Since the beginning of the 2025 college football season, the conferences have began to shake up with who will likely make a run for a chance at the College Football Playoffs, and who won’t. It’s no mystery that players get injured each season, it’s not uncommon, if anything it’s to be assumed, but when it comes to teams quarterback, it could truly put the squad in jeopardy at any level, especially if it’s for an extended amount of time.

Since the start of this season, teams all across America have seen their QB1 go down in some way, shape, or form, and enters the QB2, who wasn’t necessarily expecting to play in the game, or even the season, and may not be as mentally prepared for the moment as coaches or even broadcasters say they are.

Teams who have had the unlucky situation of seeing their man under center go down at the early goings of this season include Syracuse, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Buffalo, and Texas Tech.

We’ll start out with the Orange, who perhaps have been hit with the worst loss of them all. Following Steve Angeli’s exit against Clemson, LSU transfer Rickie Collins got thrust into the high powered matchup. Now when Collins entered against the Tigers, he didn’t look half bad. With not a lot to do to secure the win, he went 3/8 for 34 yards and a touchdown, and it could’ve been thought after a week of practice as the starter he could become something for the offense, but this was not what happened. Despite not looking as bad as it could have, the scoreboard said the difference against Duke. The Orange lost 38-3 against the Blue Devils, with Collins throwing 24/37 for 229 yards and a pick. The high hopes of the team from central New York could be out the window for the rest of the season as they set to go to SMU.

For the University of North Carolina, they may not have looked great under Bill Belichick, but there has been potential. In their first matchup against TCU to open the season, they saw their starter Gio Lopez have to leave the game, but Max Johnson would come in and show promise. This past week, the Tar Heels went on the road to FBC Mortgage Stadium to face UCF, and Lopez was carted off the field in the 3rd quarter of the 34-9 loss, with Johnson having to enter the game in his place again, for the second time in four games. Johnson has shown promise, however, for the team, completing 20 of his 30 passes this season for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns, and also hasn’t been sacked. It will be a tough task upcoming as they host a underwhelming Clemson this upcoming weekend.

Oklahoma saw a big loss in quarterback John Mateer. The team has lost the impressive junior quarterback for approximately a month, and it could become sketchy for the Sooners. They sit 5-0 and have impressed as a unite this season so far, and will see Michael Hawkins Jr. lead the team under center. Despite being a sophomore, Hawkins performed well for Oklahoma in his time on the field last season. This is a position he has been in before, so it could work out for the Sooners come gameday, but it is always the factor of the unknown of the set quarterback not expecting this to happen. I don’t expect this to be one of the worst out of the injuries out there, especially with a good “warmup” upcoming against Kent State.

For the Buffalo Bulls, Ta’Quan Roberson missed his first game of the season against the UConn Huskies. While this isn’t a major Power 5 team, they are still a solid squad, despite their 2-3 record. Gunnar Gray got the start this past weekend for the team, and having played prior this season for some snaps, he performed well in a game that could’ve been a win to put them above .500. Roberson was seen in a boot, so only time will tell when he will officially be ready to suit back up, but Gray’s performances this season should help them to a win at least for this upcoming week in a MAC matchup against Eastern Michigan.

Finally, for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Behren Morton, who suffered an injury against the Utah Utes, but Will Hammond came in and helped the team cruise to a top 20 win. With a BYE week to come this upcoming weekend for the Red Raiders, and Morton expected not to miss significant time, it could all be fine for Texas Tech. However, with the position the team is in, and their next matchup being against a hungry Houston team, that is one you can expect to be tough, so not having your main man could come back to bite you. The program will hope Morton is back in time, but Hammond has at least shown potential to hopefully be able to stand in his stead for a short time.

Now it is early in the season, and there has been injuries all across the country at plenty of positions, but when it comes to quarterback, who knows. Some, like Hawkins and Gray, can likely stand in for a short time for their team and put up results, but others that have showed promise could be in for a tough going, like in Syracuse and Texas Tech. We are just getting into the heart of the season as things heat up, and the push for the playoffs continues.