VSiN College Football Betting Podcast · VSiN

Is 2026 the Year of the Quarterback in College Football?

·50 min·2 clips

Pete Sampson says defenses will treat CJ Carr differently once Jeremiah Love is no longer lined up behind him.

1. The VSiN College Football Betting Podcast, recorded Thursday, March 5th, 177 days before the 2026 season, argues the year is shaping up as "the year of the quarterback" and previews Notre Dame's national title odds. 2. Host Tim Murray leads the show, and Pete Sampson, who covers Notre Dame for The Athletic and co-hosts The Independent, joins as guest after the death of Lou Holtz. 3. Murray's thesis is that most top-20 teams have settled quarterbacks, so Heisman futures should offer "juicy" prices, in contrast with last year, when four of five top title contenders had to replace their starters. 4. He lists Heisman precedents, including Mendoza at 80-1 at Circa, Travis Hunter at 50-1 in 2024 and DeVonta Smith at 100-1 in 2020, then notes John Mateer at 35-1 on FanDuel and Avery Johnson at 80-1. 5. Murray also highlights transfers and returners including Hoover from TCU to Indiana, Darian Mensah from Duke to Miami, Sam Leavitt to LSU and Sorsby from Cincinnati to Texas Tech, and Bill Conley's ranking with CJ Carr first and Kevin Jennings 23rd. 6. Sampson says this is the most hyped Notre Dame team he has covered and probably the most talented, and he credits the narrative around Holtz's passing and last year's playoff exclusion. 7. He expects Carr to face "drop eight type stuff" without Jeremiah Love and Jadarian Price, and he names Jordan Faison, Mylon Graham, Jaden Greathouse and tight end Cooper Flanagan as candidates to step up. 8. Sampson calls the secondary, with Leonard Moore, the best he has covered, and he says the defense could allow six touchdowns or less in the first six games because Notre Dame plays no team with a winning record from last season until BYU on October 17th. 9. For the title case, Sampson says Notre Dame needs "one breakout player" at receiver, tight end or running back, while the risks are a Carr injury with no depth behind him and an unproven kicking game. 10. Fans of college football futures and Notre Dame followers will get the most from this episode.

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