The college football season has opened with plenty of excitement... for some teams. Other teams are disappointed in their seasons as we enter Week 4 of play. However, there’s still time to turn bad starts to good finishes in college football.
Here’s how seven teams can bounce back this season.
Clemson — Get Cade Klubnik going
The preseason No. 4 team in the country is unranked! Clemson fell to 1-2 after a loss to Georgia Tech, two weeks after losing to LSU in Week 1. How can the Tigers turn around the most disappointing start to the season in the ACC?
It starts with the man under center, Cade Klubnik. The quarterback is completing only 59 percent of his passes this year — a number that drops to 53 percent if you take away the Troy game. That’s terrible quarterback play from a team that has championship-level expectations and from a veteran who had 3,639 passing yards and 36 touchdowns last year.
RANKINGS: Ohio State leads, Georgia Tech enters Week 4 AP Top 25 Poll
Colorado — Find the starting quarterback
Colorado is 1-2 after three games. Three is an important number here, because that’s how many quarterbacks Colorado has in the conversation for playing time. Ryan Staub started the most recent game against Houston, throwing two costly fourth quarter interceptions. Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter started the first two games. Five-star freshman Julian Lewis has also played this season.
As the saying goes, “if you have two quarterbacks you have none.” Colorado has three so, the Buffaloes need to solve that issue if Coach Prime and his program hope to turn this season around.
Florida — Settle down DJ Lagway
Let’s not overthink this one. Florida dropped from preseason No. 15 to unranked — and a big reason has been turnovers in close losses. Quarterback DJ Lagway has struggled.
Only one of Lagway’s five interceptions against LSU came under pressure. His interception against South Florida wasn’t under immense pressure either as he rolled out to his right, throwing before setting his feet.
Lagway has to cut down the turnovers if Florida wants to be competitive in the SEC this year.
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Kansas State — Establish the run
Does college football have an Ireland curse? Florida State lost in 2024’s Week 0 opener and proceeded to go 2-10. Navy lost in 2023’s opener and went 5-7. Nebraska lost in 2022 and went 4-8. All three teams were 1-3 after four games.
So is Kansas State, the loser of 2025’s Aer Lingus College Football Classic, after opening the preseason ranked as the No. 17 team. I see a trend happening, do you?
Nonetheless, there’s plenty of season left to play for the Wildcats, but to bounce back, they’ll need to fix some offensive struggles. Kansas State is converting only 31 percent of its third downs, ranking 116 out of 134 FBS teams. Could the low third down conversion rate be a result of a bigger offensive issue — a failure to run the ball? Kansas State averages only 108 rushing yards per game, the 15th-lowest in the FBS.
If Kansas State can establish the ground game, the Wildcats can turn this season around.
Notre Dame — Finish games
Notre Dame is the only ranked team that you will see in this article. The Fighting Irish are No. 24, but they were the preseason No. 6 team and are winless at 0-2 against two ranked opponents.
Notre Dame might have just one more ranked game on its schedule — and maybe not even that by the time the Fighting Irish play current-No. 25 Southern California in mid-October.
Without a conference, the only way Notre Dame bounces back from its disappointing start is by winning out. A key to doing that is by learning to finish on defense. In each of Notre Dame’s two losses, the defense allowed a game-winning drive with under two minutes to go.
🗓️ SCHEDULE: Weekly FBS TV schedule and times | College Football Playoff schedule | Bowl schedule
Virginia Tech — Toughen up the defense
Virginia Tech fired head coach Brent Pry after an 0-3 start. However, the season isn’t over yet, as none of the three losses have come in ACC play. The Hokies can bounce back this season, but the starting point must be the defense.
Vanderbilt scored 34 consecutive points to rally from a 10-point halftime deficit. Old Dominion, a Sun Belt team, ran for 251 yards and four touchdowns. The Virginia Tech defense has been pushed around all season, with the 10th-worst run defense in the country.
UCLA — Everything
UCLA fired head coach DeShaun Foster after an 0-3 start, as it’s been a mess in Los Angeles. The offense under Nico Iamaleava is uninspiring — the Bruins scored 10 against Utah, 23 vs. UNLV and then only 10 at home against New Mexico. The defense is among the worst in the FBS, ranking last in third-down percentage, third-worst in rushing (3rd-worst) and 15th-worst in scoring.
A new coach might be what the Bruins need to turn things around.
