You’ll hear this a million times this year as Notre Dame opens up the season with very winnable games. In our last post covering the beginning of the second half of the season, things start to ramp up–especially with the level of opponent quarterbacks. The ending of the campaign could see some challenge at this position as well. Here’s the final installment to this series:
BOLD denotes returning starter
Game #10 Boston College
Mason McKenzie, Redshirt Junior
Grayson Wilson, Redshirt Freshman
Femi Babalola, Freshman
Anthony Coellner, Freshman
The Eagles have seen their quarterback room completely turn over heading into 2026. Bill O’Brien brought in Dylan Lonergan (whom he recruited at Alabama) last off-season and he would find plenty of struggles throughout the season. Boston College ended up turning to Grayson James (he played most of the snaps against Notre Dame last year) for long stretches to shake things up.
Lonergan has since transferred to Rutgers while James is out of eligibility. Third-team quarterback Shake Reisig who threw 19 passes in 2025 bolted for Texas State.
BC dipped into D2 for a new quarterback.
The program signed a pair of 3-star freshmen this past cycle but the spring quarterback battle was between Saginaw Valley State transfer Mason McKenzie and Arkansas transfer Grayson Wilson. Heading into the summer, it looks like McKenzie has the lead to start.
VERDICT: Wilson took a redshirt in Fayetteville last year while McKenzie has the experience of starting two years at Saginaw Valley. While he’s undersized at 6’1″ it sounds like O’Brien likes the experience and mobility of McKenzie, although this late in the season we could see Wilson emerge as an option too.
Game #11 SMU
Kevin Jennings, 5th Year Senior
Ty Hawkins, Redshirt Freshman
Charlie Fiser, 5th Year Senior
Cole Leinart, Freshman
This is a pretty rare situation these days–SMU didn’t bring anyone in from the transfer portal and didn’t have any quarterbacks leave in the portal, either. That includes other programs being unable to woo starter Kevin Jennings away from Dallas as the signal caller reportedly earns over $1 million with the program.
Ty Hawkins and Charlie Fiser both saw the field minimally last year and decided to return for 2026. They are expecting big things from Hawkins who was a commit to TCU before flipping to SMU during the 2025 cycle. He put up big rushing numbers in high school (transferring from the state of Texas to play at IMG Academy as a senior) and will bring a lot of athleticism to the Mustangs for the future.
Hawkins is one to watch for the future.
SMU signed 3-star California recruit Cole Leinart for 2026, yes he’s the son of Matt Leinart.
VERDICT: Jennings is entrenched as the starter and seems to have been playing at SMU for a decade. However, he’s only been starting for 2 years and his play has been up and down the whole time. For example, last year he was really poor against Wake Forest and also threw 3 interceptions in their bowl game. But then, he was very good in an upset over Miami. The Mustangs open on the road at Florida State and then travel to Louisville in week 3, we’ll find out some stuff with this offense quickly.
Game #12 Syracuse
Steve Angeli, 5th Year Senior
Amari Odom, Redshirt Junior
Malachi Nelson, Redshirt Junior
Zaid Lott, Freshman
Danny Lauter, 5th Year Senior
Rich Belin, Redshirt Freshman
Joseph Filardi, Sophomore
How bad did things get for Syracuse last year? Well, Steve Angeli tore his Achilles on September 20th in the Orange’s fourth game of the season and he still ended up leading all Syracuse quarterbacks in passing yards–by 275 yards! Angeli is back for 2026, was able to get a little bit of work done during spring practices, and has been treated like he’s the returning starter despite not seeing live action yet.
Syracuse brought in Rickie Collins last off-season from LSU to compete with Angeli and following 10 interceptions in 181 throws, he’s transferred out to Kennesaw State. Last year’s 2025 signee Luke Carney saw the field a little bit, kept his redshirt, and has since transferred to Houston.
Angeli has made steady progress to full health this off-season.
In a funny twist, while Collins is off to Kennesaw State, the Orange brought in 2025 Owls starter Amari Odom who took the bulk of the first-team reps during the spring with Angeli still nursing his injury. If Angeli isn’t healthy to start the season, Odom looks on track to be the Syracuse quarterback.
They also brought in former 5-star and now journeyman Malachi Nelson who has made it 4 schools in 4 years (USC –> Boise State –> UETP –> Syracuse) in one of the more bizarre careers in modern college football. Nelson was quite bad with UTEP last year (sub 55% accuracy, 9 picks on 190 throws) and doesn’t look to be challenging for the starting position with the Orange.
North Carolina freshman Zaid Lott and Georgetown transfer Danny Lauter are providing depth, and could possibly pass Nelson by the time the season kicks off. Syracuse also retains their 2025 signee Rich Belin who has fallen down the depth chart, plus the dual-sport lacrosse athlete Joe Filardi who finished out the season last year (including facing Notre Dame) but may not be in the mix anymore once he returns to the football team.
VERDICT: Angeli might’ve meant more to any team in the nation starting in 3 wins while averaging nearly 40 points per game. They’d finish the season on a 8-game losing streak and finished an astonishing 117th in FEI offense. If Peanut Butter is back and healthy, this can be a spicy Syracuse team again. Odom has potential to be a quality player, as well. Certainly, the quarterback depth chart appears in much better shape this year compared to the clown show that occurred after Angeli went down against Clemson.
