2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season

The following rule changes were approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel for the 2022 season.^[1]

• In games featuring instant replay, when players are disqualified for a targeting call in the second half or in overtime (which requires a carryover penalty of sitting out the first half of the next scheduled game), an appeal process will be available to allow the National Coordinator of Officials to review tapes of the targeting penalty for consideration of not requiring the player to sit out the first half of the following game.
• Injury timeouts awarded due to "deceptive actions" during a game will also be able to be reviewed by the National Coordinator of Officials to determine what sanctions, if any, against teams who use this tactic, enforced at the conference or school level.
• Blocking below the waist will only be permitted inside the tackle box by linemen and stationary backs. Blocks below the waist outside of the tackle box are not allowed.
• The penalty for players who commit illegal blocks or contact after a signal for a fair catch is changed from 15-yards to 10-yards, and is no longer considered a personal foul.
• Defensive holding will remain a 10-yard penalty but will now always carry an automatic first down. Previously automatic first downs on defensive holding were awarded if the quarterback attempted a pass.
• Codifying the rule change made shortly after the 2021 ACC Championship Game, ball carriers who simulate a feet-first slide will be declared down at that spot. This rule has informally been referred to as the "Kenny Pickett Rule".
• Defensive players who commit unsportsmanlike conduct penalties during a pass or run play will have the 15-yard penalty enforced from the end of the run/pass like a personal foul penalty.
• Uniform rules were changed to require the sock/leg covering to go from the shoe to the bottom of the pants, similar to the NFL rule.
• Illegal touching (intentional) of a forward pass by an ineligible receiver now includes a loss of down penalty in addition to the yardage (5-yards).

• March 1 – The Sun Belt Conference released its 2022 football schedule. Notably, the schedule included Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss, schools that had announced their departure from Conference USA and were then in a dispute with C-USA regarding their departure date, with Marshall having sued C-USA. The SBC release did not mention the dispute or the possibility that the three schools would not be able to join for the 2022 season.^[2]
• March 29 – C-USA and the three aforementioned schools reached a settlement that allowed said schools to join the SBC in July 2022.^[3]
• May 18 – The NCAA Division I Council voted to approve multiple changes to football administrative rules. Among these changes:^[4]
  • Restrictions on how conferences determine which teams qualify for their conference title games were removed. The Pac-12 Conference was the first conference to scrap its divisions for the 2022 season. While it will continue its division-based scheduling model for that season, it announced that it would consider other models for future seasons.^[5]
  • All annual signing limits were removed for the 2022–23 and 2023–24 academic years. Only the overall scholarship limits (85 players receiving athletically related financial aid throughout D-I football, with 63 full scholarship equivalents in FCS) remain in place for those seasons.
  • A win over an FCS team will count toward bowl eligibility if the FCS team awards at least 80% of that subdivision's limit of 63 scholarship equivalents over a two-year rolling period, down from the previous 90%. This made permanent a change that the NCAA had made on an ad hoc basis in 2020.
  • The council made permanent a set of criteria, originally established on an ad hoc basis in 2020, for filling bowl slots in seasons when the number of bowl slots is greater than the number of teams with .500 records.
• May 20 – The Mountain West Conference announced that it would eliminate its football divisions starting with the 2023 season.^[6]
• June 10 – The American Athletic Conference and the three schools set to depart from that league (Cincinnati, Houston, UCF) announced that they had reached a buyout agreement that will allow those schools to join the Big 12 Conference in 2023.^[7]
• June 16 – The American confirmed the 2023 entry date for the six schools scheduled to join that league from Conference USA—Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA.^[8]
• June 28 – The ACC approved a new football schedule format after the May 18 NCAA ruling. Starting in 2023, the conference will abandon its divisional model in favor of a "3–5–5" format in which each team plays 3 permanent rivals and 5 other conference teams each season, with the non-permanent opponents rotating so that each team will play every other conference member at least once home and once away in a four-year cycle. Under this format, the championship game will feature the top two teams in the conference standings.^[9][10]
• June 30 – The Big Ten Conference announced that UCLA and USC would join from the Pac-12 Conference in 2024, immediately after the current Pac-12 media contracts expire.^[11][12]
• August 18 – The Big Ten announced a new all-sports media rights deal, running from 2023 to 2030, with Fox, CBS, and NBC that will provide the conference a reported $7 billion. By the end of the deal, each of the 16 members (including 2024 arrivals UCLA and USC) will receive as much as $100 million annually.^[13]
• August 31 – The Division I Board of Directors adopted a series of changes to transfer rules.^[14]
  • Transfer windows were adopted for all Division I sports. Student-athletes who wish to be immediately eligible at their next school must enter the NCAA transfer portal within the designated period(s) for their sport. For football, two windows were established: a 45-day window starting with the day after championship selections are made (in FBS, the College Football Playoff), and a spring window from May 1–15. Accommodations will be made for participants in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
  • Student-athletes who experience head coaching changes, or those whose athletic aid is reduced, canceled, or not renewed, may transfer outside designated windows without penalty.
  • Transferring student-athletes will be guaranteed their financial aid at their next school through graduation.
• September 2 – The Board of Managers of the College Football Playoff voted to expand the playoff from four teams to twelve teams starting in 2026, but encouraged CFP's commissioners to implement by 2024. The model is similar to the one discussed in 2021; the six highest rated conference champions plus six at-large teams would make up the playoff.^[15]
• October 14 – Conference USA announced that Kennesaw State, currently a member of the FCS ASUN Conference, would start a transition to FBS after the 2022 football season^[16] and join C-USA in 2024.^[17]
• October 19 – Mississippi State announced that freshman offensive lineman Sam Westmoreland had died two days before his 19th birthday. The cause of death was being investigated, but foul play was not suspected.^[18]
• October 21 – San Jose State freshman running back Camdan McWright was killed when he was struck by a school bus while riding an electric scooter near the university campus. The Spartans' scheduled game for the next day against New Mexico State was postponed and was planned be made up later in the season, however this never occurred.^[19]
• October 26 - The Big Ten Conference released its 2023 schedules and retained the divisional alignment. The conference is expected to eliminate divisions once USC and UCLA join in 2024.^[20]
• November 5 – SMU defeated Houston 77–63, with the two teams combining for a new FBS record of 140 points in regulation. The previous record of 137 had been set when Pittsburgh defeated Syracuse 76–61 in 2016. SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai also set school and American Athletic Conference records with 9 touchdown passes, and tied an FBS record for touchdown passes in a half with 7 in the first half.^[21]
• November 12 – Carlton Martial of Troy recorded his 546th tackle to break the Division I FBS record for most tackles in a career.^[22][23]
• November 13 – Three Virginia players—junior receivers Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr., and junior edge rusher D'Sean Perry—were killed in a mass shooting in a parking garage on UVA's campus in Charlottesville. Junior running back Mike Hollins and another UVA student were wounded in the incident, which took place as a group of students was returning from a class field trip. Another student on the trip, former Cavaliers running back Christopher Jones Jr., was arrested the next day on multiple felony charges, including three counts of second-degree murder.^[24][25]
• November 16 – In the wake of the on-campus shooting three days earlier, Virginia canceled its final home game of the season against Coastal Carolina.^[26]
• November 17 – During a meeting in San Francisco, the Regents of the University of California, the governing board of the University of California system, set a date of December 14 for a special meeting to make a final determination on UCLA's planned move to the Big Ten.^[27]
• November 21 – Virginia and Virginia Tech agreed to cancel their rivalry game, originally set for November 26, in the wake of the UVA shooting. Both teams had already been eliminated from bowl eligibility.^[28]
• November 30 - The Rose Bowl signed an agreement to expand the College Football Playoff to 12 teams, clearing the way to begin the new playoff structure starting in 2024.^[29]
• December 11 – Mississippi State coach Mike Leach had been hospitalized from a personal issue.^[30][31]
• December 12 – In the evening, Mike Leach died "from complications due to a heart condition".^[32][33]
• December 14 - The UC Regents approved UCLA's move to the Big Ten. Additionally, conditions were made to mitigate athletes such as investing $12 million in beneficial services including nutritional support and charter flights to reduce travel time. UCLA must also pay the University of California, Berkeley an additional $2 to $10 million due to the move affecting the latter's athletic program, with the precise total being made once the Pac-12 completes its upcoming media rights deal.^[34][35][36]

One team played its first FBS season in 2022. James Madison started a transition from Division I FCS in 2022, joining the Sun Belt Conference. As a full Sun Belt member, it met FBS scheduling requirements in the 2022 season, allowing it to be counted as an FBS opponent for scheduling purposes and to skip the first year of the normal two-year transition process.^[37]

Three other teams joined the Sun Belt from Conference USA in 2022. Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss, while initially reported to be making said move in 2023, announced their intent to move in 2022. C-USA had insisted that all three were bound to that league through the 2022–23 school year. Following a brief legal dispute,^[38] the parties reached a settlement allowing the schools to leave at the end of June.^[3]

The 2022 season was the last for 12 FBS teams in their current conferences or as FBS independents:

In addition to James Madison, two other FCS teams started transitions to FBS in the 2022 season.^[39] They will not join their future FBS conferences until 2023.

• Jacksonville State will leave the ASUN Conference for C-USA.
• Sam Houston will leave the Western Athletic Conference for C-USA.

This was the first season for San Diego State at Snapdragon Stadium, replacing the since-demolished San Diego Stadium after playing at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson for two seasons in 2020 and 2021. The Aztecs played their first game in the new stadium against the Arizona Wildcats on September 3, 2022.^[40]

Rankings through Week 9 reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 10 and beyond list College Football Playoff Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that were not in the top 10 in one of the two polls are noted.^{[clarification needed]}

• Week 1
  • No. 2 Ohio State defeated No. 5 Notre Dame, 21–10 (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH)
• Week 5
  • No. 5 Clemson defeated No. 10 NC State, 30–20 (Memorial Stadium, Clemson, SC)
• Week 7
  • No. 6 Tennessee defeated No. 3 Alabama, 52–49 (Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN)
  • No. 5 Michigan defeated No. 10 Penn State, 41–17 (Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI)
• Week 8
  • No. 10 Oregon defeated No. 9 UCLA, 45–30 (Autzen Stadium, Eugene, OR)
• Week 10
  • No. 3 Georgia defeated No. 1 Tennessee, 27–13 (Sanford Stadium, Athens, GA)
  • No. 10 LSU defeated No. 6 Alabama, 32–31 ^OT (Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA)
• Week 13
  • No. 3 Michigan defeated No. 2 Ohio State, 45–23 (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH)
• Week 14
  • No. 10 Kansas State defeated No. 3 TCU, 31–28 ^OT (2022 Big 12 Championship Game, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX)

• Orange Bowl
  • No. 6 Tennessee defeated No. 7 Clemson, 31–14 (Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL)
• Sugar Bowl
  • No. 5 Alabama defeated No. 9 Kansas State, 45–20 (Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, LA)
• Fiesta Bowl (CFB Playoff semifinal)
  • No. 3 TCU defeated No. 2 Michigan, 51–45 (State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ)
• Peach Bowl (CFB Playoff semifinal)
  • No. 1 Georgia defeated No. 4 Ohio State, 42–41 (Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA)
• National Championship
  • No. 1 Georgia defeated No. 3 TCU, 65–7 (SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA)

This section lists instances of unranked teams defeating AP Poll-ranked teams during the season.

During the regular season, unranked FBS teams defeated ranked FBS teams 44 times.

• September 3, 2022
  • Florida 29, No. 7 Utah 26
• September 10, 2022
  • Appalachian State 17, No. 6 Texas A&M 14
  • Marshall 26, No. 8 Notre Dame 21
  • Washington State 17, No. 19 Wisconsin 14
  • Texas Tech 33, No. 25 Houston 30 ^2OT
• September 17, 2022
  • Washington 39, No. 11 Michigan State 28
  • Tulane 17, No. 14 Kansas State 10
• September 24, 2022
  • Kansas State 41, No. 6 Oklahoma 34
  • Texas Tech 37, No. 22 Texas 34 ^OT
  • Middle Tennessee 45, No. 25 Miami (FL) 31
• September 30, 2022
  • UCLA 40, No. 15 Washington 32
• October 1, 2022
  • Mississippi State 42, No. 17 Texas A&M 24
  • TCU 55, No. 18 Oklahoma 24
  • Purdue 20, No. 21 Minnesota 10
  • Georgia Tech 26, No. 24 Pittsburgh 21
• October 8, 2022
  • South Carolina 24, No. 13 Kentucky 14
  • Notre Dame 28, No. 16 BYU 20
  • Arizona State 45, No. 21 Washington 38
• October 15, 2022
  • Oklahoma 52, No. 19 Kansas 42
  • Georgia Southern 45, No. 25 James Madison 38
• October 22, 2022
  • LSU 45, No. 7 Ole Miss 20
• October 29, 2022
  • Louisville 48, No. 10 Wake Forest 21
  • Notre Dame 41, No. 16 Syracuse 24
  • UCF 25, No. 20 Cincinnati 21
  • Missouri 23, No. 25 South Carolina 10
• November 4, 2022
  • Washington 24, No. 24 Oregon State 21
• November 5, 2022
  • Notre Dame 35, No. 5 Clemson 14
  • Texas 34, No. 13 Kansas State 27
  • Michigan State 23, No. 14 Illinois 15
  • Kansas 37, No. 18 Oklahoma State 16
  • Pittsburgh 19, No. 22 Syracuse 9
• November 12, 2022
  • Arizona 34, No. 9 UCLA 28
  • Boston College 21, No. 17 NC State 20
  • UConn 36, No. 19 Liberty 33
  • Purdue 31, No. 21 Illinois 24
• November 19, 2022
  • South Carolina 63, No. 5 Tennessee 38
  • Georgia Tech 21, No. 13 North Carolina 17
  • Arkansas 42, No. 14 Ole Miss 27
  • Navy 17, No. 17 UCF 14
  • Oklahoma 28, No. 24 Oklahoma State 13
• November 24, 2022
  • Mississippi State 24, No. 20 Ole Miss 22
• November 25, 2022
  • NC State 30, No. 18 North Carolina 27 ^2OT
• November 26, 2022
  • Texas A&M 38, No. 6 LSU 23
  • South Carolina 31, No. 7 Clemson 30
  • James Madison 47, No. 23 Coastal Carolina 7

Rankings in this section are based on the final CFP rankings released on December 4, 2022.

• December 30, 2022
  • Pittsburgh 37, No. 18 UCLA 35 (Sun Bowl)
  • Maryland 16, No. 23 NC State 12 (Duke's Mayo Bowl)
• January 2, 2023
  • No. 16 Tulane 46, No. 10 USC 45

The top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls.

On December 4, 2022, the College Football Playoff selection committee announced its final team rankings for the year.

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

• AP Player of the Year: Caleb Williams, QB, USC
• Lombardi Award (top player): Will Anderson Jr., LB, Alabama
• Maxwell Award (top player): Caleb Williams, QB, USC
• SN Player of the Year: Caleb Williams, QB, USC
• Walter Camp Award (top player): Caleb Williams, QB, USC

• Burlsworth Trophy (top player who began as walk-on): Stetson Bennett, QB, Georgia^[73]
• Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player): Jack Colletto, LB, Oregon State^[74]
• Jon Cornish Trophy (top Canadian player): Chase Brown, RB, Illinois^[75]
• Campbell Trophy ("academic Heisman"): Jack Campbell, LB, Iowa
• Academic All-American of the Year: Will Levis, QB, Kentucky^[76]
• Wuerffel Trophy (humanitarian-athlete): Dillan Gibbons, OL, Florida State

The Senior CLASS Award, honoring the outstanding senior student-athlete in several NCAA Division I sports, including football, has gone on hiatus. On September 13, 2022, the award operator, Premier Sports Management, announced that it would not present the award until it picks up a new corporate sponsor.^[77]

Quarterback

• Davey O'Brien Award: Max Duggan, TCU
• Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (senior/4th year quarterback): Max Duggan, TCU ^[78]
• Manning Award: Stetson Bennett, Georgia ^[79]

Running back

• Doak Walker Award: Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas

All receivers

• Fred Biletnikoff Award: Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee

Tight end

• John Mackey Award: Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia

Lineman:

• Rimington Trophy (center): Olusegun Oluwatimi, C, Michigan
• Outland Trophy (interior lineman on either offense or defense): Olusegun Oluwatimi, C, Michigan
• Joe Moore Award (offensive line): Michigan

• Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player): Will Anderson Jr., LB, Alabama^[80]
• Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): Will Anderson Jr., LB, Alabama ^[81]
• Lott Trophy (defensive impact): Will Anderson Jr., LB, Alabama

Defensive front

• Dick Butkus Award (linebacker): Jack Campbell, LB, Iowa
• Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end): Caleb Murphy, Ferris State^[82]

Defensive back

• Jim Thorpe Award: Tre Tomlinson, CB, TCU

• Lou Groza Award (placekicker): Christopher Dunn, NC State
• Ray Guy Award (punter): Adam Korsak, Rutgers
• Jet Award (return specialist): Derius Davis, TCU
• Patrick Mannelly Award (long snapper): Chris Stoll, Penn State
• Peter Mortell Holder of the Year Award: Noah White, Louisiana Tech

• AFCA Coach of the Year: Sonny Dykes, TCU^[83]
• AP Coach of the Year: Sonny Dykes, TCU^[84]
• Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year: Willie Fritz, Tulane^[85]
• Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year: Sonny Dykes, TCU^[86]
• George Munger Award: Willie Fritz, Tulane^[87]
• Home Depot Coach of the Year: Sonny Dykes, TCU
• Paul "Bear" Bryant Award: Sonny Dykes, TCU^[88]
• Walter Camp Coach of the Year: Sonny Dykes, TCU

• AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year: Mike Tressel, DC/LB, Cincinnati^[89]
• Broyles Award: Garrett Riley, OC/QB, TCU^[90]

This is restricted to coaching changes taking place on or after May 1, 2022, and will include any changes announced after a team's last regularly scheduled game but before its bowl game. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2022, see 2021 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching changes.

This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.

This is the final season of the Big Ten's television deal with ESPN, Fox and the Big Ten Network, and Conference USA's television deal with ESPN, Stadium, CBS Sports Network.^[111][112]

Prior to the season, ESPN signed a sublicence agreement with NFL Network. Select AAC, MAC and Sun Belt ESPN controlled conference games aired on the network as part of the agreement.^[113][114] The University of Oklahoma signed an agreement with ESPN+ prior to the season to launch SoonerVision. SoonerVision streams one regular season home game per year as well as the spring football game. Previously these aired on pay-per-view through Bally Sports Oklahoma.^[115]

Jason Benetti, formerly working for ESPN, and Noah Eagle, formerly working for CBS, joined Fox Sports as the #2 and #3 college football play-by-play commentators respectively. Benetti replaced Joe Davis, who became Fox's #1 MLB play-by-play commentator.^[116][117]