Georgia Bulldogs

Though Georgia has the most talented running back in college football, Todd Gurley can only do so much. Essentially, Georgia is playing with an entirely new offensive line. No matter the talent among the new group, which is nothing special in this case, it is still worrisome to have a line full of first year starters. Mistakes will come often and they will, in turn, cause first year starting quarterback Hutson Mason to make mistakes. He is already noticeably less talented than Aaron Murray was as it is, but having him take snaps behind a fresh line is going to be a train wreck. To be fair, the defense is a talented squad, but they will not be able to keep the abysmal offense afloat.

Clemson Tigers

It is not much of an exaggeration to say that Clemson has lost their entire offense. Not only is Sammy Watkins now in the NFL, but quarterback Tajh Boyd and fellow receiver Martavis Bryant have taken their talent to the next level as well. Likewise, 1,000-yard rusher Roderick McDowell graduated. Only one player, Adam Humphries, is returning with more than 400 yards of offense. Granted, Cole Stoudt is not going to be a bad replacement for Boyd, but Boyd’s pocket presence hid a lot of the issues with Clemson’s front line and Stoudt does not quite bring the same dynamic. Defensively, Clemson has little to look forward to aside from Vic Beasley and Alexander Mackenzie, who will not be able to carry the load alone.

Fresno State Bulldogs

In 2013, Fresno State had finally found themselves in the top 25 (top 15, actually) for the first time in a long time, but with Derek Carr, among others, leaving the program for the NFL, the program will regress to its former state. Aside from Carr, top offensive players, namely receiver Davante Adams and tackle Austin Wentworth, have also moved on from Fresno State. Essentially, much of the offense has left, yet the defense will not be able to make up for the losses, nor will the talent replacing the former starters. Aside from Derron Smith, Fresno’s defense is shaky, at best, for the most part.

Louisville Cardinals

Louisville is a tough case. On the surface, they do not appear to have lost much, but the impact that Teddy Bridgewater brought will not be able to be replaced. Honestly, Louisville may never see a quarterback talent like that for another couple of decades. His control of the offense, understanding of defenses, and impeccable accuracy was a thing of art, and that can not be duplicated by Will Gardner, especially not this year, which will be his first year starting as a redshirt freshman. He is certainly talented, but anywhere near the extent of Bridgewater? Unfortunately, no, he is not. It should not be as simple as saying, “Well, the starting quarterback is gone, so all is lost,” but in this case, that is the sad truth. Although, the loss of wonderful head coach Charlie Strong will not help either.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Unlike many of the other teams on this list, Nebraska’s biggest downfall may be their defense, more specifically their secondary. Stanley Jean-Baptiste, who has the ability to be the pro-bowl version of Brandon Browner, and Ciante Evans have both taken the next step in their respective careers. Jean-Baptiste was by far the most talented player on the defense despite Randy Gregory.

Of course, the offense will be in a bit of a recovery stage, too. New starting quarterback Tommy Armstrong is not quite the talent that Taylor Martinez was. That statement still stands true even when comparing the two at the same point in their careers. On top of that, they lost two of the B1G’s best offensive linemen. The lack of talent to replace those lost will ultiamtely be Nebraska’s “death.”

Northern Illinois

Much like the situation in Louisville, the loss of the quarterback, Jordan Lynch in NIU’s case, will be detrimental. Lynch, despite playing for a team in the MAC, had legitimate hype as a Heisman candidate. Of course, he did not win the award, but a case was there to be made. He was a bulk of the team’s offense as he racked up nearly 5,000 total yards and found the end zone a total of 47 times. Against better teams, Lynch was able to be contained because he was the only one on the offense that was capable of playing at a high level.

Also, to a lighter extent, Jimmie Ward was the “quarterback” of the defense and was an incredible talent. To NIU’s disadvantage, Ward was selected in the first round by the San Francisco 49ers, and for good reason. A first round talent is near impossible to immediately replace, especially in the MAC.

Oregon Ducks

On paper, the Ducks still look like a menacing team, especially on offense, but really, the 2014 is going to underwhelm when compared to recent success of the program. Marcus Mariota is still there, as is a plethora of running backs, receivers, and tight ends, but the defense will not be able to give the offense the same cushion that they are used to. They do not have an elite edge player, nor do they have the same safety and linebacker talent that they have had as of late. Aside from a few key players like Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and Arik Armstead, the Oregon defense will struggle more than in years past, especially against top PAC 12 talents.

Texas A&M Aggies

Once more, and it truly should not be this simple, the void left by the last starting quarterback can not simply be replaced, even by a former No.1 quarterback recruit in Kyle Allen. The spectacle of Johnny Manziel was a sight that the college football community only gets to see a handful of times per decade, with the other two in the past decade being Tim Tebow and Cam Newton. Kyle Allen, who will be able to lead the Aggies to seven wins, no doubt, will still struggle to live up to Manziel. Because of that, the defense will not have the same incredible safety net of points to fallback on and the team will begin losing bigger games more regularly.

UCF Knights

While UCF just lost their quarterback to the Jacksonville Jaguars as the third overall pick in the most recent draft, they also lost their running back to the same professional team. Quarterback Blake Bortles and running back Storm Johnson were the two that made the UCF offense run as well as it did. Other than those two, the team, for the most part, was filled with average talents, just as has been the case at UCF for quite some time. Of course, that is true in 2014, but now, they do not have two superstar offensive players that can carry the team to victory.

Vanderbilt Commodores

Vanderbilt lost, well, everything. Their quarterback, their top three receivers, a chunk of their offensive line, their two best defensive backs; they are all gone. As of now, the race for the starting quarterback position is unclear. The receiving corps will be inexplicably worse. Lastly, not having Andre Hal and Kenny Ladler in the secondary to control the defense will be arguably the worst loss of all. Although new head coach Derek Mason is a brilliant coach, it will be his first year and the talent simply is not there for him to do anything.