College football QB battles 2025: Ohio State, Alabama, Tennessee settle depth charts as Week 1 approaches
Updating the most notable battles for supremacy under center as the 2025 season draws near
As the 2025 college football season approaches, the quarterback dominoes are starting to fall. Most teams have wrapped their fall camp slates, or are nearing the end of their offseason practices ahead of game preparation, which means coaches are in decision-making mode when it comes to naming a starter.
Some competitions are still ongoing when the actual games kick off as teams will use early season tune-up contests to see if one signal caller can pull ahead of the other in a live setting. But there are some prominent programs that have already announced who will be leading their offenses in 2025.
Ohio State, Alabama and Tennessee are just some of the Power Four programs that have tabbed their starting quarterbacks already. The Buckeyes are trying to repeat as national champions, while Tennessee would like to build on its first College Football Playoff appearance in program history.
Joey Aguilar named Tennessee starting QB: Can former App State star reinvigorate Vols' passing attack?
Will Backus
Alabama, in an effort to bounce back from a somewhat lackluster first season under coach Kalen DeBoer, is turning to a veteran at quarterback. Even major Group of Six programs like Memphis have made a decision.
There's still a lot to be settled, but here's a rundown of the quarterback battles that have been decided as the 2025 season nears.
Notre Dame
Notre Dame is rolling with redshirt freshman CJ Carr, who beat third-year quarterback Kenny Minchey in one of the most intriguing (and heated) competitions of the offseason. Carr certainly has the pedigree to succeed. He signed with the Fighting Irish in 2024 as a top-50 prospect and the No. 6 quarterback in his class and his grandfather, Lloyd, was a college quarterback who -- more notably -- later served as the coach at Michigan.
But the younger Carr is extremely thin on experience. He has yet to attempt a pass at the collegiate level and he appeared in just one game last season when he took a few snaps in a blowout win against Purdue. He'll have to grow up quickly, as Notre Dame's first two games are on the road against Miami and at home against Texas A&M.
Fortunately for Carr, he will have some help. Notre Dame returns one of the nation's top running backs in Jeremiyah Love, who can handle quite a few carries and alleviate some of the pressure that Carr will feel to perform. The Irish also have a solid offensive line that should be able to keep Carr upright more often than not.
Ohio State
The Julian Sayin era is underway at Ohio State. Buckeyes coach Ryan Day confirmed the expected when he announced that Sayin will lead Ohio State in its Aug. 30 season opener against Texas. Sayin, a former five-star prospect and Alabama signee, beat third-year signal caller Lincoln Kienholz and true freshman Tavien St. Clair for the job.
Sayin is entering his second year with the Buckeyes after serving as backup for Will Howard last season. He appeared in four games, preserving his redshirt in the process, and completed five of his 12 pass attempts for 84 yards and one touchdown. He did see a few snaps in Ohio State's College Football Playoff win against Tennessee.
Though Sayin is short on experience, winning the starting QB job at Ohio State is like getting handed the keys to a brand new Lamborghini. He'll have plenty of help from the nation's top wide receiver room, with standouts like Heisman Trophy contender Jeremiah Smith and veteran wideout Carnell Tate.
Alabama
After singing his praises throughout the spring and the start of fall camp, Alabama's staff made it official by naming veteran Ty Simpson the Crimson Tide's starting quarterback. Instead of entering the transfer portal, where he would have likely been a hot commodity given his blue-chip recruiting pedigree, Simpson patiently waited his turn while serving as backup to the likes of Bryce Young, a former Heisman Trophy winner, and Jalen Milroe, a third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
That patience paid off when he beat Washington transfer Austin Mack, a former DeBoer recruit, for the right to start at one of the nation's premier college football programs. Though he's short on starting experience, Simpson has seen plenty of playing time. In 2023, he saved the Crimson Tide from disaster against South Florida when he entered the game late into the second quarter and helped Alabama score 17 unanswered points while throwing for 73 yards.
He's played in 16 games through his three years at Alabama.
Tennessee
Former App State star and UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar has emerged as Tennessee's starter after the Vols were thrust into an unexpected quarterback competition. Aguilar beat redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre, who had a solid fall camp after adding some much-needed weight, to become the third transfer to start for Tennessee in Josh Heupel's tenure.
Aguilar does bring a wealth of experience to the Vols -- something that sets him apart from Tennessee's last two quarterbacks. He started 24 games at App State, where he was the 2023 Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year, and threw for 6,759 yards and 56 touchdowns.
He'll have to cut down on the turnovers after tossing 24 interceptions in two years, and Tennessee has some inexperience at wide receiver, but the Vols are hoping that Aguilar can spark a pass game that's started to lag behind since 2022.
Syracuse
Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli will lead Syracuse's offense as the Orange look to build on a breakout 2024 season in their first year under coach Fran Brown. Though his playing time with the Fighting Irish was limited, Angeli made the most of his opportunities on the field.
He completed 15 of his 19 pass attempts for 232 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 27 yards on eight carries in a 2023 Sun Bowl win against Oregon State and played crucial snaps in Notre Dame's College Football Playoff win against Penn State last season, as he led the Irish on a field goal drive late in the second quarter after Riley Leonard briefly entered concussion protocol.
Boston College
Boston College has its replacement for former starter Thomas Castellanos. Alabama transfer Dylan Lonergan beat veteran Grayson James, who started a handful of games for the Eagles after they benched Castellanos last season, and will take the first snaps in Boston College's Aug. 30 opener against Fordham.
Lonergan, a former four-star prospect in the class of 2023, appeared in three games in two seasons at Alabama.
Stanford
Stanford went with experience over upside when it tabbed Oregon State transfer Ben Gulbranson as its starter instead of former blue-chip prospect Elijah Brown, who is entering his second season with the Cardinal after signing as their highest-rated prospect in the 2024 class.
Gulbranson was an on-again, off-again starter at Oregon State, where he threw for 2,648 yards and 15 touchdowns in five seasons.
Memphis
Memphis has to replace program icon Seth Henigan, who set several records while leading the Tigers to a 21-5 record over the past two seasons. To achieve this tall task, coach Ryan Silverfield is handing the offense over to Nevada transfer Brendon Lewis, who brings a wealth of experience to the Tigers.
Lewis spent three years at Colorado, where he started 12 games as a true freshman, and played at Nevada from 2023-24, where, in 2024, he led the Wolf Pack in both passing (2,290 yards) and rushing (775 yards).
Fresno State
Fresno State will start E.J. Warner, the son of former Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner, at quarterback. This will be the third separate school that Warner has started for in four years at the collegiate level.
The younger Warner previously played at Temple, where he was the 2022 AAC Rookie of the Year, and Rice, where he started all but one game in 2024.
New Mexico
New Mexico coach Jason Eck is turning to a familiar name to lead his first offense with the Lobos. Jack Layne, who appeared in eight games under Eck at Idaho last season, was named the starting quarterback ahead of New Mexico's season opener at Michigan.
Layne threw for 1,472 yards and 14 touchdowns with the Vandals last season.
Rice
New Rice coach Scott Abell's first starting quarterback will be Chase Jenkins, a plus athlete who has played both quarterback and wide receiver for the Owls. His athleticism should make him an ideal fit for Abell's option offense, which he developed during his time at Davidson.
UMass
After spending last season as a backup at Utah, Brandon Rose transferred to UMass this offseason and will start in the program's season-opener against Temple. Rose appeared in three games last season -- which includes a two-touchdown performance against BYU -- and finished with 157 yards in those games.
UMass' first-year offensive coordinator is Mike Bajakian. He most recently served as an offensive analyst and interim OC/QB coach with the Utes last season while Rose was with the program.
Kennesaw State
Kennesaw State will start former Indiana and Georgia Southern quarterback Dexter Williams ll in its season-opener against Wake Forest. He appeared in four games during the 2024 season, throwing for 248 yards and three touchdowns. Williams will likely see his former team (Indiana) in Week 2, as Kennesaw State travels to Bloomington on Sept. 6.
California
Cal has named freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele its starting quarterback ahead of the program's season-opener against Oregon State, CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reported on Monday. Sagapolutele, the former No. 65 overall recruit in the 2025 recruiting cycle by 247Sports, won the starting job over Ohio State transfer Devin Brown.
Sagapolutele's road to Cal has been a rollercoaster. After initially committing to Cal last summer, Sagapolutele de-committed and flipped his commitment to Oregon before entering the transfer portal in early January. He signed with Cal days later.
He was 247Sports' No. 5 quarterback in the transfer portal class, only behind Nico Iamaleava (UCLA), Carson Beck (Miami), John Mateer (Oklahoma) and Fernando Mendoza (Indiana), who spent the previous two seasons with the Golden Bears.
BYU
BYU is expected to name true freshman Bear Bachmeier as its starting quarterback in the wake of Jake Retzlaff's departure. Retzlaff, who threw for 3,595 yards and 23 touchdowns last season, withdrew from school in July after violating the university's honor code.
Bachmeier won a fall camp battle against redshirt freshman McCae Hillstead and redshirt junior Treyson Bourguet. Bachmeier initially signed with Stanford in 2025 over offers from the likes of Alabama, Georgia and Notre Dame but transferred to BYU in May after former Stanford coach Troy Taylor was fired.
UCF
UCF is set to name Cam Fancher as its starting quarterback for its season opener against Jacksonville State, CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reports. Fancher, an FAU transfer, will get the first opportunity to impress in a live game situation after winning out against Indiana transfer Tayven Jackson and Jacurri Brown.
Fancher appeared in nine games last season at FAU and completed 125 passes for 1,528 yards and six touchdowns to six interceptions. UCF coach Scott Frost recently said that he wanted to avoid playing more than one quarterback in the season opener if possible, so it's likely that Fancher will have full control of the offense as long as the score is close.
