How running the ball is so back in the 2025 college football season - ESPN

Florida State began the season with a paradigm-shifting (or maybe paradigm reshifting) blowout of Alabama. After going 2-10 a year ago, the Seminoles are back in the AP top 10 like 2024 never happened.

Indiana lost a number of key contributors from last year's College Football Playoff team, but the unbeaten Hoosiers just absolutely crushed a top-10 Illinois team. Texas Tech just went to Salt Lake City, played a physical Utah team on its own terms, and walloped the Utes, 34-10, despite losing starting quarterback Behren Morton to injury midway through the game.

Watch your favorite events in the newly upgraded ESPN App. Learn more about what plan is right for you. Sign Up Now

Missouri is now 25-5 since the start of 2023. Like Indiana, the Tigers lost a number of players after last season but nailed a series of transfer portal acquisitions and have started this season 4-0. And after a quiet offseason with more middling headlines than positives, USC, 15-11 in 2023-24, is averaging 52.5 points per game and is already 2-0 in Big Ten play. BYU and Washington have outscored their first six opponents by 226 combined points (and BYU has done so despite starting a true freshman quarterback).

UNLV and Navy are unbeaten. Georgia is, too, though that one's not a surprise. Virginia is 3-1 and has nearly cracked the SP+ top 40 for the first time since the 2010s. Iowa is 3-1 and has scored more than 30 points three times, which I didn't even realize was legal in Iowa.

These 12 teams are a combined 41-2. Some were expected to be good but are great. Some had low to middling expectations but are clearly very good. What's the secret to their relatively surprising success? They are 2025's college football YAC kings.

YAC, of course, stands for