Why 2016 will be a year of change in college football

— -- This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's September 5 NFL Preview Issue. Subscribe today!

AS THE SOUTH CAROLINA Gamecocks shifted stations during their first practice of August, new head coach Will Muschamp sang along to the tune blaring through the speakers that spoke to the entirety of the college football world. "CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES!" Its performer, David Bowie, is gone -- a reminder that time stops for no man. No, not even Steve Spurrier. The game's ceaseless march forward always brings with it a long list of annual ch-ch-changes. "I've been a college coach since 1982, and nothing is the same now except maybe the number of points they give you when you score," Duke coach David Cutcliffe says. "It'd be nice if someone made a list for me of what's different for every fall." Good news, Coach! We've done just that, creating a must-know crib sheet on the modifications that are in store as the 2016 season kicks off. We'll let you know when that changes too.

OLD FACES, NEW PLACES

While coaches debate the transfer rule, transfers themselves are busy getting fitted for new unis. More than 50 athletes went the postgrad route in '16, with history repeating at Oregon, where an FCS QB will look to lead the Ducks for a second straight year. (More graduate QBs in 2016 will play their final year of eligibility at a new school than from 2006 to 2011 combined.) Dakota Prukop comes to Eugene via Montana State, where he threw for 5,584 yards and 46 TDs. Davis Webb posted similar numbers at Texas Tech (5,557/46), then grabbed his diploma and headed to Cal. Meanwhile, a pair of would-be superstars seek second shots in Texas: Former Sooner, and Katy Perry crush, Trevor Knight takes over at A&M; Kenny Hill, the Artist Formerly Known as Kenny Trill and onetime heir to Johnny Football's throne in College Station, moves north to TCU as an undergrad. Both QBs flatlined after hot starts -- Knight threw 14 TDs to 12 INTs as a full-time starter in '14; Hill exploded for 511 yards in his starting debut the same year but was benched by Week 10. Still, Oklahoma will long recall Knight's signature win, an upset over Alabama in the 2014 Sugar Bowl. If he digs up another in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 22, he might just save Kevin Sumlin's job.