have been hit or miss in the Billy Napier era and the 2025 season will be crucial for a lot of personnel in the program.
A lot of the hopes are on the shoulders of quarterback DJ Lagaway. He’s set to start Week 1 when the Gators take on the Long Island Sharks. It should be a walk in the park for a powerhouse school like Florida and give Lagway some momentum to start off the season.
As a freshman, Lagway had 1,915 passing yards and 12 touchdown passes. There are high expectations he will be able to lift the Gators to more than eight wins in 2025.
Sam Leavitt, Arizona State Sun Devils
Sam Leavitt may have played under the cloud of the Big 12 Conference last season but he announced his presence with authority when the Sun Devils made a run to the College Football Playoff. There’s no room to hide anymore.
Leavitt will enter his second season at Arizona State coming off a year when he had 2,885 passing yards and 24 touchdown passes. He played his best football down the stretch, leading Arizona State to eight straight wins before losing to Texas in the College Football Playoff.
Under Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State will have heightened expectations going into 2025. Arizona State will start as the No. 11 team in the nation with Northern Arizona coming to town on Saturday.
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