College football breakthrough and bounce-back candidates for 2024

Ski-U-Ham

Who hates Iowa?
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Teams most likely to rebound from a 2023 stumble

Minnesota Golden Gophers

2022: 9-4 record, eighth in SP+ (+19.3 adjusted PPG)

2023: 6-7, 63rd (+0.4)

2024 projection (as of May): 5.6 average wins, 45th in SP+ (+4.8)

SP+ loved Minnesota's 2022 squad; the Gophers finished fourth in defensive SP+ for the second straight season, and they were held back only by quarterback injury and a brief offensive funk that October. They seemed close to something excellent in 2023, but the defense fell from great to good (31st in defensive SP+ last year), the offense plummeted from average (52nd) to awful (103rd), and the win total got cut by one-third.

Last year's defense, pretty reliant on freshmen and sophomores, should improve by a decent amount, but a major rebound for the Gophers will depend on the remodeled offense. Coach P.J. Fleck retained co-coordinators Greg Harbaugh Jr. and Matt Simon but brought in two new quarterbacks, four new running backs and a couple of new receivers. With newcomers such as QB Max Brosmer (New Hampshire) and holdovers like go-to receiver Daniel Jackson and running back Darius Taylor, the floor should be higher this year. But a schedule featuring six projected top-30 opponents means that the win total might not rebound significantly even if the team improves as expected.


RTBSUMGG!
 
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