Hackenberg looked much better as a Freshman, which probably has more to do with coaching and offensive scheme. Although, I believe he is overrated because of the amount he is talked about compared to his success.
The Big 12 has not fielded a worthy defense in like 10 years it seems. Hopefully Charlie Strong changes that because I personally don't like watching basketball on turf. The Pac 12 is similar in that there defenses are pretty bad other than Stanford. Big Ten is atrocious. SEC has BEASTS running all over the place and can't be touched.
Really college football seems a lot more even this year than ever before, and parity is all over the place. I wouldn't be surprised to see no undefeated teams at the end of the season, and multiple two loss teams. There are literally no complete teams, like a Alabama 2012 or Florida State 2013.