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Is 2026 our year?

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ristwasdown said:
Will depend on OL/DL being ready.
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Not worried.

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LeanMeanOrangeGreen said:
My friends, I’ve never been one to say things like “this is our year” or something of the sort, especially between 2005-2024 because I always approach each season with what some might consider “below average” expectations. I respect the super optimistic part of the fanbase but that’s just never been me. There was a long period of time where there were 3-4 actual contenders and everyone else. Those days, for now, appear to be over and I’m absolutely here for it!

BUT when I think about last year and what we accomplished and the momentum we got going into 2026, there is reason to believe this could indeed “be our year” although I still say it with caution. Why do I believe this?

- Darian Mensah is a better collegiate QB than Beck. He’s got weapons. The offensive line will still be strong and we have a great RB room. If anything we should expect more offensive production with Mensah VS Beck. Mensah is somewhere between a Cam Ward and D’eriq King type QB who’s far more dangerous than Beck, who’s more of a traditional pocket passer who’s extremely accurate when given time and not a big run threat. He was good, but I think Mensah can really elevate this offense.

- Defensively, I know we’re losing 3 potential first rounders but there’s plenty of depth on the roster to help fill those voids. As good as Bain was he was always limited by getting held. It was the only way he could be contained. We’re returning Moten and the transfer from Missouri will certainly help. Secondary loses Scott but returns plenty of key contributors from last season. While there might be a drop off with this unit, I don’t expect to see the 2024 defense trot on the field, especially with Heatherman coming back.

I imagine we’ll be ranked in the Top 8 to start the season but could very well be higher if the AP decides not to overlook us for their SEC darling programs. I’d put us at #3 to start the year. I’m not saying we’re going to go undefeated but I think this is the year we finally win the ACC because we’re just too talented at this point not to get there and this is absolutely a Natty contender. So ******* get ready folks. We’re 6 months away and I’m still excited!
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I’m worried about the offensive line. It has to stay healthy. The depth behind the starters is really inexperienced:

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Hurricajun said:
Agreed. Had a few beers and your name was close to mine and I had to reread to make sure I didn’t write this. My question is, do we get dukes Darian Mensah who was good, or do we get this much better version of him due to better everything around him?
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Mensah is good because he's good. He's not a system guy. He hasn't benefited from a roster that makes him look good. At Tulane and at Duke he was excellent. I don't think he's personally going to go out there and elevate to a level well beyond where he's been, outside of having better talent at the WR position. What he will elevate is the run game because he will punish teams in a way that Beck could not and there's going to be a lot of conflict about what on earth you do to stop this offense.

I think this offense is going to be a nightmare for teams. If the defense is anywhere close to last year's then Miami is cruising to the playoffs and then we'll see how the other teams stack up to us.
 
The only question marks for me is how much of a drop off will the offensive line have and the defensive ends run stopping ability. And maybe a little question mark on the linebackers unit next man up perspective.
 
Of the list below, especially Texas, will be trouble, as they were playing about as good a football as anybody near the end of the year.

These teams have the most returning starters in 2026 including transfers.

Texas Tech 23
Tennessee 22
Texas 22
Florida 21
Oklahoma 21
Ole Miss 21
South Carolina 21
 
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I don’t know if this is our year, but we now have the benefit of the doubt on a 10-2 season to make the playoff that we previously did not
 
Hufftwoseven said:
Let’s be honest with ourselves, our roster was much better than UL/SMU and we still lost. PROVEN, VETERAN, 1st round talent on the edges of OL and DL. Yet we still slipped up. So last year was our year as well. 2026 can still be our year and I’m not expecting 13-0 because we have a brand new offensive line, like as brand new as we’ve had since Mario arrived probably.
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I think those games changed the team. We almost had a disastrous end, that was a wakeup call to take every game seriously. I think it carries over to the upcoming season.

Our biggest weakness was offensive creativity, but I don't know how much of that was Dawson being unimaginative and how much was him not trusting Beck. I’d say 20-80.

I wouldn’t have trusted Beck either. Dawson put the final drive in Becks hands 4 times during the season and 3 of those times Beck threw a game ending interception (SMU, Louisville, Indiana). The one time he didn’t end the game with a pick was Ole ****, where we won because he didn’t make an ill advised throw and ran it into the end zone instead. Mensah lets Dawson use the full playbook.
 
LeanMeanOrangeGreen said:
My friends, I’ve never been one to say things like “this is our year” or something of the sort, especially between 2005-2024 because I always approach each season with what some might consider “below average” expectations. I respect the super optimistic part of the fanbase but that’s just never been me. There was a long period of time where there were 3-4 actual contenders and everyone else. Those days, for now, appear to be over and I’m absolutely here for it!

BUT when I think about last year and what we accomplished and the momentum we got going into 2026, there is reason to believe this could indeed “be our year” although I still say it with caution. Why do I believe this?

- Darian Mensah is a better collegiate QB than Beck. He’s got weapons. The offensive line will still be strong and we have a great RB room. If anything we should expect more offensive production with Mensah VS Beck. Mensah is somewhere between a Cam Ward and D’eriq King type QB who’s far more dangerous than Beck, who’s more of a traditional pocket passer who’s extremely accurate when given time and not a big run threat. He was good, but I think Mensah can really elevate this offense.

- Defensively, I know we’re losing 3 potential first rounders but there’s plenty of depth on the roster to help fill those voids. As good as Bain was he was always limited by getting held. It was the only way he could be contained. We’re returning Moten and the transfer from Missouri will certainly help. Secondary loses Scott but returns plenty of key contributors from last season. While there might be a drop off with this unit, I don’t expect to see the 2024 defense trot on the field, especially with Heatherman coming back.

I imagine we’ll be ranked in the Top 8 to start the season but could very well be higher if the AP decides not to overlook us for their SEC darling programs. I’d put us at #3 to start the year. I’m not saying we’re going to go undefeated but I think this is the year we finally win the ACC because we’re just too talented at this point not to get there and this is absolutely a Natty contender. So ******* get ready folks. We’re 6 months away and I’m still excited!
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Well we took the ACC champs starting QB so that's a start.
 
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