With 10-year vets like Bo Nix and Dilly Dilly Gabriel making lateral moves to the NFL, CFB O's across the land are lacking the continuity, experience and chemistry that have powered so many 40+ pppg/450+ ypg O's post-pandemic.
The 2025 college football season opened in earnest with incredible weather in most locales (Lubbock, Texas, aside), exciting and jam-packed environments ... and very few points. No one topped 17 points in either of Saturday's top-10 matchups, FBS teams averaged only 23.5 points per game against other FBS teams, and throughout the country, rebuilt offensive lines and new quarterbacks seemed at a disadvantage against rebuilt defenses.
I also think that an infusion of coaching talent from the NFL (D'Anton Lynn in 2023, Mike Patricia in 2025) on the D side of the ball has injected some new schematic wrinkles that the dominant o in CFB (zone read + RPOs that turn the QB into a constant run/pass threat) is struggling to deal with. Namely, the hole defender played by a guy like Caleb Downs, who can drop down to limit a give to 3 or 4 yards, or slip into a passing lane to make crossing WRs (and fans at home) sheet themselves going over the middle.