The clocks have been set forward. The sun is sitting in the sky later into the evening. The birds are chirping. You can stand outside for longer than 10 minutes in the Midwest without the need to stuff your hands into your pockets. Everything is muddy.
It’s spring in the Big Ten, and while fans are paying attention to March Madness, they’re also keeping an eye on their football teams. After all, life is pretty good for the Big Ten on the football field these days. The league has won consecutive national titles, and last year saw standout seasons from Indiana and Illinois, both of which won 10 games. That’s something you don’t typically see.
As we enter spring practice for the 2025 season, everyone is a little optimistic about their team, because what else are you supposed to be five months before the season begins? Still, there are also questions everywhere you look, and we’ll start getting hints to their answers in the coming weeks. As spring practices begin, here’s a look at the biggest questions surrounding all 18 Big Ten schools.
Illinois
Who steps in at receiver? The Illini are coming off their first 10-win season in nearly a quarter century and enter 2025 with nearly their entire roster from last season remaining intact. The returning production, combined with a relatively friendly schedule have people wondering if this team, which came close to a playoff berth last season, is a legit contender to get there this season.
While having Luke Altmyer and the entire offensive line is a great start on offense, Altmyer still needs receivers to throw to, and Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin are gone. Illinois hit the portal to snag Hudson Clement (51/741/5) from West Virginia to fill some of the void but will need in-house options like Hank Beaty, Collin Dixon and Malik Elzy to take a step forward in 2025.
Indiana
Can the Hoosiers strike transfer gold again? A quick overhaul of a roster through the transfer portal has varying results. As we saw at Indiana last season, when Curt Cignetti showed up and brought in almost an entirely new team, sometimes it works out better than anybody could’ve imagined. However, sometimes it goes the other way. Just ask Florida State.
The Hoosiers were extremely active in the portal again this offseason, bringing in a new QB (Francisco Mendoza, Cal), running back (Roman Hemby, Maryland), receivers (Tyler Morris, Michigan; Makai Jackson, Appalachian State) and multiple offensive linemen (Pat Coogan, Notre Dame; Zen Michalski, Ohio State; Khalil Benson, Colorado). And that’s just the offense!
Spring practice will serve as a sort of freshman orientation in Bloomington and give us our first hint as to how effective this group can be.
Is the offense fixed for real this time? It may not have felt like it given the overall results, but Iowa’s offense improved significantly under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester. After averaging 17.7 points in 2022 and a paltry 15.4 in 2023, the Hawkeyes scored 27.7 points per game last season. Kaleb Johnson and the run game were responsible for most of it, but Johnson is gone and the Hawkeyes have made another change at QB.
QB Mark Gronowski may have the name of a Chicago Bears linebacker, but the suburban Chicago native comes to Iowa via South Dakota State, where he was a prolific passer. Will he be the one who brings a passing offense back to Iowa City?
Maryland
Will a new roster lead to better results? On the surface, it’s hard to say losing 21 players to the transfer portal, as well as others to graduation, is a good thing. Nor is losing your top three quarterbacks on last year’s depth chart, as well as key players like running back Roman Hemby and receiver Tai Felton. However, we shouldn’t forget that the Terps went 1-8 in the Big Ten play last season, so maybe starting over isn’t the worst thing in the world.
And Maryland is, for all intents and purposes, starting over. Eyes will be on the QB battle, as well as the offensive line this spring. UCLA transfer QB Justyn Martin will be competing with incoming freshman Malik Washington, who was one of the stars of a recruiting class that ranked 25th nationally.
Michigan
Is the future now with Bryce Underwood? There’s no question that the 2024 season, even with a win over Ohio State, was not an overly successful one for the Wolverines. They followed up a national title with an 8-5 mark. There’s a lot of optimism heading into Sherrone Moore’s second season, and Bryce Underwood is a big reason why, but will the freshman phenom win the starting job?
Michigan brought in veteran transfer Mikey Keene from Fresno State. It’s unclear whether Keene is seen as a solid backup plan or if he’s a bridge to an Underwood future. Perhaps even Michigan isn’t sure what the plan is, and this spring will be the start of making a decision.
Will Aidan Chiles make the leap? If you look around the Big Ten as a whole, there are plenty of questions about QBs. In theory, having strong QB play could help a team take a significant step forward. Spartans fans are paying far more attention to their basketball team right now than the football team, but perhaps a spring without the microscope could be good for Aidan Chiles.
I was one of the biggest offenders when it came to overhyping Chiles last offseason; his season was up and down with far too many downs. He threw only 13 touchdowns to 11 interceptions and completed only 59.4% of his passes, but it was his first season as a starter. Another year in the system and further development could see Chiles cut down on the mistakes and dial in for 2025.
Will the lack of consistency at defensive coordinator have an impact? Minnesota plays complementary football, and that means it needs a strong defense to win games. The Gophers have had that under PJ Fleck. The problem is their success on that side of the ball has grabbed plenty of attention.
Joe Rossi had an excellent five seasons running the defense and left last year to join Jonathan Smith’s staff at Michigan State. He was replaced by Corey Hetherman, who lasted only one season before Miami poached him to be their new defensive coordinator. Danny Collins is an in-house promotion, which is good for continuity, but he’ll still be the third defensive play-caller in three seasons. That’s a lot of change after a lot of continuity under Rossi.
Can the defense handle its losses? While it wasn’t elite, Nebraska’s defense was a strong suit last season. The Cornhuskers finished No. 23 nationally in points allowed per possession and No. 12 in pressure rate. And now that defense loses a lot, and not just in personnel.
While Bill Connelly’s returning production rate has Nebraska’s defense ranked No. 74 nationally in returning production, defensive coordinator Tony White left to take the same gig at Florida State. In his place is John Butler, who was promoted from secondary coach. This will be his first spring in charge of the defense, and he has a lot of new faces in key spots.
Will the portal class pay dividends? While there weren’t any attention-grabbing headliners in Northwestern’s portal class, there could be plenty of sneaky-good upgrades. Grabbing the experienced Preston Stone at QB from SMU should provide an immediate upgrade to an offense that also sees leading rusher Cam Porter return.
Still, while Northwestern wasn’t prolific offensively last year, the bigger reason for the drop-off was the fact a normally reliable defense fell off a cliff. The Wildcats have overhauled their secondary through the portal this offseason, bringing in defensive backs Fred Davis (Jacksonville State) and An’Darius Coffey (Memphis). They’re also hoping Yanni Karlaftis (Purdue) will provide a spark for the pass rush.
Ohio State
Rebuild or reload? For years, there was little question of what a program like Ohio State would do after losing so much talent. It would simply replace all those studs with more studs, but the transfer portal and NIL have changed things a bit. Teams can’t horde depth the same way they once did. So, with the Buckeyes coming off a national title season but losing so many contributors to the NFL, can they simply replace all that production?
Complicating matters is the fact both coordinators have left. Chip Kelly’s back in the NFL, while Jim Knowles jumped to Penn State. Spring practice will be the first time a lot of people are in new roles, and while plenty of attention will be placed on the QB battle, it’s far from the only interesting change happening in Columbus.
Is Dante Moore ready for the big time? Dan Lanning has been successful at Oregon. He’s 35-6 overall and won the Big Ten his first season in the league. But that success has come with two quarterbacks closing in on their pensions: Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel. Unless the Ducks go QB shopping in the spring portal, all signs point to Dante Moore being the man this fall.
Moore certainly has the pedigree as a recruit, and this will be his third season in college. What he does not have is much experience. He appeared in nine games with UCLA, with mixed results. He’ll now be at the helm of a program with lofty expectations of competing in the Big Ten and getting back to the College Football Playoff.
Penn State
Can QB Drew Allar get this team over the hump? In 2023, Michigan went all in to retain key players and won the national title. In 2024, Ohio State went all in to retain key players, brought in transfers and won a national title. In 2025, Penn State is all in. It has retained key players. It’s brought in new transfers at receiver it believes to be upgrades. It poached Jim Knowles from Ohio State.
It’s clear what the goal is, but Penn State won’t pull it off unless Allar performs better in big moments. His performance in three playoff games was not spectacular, and while none of those concerns will be answered in the spring, it’ll be pivotal to develop rapport with his new weapons in the passing game. After all, there’s no more Tyler Warren easy button.
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Purdue
It can’t be any worse, right? OK, so this isn’t a question about any specific area of the team, but in my defense, this is Purdue. How can you look at one specific area when everything went wrong last year? Barry Odom has taken over for Ryan Walters after turning UNLV into a legit Group of Five power the last few seasons, but he has a lot of work to do in West Lafayette. It’s a lot easier to make up ground in the Mountain West than in the Big Ten.
This spring will be the start of the work.
Can the offense improve on last year’s performance? Kyle Monangai is gone, and while we’ll all miss that cannonball of a running back, just about everybody else on the Rutgers offense returns. Athan Kaliakmanis is back at QB, and he’ll be behind an offensive line with plenty of experience. Kaliakmanis was a serious upgrade at QB last season, and another year in the system should theoretically lead to better results.
You probably don’t realize this, but Rutgers averaged 28.9 points per game last season. That ranked sixth in the Big Ten, behind only Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State and USC. If the Scarlet Knights can maintain that or slightly improve upon it, this is a team that could catch a lot of people off guard in 2025.
UCLA
What will Tino Sunseri bring to the offense? UCLA was a win away from getting to a bowl last season, which would’ve been an outstanding result in DeShaun Foster’s first year in charge. And the Bruins did that while scoring only 18.4 points per game. That finished ahead of only Northwestern and Purdue (a combined 2-16 in B1G play).
So it’s no surprise there’s a new offensive coordinator in Sunseri. He’s well-respected in coaching circles and did a great job with Kurtis Rourke at Indiana last season. Now, the 36-year-old former quarterback will look to revitalize the Bruins offense with Appalachian State transfer Joey Aguilar as the presumed starter.
USC
How are we looking on the lines of scrimmage? Last offseason, USC overhauled its entire defensive staff and brought in transfers to fill some of the holes. The results weren’t drastic in the win column, but at the end of the day, the Trojans went from allowing 34.4 points per game in 2023 to 24.1 last season.
Now the makeover continues, with new bodies coming in along the lines of scrimmage through the portal, plus the hope that development elsewhere will lead to further progress. The Big Ten is not a league where you can win consistently with skill talent. Oregon was ahead of the schedule last year. USC wasn’t, but we know Lincoln Riley is trying to address it. The spring will give us an early hint of what’s coming.
Washington
What does Demond Williams Jr. have in store? Will Rogers was a perfectly serviceable quarterback for the Huskies last year, but he came with a defined ceiling. He’s a primarily stationary pocket passer without elite arm strength. The offense should look a lot different this year with Demond Williams Jr., who is not stationary!
Williams was used as a change of pace most of last year before taking over late in the season, but the flashes were promising. He threw for five touchdowns and 575 yards in the final two games of the season against Oregon and Louisville. He also rushed for 282 yards on the season. If Washington improves on its 6-7 record last year under Jedd Fisch, it will almost certainly be because of Williams. All eyes will be on him in Seattle this spring.
What does the offense look like? It’s Luke Fickell’s third season at Wisconsin, and it feels as if he’s starting over. The Badgers 22-year bowl streak came to an end last season, and it led to the dismissal of Phil Longo as offensive coordinator and a lot of turnover in the transfer portal. The Badgers lost a lot of contributors on both sides of the ball and brought in plenty of potential replacements, as well as a new offensive coordinator in Jeff Grimes.
You get the sense Fickell is looking to distance himself from the “Dairy Raid” narrative and get a bit closer to Wisconsin’s former identity. Will we have a better idea of how that looks this spring? Wisconsin ranked No. 63 nationally in rush rate last year, and while some of that was situation-dependent (they trailed a lot), that’s a lot of throwing for a team that lost its starting QB early in the year. Billy Edwards threw for 2,881 yards with Maryland last year, so we know he can be an effective passer (certainly more so than Braedyn Locke), but I’d bet the plan is for him to hand off more frequently.
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