COLUMBUS, OHIO – AUGUST 30: Arch Manning #16 of the Texas Longhorns leaves the field after a 14-7 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium on August 30, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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Through the first month of the season, the 2025 college football campaign has started to shape into form the pretenders from the contenders.
A collection of top-10 preseason favorite squads have fell from their thrones as underrated programs have risen to the occasion with sample sizes of at least four to five played games. Below are the three most disappointing teams so far in 2025 and how they got there during the young college football season.
Texas Longhorns: Preseason Ranking #1, (Current Record 3-2)
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 04: Arch Manning #16 of the Texas Longhorns is sacked by Tyreak Sapp #94 of the Florida Gators during the second half of a game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on October 04, 2025 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
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Much of the belief around the Longhorns entering 2025 was that it would be inheriting a talented roster around a projected top-three NFL prospect in redshirt sophomore quarterback Arch Manning. The former 2023 top overall high school recruit had just 95 passes through two seasons of reps, but the upside and flashes were enough to pencil him in as the missing piece to a Texas national title run following the graduation of former two-year starter Quinn Ewers.
Five weeks into the season, Manning has failed to live up to the hype after posting completion percentage numbers of under 60% in three of the team’s first five matchups. His worst performance of the year was against a Group of Five opponent in Texas El-Paso where he completed just 11 of his 25 passes for under 120 yards while tossing an interception and just one touchdown.
While his first collegiate start versus Ohio State was somewhat brushed off as just typical early-season quarterback jitters, Manning’s most recent showing on the road versus a sub-500 Florida Gators’ team potentially may have buried Texas postseason chances for good. He tossed two costly interceptions, threw for under 300 yards and completed just 55 percent of his 29 pass attempts in the team’s 29-21 road defeat
The program’s upcoming Red River Rivalry matchup against the 5-0 Oklahoma Sooners could put the stake into a playoff-bound season for Texas after entering the season as many publications’ best college football team.
Penn State Nittany Lions: Preseason Ranking #2, (Current Record 3-2)
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 04: Drew Allar #15 of the Penn State Nittany Lions reacts against the UCLA Bruins during the fourth quarter at Rose Bowl Stadium on October 04, 2025 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
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After finishing in the semifinals of last year’s college football playoff, Penn State was ranked by the Associated Press as the nation’s second-best college football team entering the 2025 season. They returned a multi-year starter in Drew Allar at quarterback, its leading rusher in Kaytron Allen and the team’s second-leading sackman in edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton.
Back-to-back conference losses against Oregon and previously winless UCLA arguably tanked Penn State’s postseason chances and may have put head coach James Franklin’s job in jeopardy. Both matchups were defined by the Nittany Lions slow offensive starts where the team only scored three points through three quarters versus Oregon and just seven points at halftime versus UCLA.
Much of the offensive struggles fall on Allar who threw for 200 yards passing against one of the nation’s worst defenses last weekend in the Bruins. In the Oregon game, Allar didn’t even cross 140 yards passing despite 25 pass attempts and threw a game-sealing interception in the second overtime that ruined their comeback chances.
Franklin has never been the guy to win the big game throughout his coaching tenure. He’s 17-36 all-time against ranked teams and 4-25 against top-10 teams across pitstops at Penn State and Vanderbilt. However, if he’s now losing to unranked opponents such as UCLA, his value to the program truly begins to be questioned going forward.
Clemson Tigers: Preseason Ranking #4, (Current record 2-3)
CLEMSON, SOUTH CAROLINA – AUGUST 30: T.J. Moore #1 of the Clemson Tigers attempts to get the ball against Mansoor Delane #4 and Jardin Gilbert #2 of the LSU Tigers during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium on August 30, 2025 in Clemson, South Carolina. (Photo by Katie Januck/Getty Images)
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Clemson entered the 2025 season returning many starters from its late season ACC title run a season ago. However, it featured an array of early-season tests against upstart ACC programs and an SEC power in LSU that ultimately would decide its early season fate.
They struggled to put points on the board in a painful home loss to the previously top-five ranked Tigers. A late push couldn’t prevent a last-second road defeat versus Georgia Tech to begin ACC play, and a week later they were beaten wire-to-wire versus Fran Brown’s Syracuse program that currently possesses two conference losses through the first six games.
Head Coach Dabo Sweeny alludes to the roster not being on the level of past Clemson teams. but the offensive execution has arguably been the team’s downfall. They average the fifth-least first downs in the ACC at 19.8 per game, have converted just 35.5% of their third downs which ranks third-worst in the conference and have the least-amount of rushing scores in the ACC at just five through five games.
The team had a better offensive showing this past weekend against North Carolina where senior quarterback Cabe Klubnik threw for more touchdowns (4) than incompletions (2), but the ground game only mustered 2.9 yards per carry on 31 rushes.
Upcoming matchups versus Florida State and South Carolina preview an inevitable four loss season for the program which would spell a disappointing season for a former preseason top-five team.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kambuibomani/2025/10/06/three-most-disappointing-college-football-teams-so-far-this-season/
