In 1972, the NCAA tied up a loose end. Having already ruled that college freshmen in other sports (and at other levels) would be eligible for varsity ball, it declared that the same rules would apply in major college football and basketball. In an effort to cut costs, it added an extra layer of lore to already lore-rich sports.
“It is not certain that all the known powers of football and basketball use players that coaches may be too inexperienced,” reported the New York Times in January 1972. “A recent vote among the University’s top football coaches reported that they were opposed 2-to-1 to employing freshman teams.
Did this change cause a massive ripple? Not necessarily. College football wasn’t suddenly dominated by 18-year-olds. But without this change, the legend of college basketball Hall of Famer Quinn Buckner — who started for both the basketball and football teams as a true freshman at Indiana in 1972-73 — would have become less rich. Tony Dorsett wouldn’t have become the best running back in the country the moment he set foot on Pitt’s campus. Georgia wouldn’t have ridden Herschel Walker to the 1980 national title. Jeremiah Smith wouldn’t have been the best player in the first two rounds of the 2024 College Football Playoff. And we would not have been exposed to quite as much greatness from some of the most incredible stars the sport has seen in the past half-century.
In 2022, I commemorated the 50th anniversary of the rule update through the directory of a true freshman’s 50 most productive seasons in elementary school football. Since Smith, Harold Perkins Jr. and others have combined dynamic starts since then, it’s time to expand the list to 60. Some of the lower players have had illustrious careers at school and professional level; others peaked early. Let’s celebrate them all.
A three-sport star in high school, Lee showed up on campus and immediately formed one of the nation’s best receiver tandems with Robert Woods. He had a solid September (four games, 13 catches, 179 yards, two TDs) and a good October (four games, 21 catches, 355 yards, three TDs), but he was the best receiver in the country in November, reeling in 39 passes for 609 yards and six scores. His 224-yard performance against UCLA was his official coming-out party and set the table for a Biletnikoff Award win the next season.
It was one of the hyped top offensive line customers of the 2000s, and it promptly lived up to the hype. He was tasked with starting from fall camp, he was only the fourth true rookie to start at BAMA — and he was an apparent selection for the All-Chilly SEC team. He went on to become one of the first big stars in Nick Saban’s tide, eventually winning the Outland Trophy (and sixth overall in the NFL Draft) after his junior season.
A top-30 recruit who chose the Bear Raid offense over Oklahoma and other proven powers and immediately thrived. He caught 14 passes for 471 yards and five TDs in his first three games, had 124 yards and a score in an epic 61-58 win over TCU and finished the year with 197 yards and two scores in Baylor’s first Cotton Bowl in 34 years.
It’s a defensive version of 250 pounds at Kent State. He has become a Pro Bowl guard in the NFL. He’s just a very smart football player, and he’s become a fast star, recording 20 catches for losses and 10 sacks and earning Mac Defensive Player of the Year Honors. He would also be at least thirteen TFLs in each of the next 3 seasons, and the most level-headed player in what may have been the most productive team at Kent State, the 2012 edition that came here near an offer from Orange Bowl.
A three-star recruit from Washington, Jack not only found enough playing time to finish fifth on the Bruins in tackles (76) and third in tackles for loss (seven) as a first-year star, he also ranked second in rushing touchdowns (seven). He had five tackles, 59 rushing yards and four touchdowns in a 41-31 win over Washington. That game alone might have gotten him on the list.
Former NFL head coach Dick Vermeil, running for ABC as a television analyst, called Green “the best version of a freshman I’ve ever noticed in high school football” in a 1992 broadcast. a rock, capable of shutting down Alabama tight end Eric. Curry in the SEC championship game. In 1993 he was completely dry, but unfortunately injuries slowed him down from there.
You don’t see a ton of receivers on this list — players at this position rarely made any sort of measurable first-year impact until the 2010s, while running backs were leaned on heavily from the moment the rule changed. (I chose 11 RBs and could have chosen about 25 more.)
That said, Bell was a no-brainer. Filling in for an injured Rondale Moore, he gained at least 100 yards in six of his last nine games and finished with 86 catches, 1,035 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Purdue’s 2019 signing class featured six four-star prospects; two became all-timers. While Bell was finding his way in the Boilermakers’ offense, Karlaftis was erupting for 17 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and an interception. He wasn’t just a playmaker, though. His elite motor and pursuit abilities helped him finish the year third on the team in overall tackles as a 265-pound defensive end.
Nick Saban’s fourth LSU team surged from 8-5 to 13-1 and won a share of the national title, due in part to a dominant defense that was led by the blue-chip freshman safety. Landry recorded 76 tackles and two picks in the regular season, then keyed an utterly dominant performance against Heisman winner Jason White and Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.
The average Georgia score increased five problems consisting of the game in 2012, and the Dawgs arrived a few seconds after a position in the BCS FIT championship, basically due to the paintings of this first year of Northern Carolineal that only needed 8 races To win a hundred yards in its sound in its sound in their first school game, then they hit 8 times more in triple figures. It has 122 yards and two touchdowns in the dry championship in the Alabama adjustment.
From 1972 to 1975, USC’s John McKay didn’t start a single freshman even though he had the option to. Budde gave McKay’s successor, John Robinson, no choice. The Kansas City product (and son of former Kansas City Chief Ed Budde) barged his way into the lineup and stayed there until 1979, when he was named a unanimous All-American and won the Lombardi Award.
Do you want to cause memorable impression as a first -year boy? Try to run 232 yards opposite to Georgia compared to 106,656 spectators. At least it worked for Lewis. He aligned along Peyton Manning, finished his first season with 1,364 yards, 266 reception yards and nine touchdowns combined when the Vols won 11 games, won the SEC EAST and played at Orange Bowl.
Admittedly, only the most productive freshman moment in BAMA’s recruiting elegance in 2016 (we’ll get to No. 1 a bit), but Williams combined speed and innate strength and the movie’s obsession with dividends from the Alabama weight room to assemble a one-year freshman timer. In two years, he’s an impressive U. S. draft pick.
He never took a step forward, his pin score was between 130 and 143 in the 4 years of his career, however, Henne was a good fortune of reading. He took the Wolverines to a 9-3 season. In an ancient defeat by Rose Bowl against Texas, he faced Vince Young, throwing for 227 yards and 4 touchdowns.
During his first year on campus, Downs was perhaps the most productive defender of the last Nick Saban team in Alabama. Georgia’s place was the best tide platform with 107, and achieved two interceptions, four assists, 3,5 silver for loss and a clearing setback to take good measure. Now in Ohio State, it has been a key taxpayer for a CFP team twice in two years.
Lane Kiffin signed multiple transfer running backs heading into 2022, but that didn’t stop this three-star freshman from immediately seizing the job of workhorse back. In a five-game span in SEC play, Judkins rushed 133 times for 804 yards and eight touchdowns on his way to a 1,565-yard, 16-score campaign. He added another 1,158 yards as a sophomore before transferring to Ohio State.
QUARTERBACK
Trevor Lawrence, Clemson (2018)
Jalen Hurts, Alabama (2016)
Philip Rivers, NC State (2000)
Jamelle Holieway, Oklahoma (1985)
Sam Howell, North Carolina (2019)
Robert Griffin III, Baylor (2008)
Chad Henne, Michigan (2004)
Chris Leak, Florida (2003)
Tommy Hodson, LSU (1986)
Josh Rosen, UCLA (2015)
Return
Herschel Walker, Georgia (1980)
Ron Dayne, Wisconsin (1996)
Tony Dorsett, Pitt (1973)
Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma (2004)
Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin (2017)
Marshall Faulk, SDSU (1991)
Samaje Periné, Oklahoma (2014)
Maurice Clarett, State of Ohio (2002)
Quinkh Judkins, Ole Miss (2022)
Jamal Lewis, Tennessee (1997)
Wide receiver/tight end
Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State (2024)
Mike Williams, USC (2002)
Rondale Moore, Purdue (2018)
David Bell, Purdue (2019)
KD cannon, Baylor (2014)
Marqise Lee, USC (2011)
RNONY Daniels, Castaño (1999)
Larry Fitzgerald, Pitt (2002)
Sammy Watkins, Clemson (2011)
Kevin Concepción, North Carolina State (2023)
OFFENSIVE LINE
Orlando Pace, Ohio State (1994)
Bill Fralic, Pitt (1981)
Cam Robinson, Alabama (2014)
Jonah Williams, Alabama (2016)
Brad Budde, USC (1976)
Reggie Green, Florida (1992)
Andre Smith, Alabama (2006)
Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas (2022)
Winston Justice, USC (2002)
Korey Stringer, Ohio State (1992) 44. DT William Perry, Clemson Tigers (1981)
With 6 feet 3 inches and 320 pounds, the player who would be known as Fridge replaced the game. Danny Ford’s tigers went from 20. 2 points per game in 1980 to 8. 8 in 1981, thanks in part to the devouring space to the front. Who neutralized Dave Rimington de Nebraska, the homonym of the prize awarded to the most productive environment in school football, in a 22-15 victory in the Orange Bowl that won the first national school title.
Gem of Art Briles’ first signature elegance in Waco, Texas, RG3 drove for 2,091 yards and rushed for 843. Combined touchdowns, near the top-15 upsets of the Missouri and Texas teams, served an opinion for what is going to happen. He won the school’s first Heisman 3 years later.
In his first game as a Buckeye, the Warren, Ohio, top-tier player (and 30-of-30 career player), rushed for 175 yards in a Texas Tech eruption. In his last game, against Miami in the 2002 BCS championship game, he prevented Sean Taylor from being picked away from the Hurricanes star, and then scored the winning touchdown for the national name in overtime.
Clarett’s life has experienced many twists and turns since his breakout collegiate season. But this season almost perfect.
One of the most heralded recruits in the 1992 class, the Valdosta native was starting by the end of September and became the first true freshman to lead Georgia in tackles as a true freshman. He racked up 114 tackles in all and led the Dawgs to 10 wins and a No. 3 ranking in scoring defense. Only injuries kept him from four seasons of triple-digit tackles in his career.
After falling to 8-3 and occupying position 44 in defense a year earlier, the Fighting Irish of Ara Parsghian jumped to 11-0 in 1973 with a defense that generated only 8. 1 points per game (fourth in the country). The most difference factors? A couple of first -year students. The Luther Bradley cornerback advanced in high school, while Browner, selected in the long -term N ° 8 in the NFL draft, gave no delay to Notre give me a point of pass that lacked.
Perhaps the most promoted rookie that Virginia has hired, Brooks made the difference, leading the team with 117 cups, 10 tfl and four catches when the cavaliers passed from the 50 to 26th place in defensive annotations and beat Pitt in the continental Tire Bowl. Brooks made 12 cup). He obtained prestige All-American in 2004 and played 11 years as a professional.
You are not the only defensive player in 60 years to win the Heisman trophy if you do not start attracting attention immediately. Woodson, Ohio’s record corridor, arrived in Michigan to play defensive and became a first player almost instantly. He had five attended in his first season, adding two in a 31-23 rivalry victory over Ohio State.
Barnett, a 4-year-old freshman from the Nashville region, experienced 3 games with at least 3 TFLs and two with at least 3Arrays. He contributed to a defense that stepped up enough to get volunteers into their first 4 seasons. bowl. He finished his 3-year career with 52 TFLs and 32 (then had a botched comeback that won the Super Bowl as an NFL draft).
Purdue hasn’t finished a season ranked in 21 years, but it has somehow become one of the nation’s most reliable providers of freshman breakthroughs. Along with George Karlaftis and two of the sport’s best ever freshman receivers, it produced Thieneman, a mid-three-star signee who immediately staked out a place in the lineup and finished his freshman season with 106 tackles, six interceptions, two breakups and two forced fumbles. After another stellar season, he is transferring to Oregon for 2025.
First term of the moment Mack Brown’s time in North Carolina, Howell introduced for a 519-yard, 4-yarder-and-no-pick overall while UNC earned tight wins opposite South Carolina and Miami to start his run, then finished the normal game. Season with 401 yards and 3 opposite scores to your rival state of NC. His last overall: a 3,641-yard overall, 38 TD, 7 Int.
He can say without delay that Pick 4 stars in the genuine deal, but Morrison announced his presence in one of Notre Dame’s biggest games of the season. Against Clemson in early November, he resumed two passes, creating an Irish touch with the first and taking the back moment 96 yards for a score in a 35-14 game. He also picked 3 opposing passes to Boston College, finishing the year with six choices, 4 breaks, and a TFL among 33 silvers. Dynamite.
Many first -year students have had games, but almost none have been ashamed so well to a national force.
Rondale Moore catches the pass and breaks numerous tackles en route to a 43-yard touchdown.
Moore’s 12-catch, 170-yard performance drove a resounding 49-20 blowout of No. 2 Ohio State midway through his first season. He finished it with 114 catches, 1,258 yards and 12 touchdowns — ridiculous numbers — but he might have made this list even if he’d just retired after the Ohio State game.
The only first -year student in a veteran defense, Rice seduced coaches in their first education and seduced parties at war at a while later. He recorded 3 bags in his first adjustment in the race in the race (in Houston), ended the year with nine of them and won the two honors of the All-Big Ten Team moment and the first year of the year of the conference. He would win the award for the defensive recruit of the NFL year 4 years later.
A member of the Southwest Conference and the Texas High School Hall of Fame and perhaps the Reds Raiders’ biggest defensive back, Saul exploded at the level with 8 interceptions in the first year, then hit this logo two years later in his path. to 25 career options. No player has surpassed 22 since then. He’s also a guy who returns without delay.
WR Jeremiah Smith, State of Ohio (2024)
OLB Harold Perkins Jr. , LSU (2022)
CB Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame (2022)
S Dillon Thieneman, Purdue (2023)
RB Quinkh Judkins, Ole Miss (2022)
S Caleb Downs, Alabama (2023)
By Colin Simmons, Texas (2024)
WR Kevin Concepcion, North Carolina State (2023)
DT Rueben Bain, Miami (2023)
WR Ryan Williams, Alabama (2024)
OL Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas (2022)
LB Sammy Brown, Clemson (2024)
Ol Will Campbell, LSU (2022) 1
OLB Abdul Carter, Penn State (2022)
CB Will Johnson, Michigan (2022)30. LB Woodrow Lowe, Alabama Crimson Tide (1972)
First, he became the first freshman (and one of the first black players) to see Bear Bryant’s infield at Alabama. He later named him special group captain after having one and both kicked in their first two games. In the season, in which Bama 4 is under an undefeated record, he is the starting linebacker (for both, one of the next 3 seasons, he is also an All-American).
Legendary Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster, had to resort to two first -year corners in 2013, Fuller and Brandon Facyson, and although it is almost horrible, exactly the opposite happened in Blacksburg, Virginia. A first -level Baltimore player (and one of many fullers will play for Tech), Fuller completed six passes (one more than Facyson) and added 58 cup and 2. 5 TFL.
The load-carrying feature back has become rarer in the 21st century, but that just makes the 245-pound Perine an old soul. He rushed 34 times for 242 yards against West Virginia, 25 for 213 against Texas Tech and, in his masterpiece, 34 for 427 and five TDs in a record-setting performance against Kansas. He finished the year with an incredible 1,713 yards and 21 scores.
Before he rounded out his career with virtually any and all honors (consensus All-American (twice), Lombardi and Butkus awards, etc. ), the Miami Northwestern graduate and longtime college football Hall of Famer was an extraordinary 17-year-old, making 21 tackles in a single game (!!) and 133 in the normal season and leading the Seminoles to a blockbuster Bowl win against Penn State in his hometown.
Everything I said above about few receivers making huge impressions before the 2010s? It doesn’t even slightly apply to Williams, who caught 81 passes for 1,265 yards and 14 touchdowns in his first season after moving from Tampa to Los Angeles. He immediately became Carson Palmer’s top weapon as Palmer won the Heisman and USC leaped from 6-6 to 11-2 and finished fourth in the AP poll.
Recruited nationwide as a defensive player, Faulk instead chose the one school that wanted him as a running back. It turned out pretty well. In just his second game, he rushed for 386 yards and seven touchdowns against Pacific. By the end of the season, he had amassed 1,630 yards and 23 touchdowns in just 218 combined rushes and receptions, an all-time debut in what would become an all-time career.
A scroll through Manning’s stat line surprises you. Two interceptions, adding up to an 83-yard return in his first start, plus 53 tackles and a 10-yard punt return on average?Pretty smart for a freshman. Did he also lead the team with 10 tackles for loss?That cannot be true!
Was. And he did all this after playing minor league baseball all summer.
Robinson, the pride of Monroe, Louisiana, was the third general recruit of the 2014 category and quickly played like this. The 6-6 and 320 pound player has become the first first-year student to start as a left defense for a Nick Saban team and dominated the Florida star defensive wing, Dante Fowler Jr. , in his fourth collegial game only . It only allowed 3 catches throughout the season.
With the signing of players such as the local star Troy Aikman, Barry Switzer of Oklahoma began to move away from his priorities and options. But when Aikman broke his leg in early 1985, Switzer put a rookie media from Los Angeles and won the national name with option. Holieway totaled 862 yards and 8 scores, and although he completed only 24 passes throughout the season, they totaled 517 yards and five touchdowns.
Big things were expected of the blue-chipper from Clarkston, Georgia, but it was still a surprise when he commanded a spot in the lineup and just … kept … picking off … passes. He had eight interceptions by the end of his first year, and the Tigers finished fourth in scoring defense, holding eight opponents to 10 or fewer points in a 10-2 campaign.
After a 13-1 run and a victory in the Peach Bowl, Houston head coach Tom Herman made headlines by signing Oliver, a local product and one of the top five recruits. The freshman lived up to all expectations, finishing third in the country with 22. 5 tackles for loss and adding five sacks, 3 forced fumbles and nine assists. He also finished fourth on the team in overall tackles, something almost unheard of for a 290-pound player.
Wisconsin had to update his two main runners in 2016. He officially needed an adjustment in Taylor to catch up. He added 223 yards and 3 scores against Florida Atlantic in the second week, then hit Nebraska for 249, Purdue for 219 and Indian . A total of 1,977 yards and thirteen annotations. Seasonal defeat.
A product of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Simmons has been one of the country’s top productive linebackers since Almaximum his first snap. A risk from sideline to sideline, he named the National Rookie of the Year after making 150 tackles, 11 for loss. Somehow, he surpassed that number in each of the next two seasons, adjusting one of the decade’s top celebrity cover-ups in the process.
The teams did not throw the ball a ton in 1977, which makes Easley’s exploits even more shocking: the first year student of Chesapeake, Virginia, chose nine passes in 1977, winning his first of 4 consecutive appearances in the team of all PAC-10 conferences. Also 3 times American). And after one of the maximum mythical defensive races of all time, he decided the room in the 1981 NFL draft . . . and has become an All-Pro in 1982.
One of college football’s first wonderful early records also has one of its most productive quarters. He showed up for 798 yards in his first two college games and finished the year with 3,054 yards and 25 hits, while NC State went from 6-6 and 96 in scoring offense to 8-4 and 25. Two years later, he led Wolfpack to its only season with double-digit wins.
defensive line
Hugh Green, Pitt (1977)
Tommie Harris, Oklahoma (2001)
Ed Oliver, Houston (2016)
Simeon Rice, Illinois (1992)
Derek Barnett, Tennessee (2014)
Ross Browner, Notre Dame (1973)
William Perry, Clemson (1981)
George Karlaftis, Purdue (2019)
Roosevelt Nix, state of Kent (2010)
Rodrique Wright, Texas (2002)
Supporter
Andy Katzenmoyer, Ohio State (1996)
Luke Kuechly, Boston College (2009)
Harold Perkins Jr., LSU (2022)
Anthony Simmons, Clemson (1995)
Marvin Jones, Florida State (1990)
Woodrow Lowe, Alabama (1972)
Ahmad Brooks, Virginia (2003)
Randall Godfrey, Georgia (1992)
Myles Jack, UCLA (2013)
Lucius Sanford, Georgia Tech (1974)
DEFENSIVE BACK
Derek Stingley Jr. , LSU (2019)
Kenny Easley, UCLA (1977)
Robert O’Neal, Clemson (1989)
Ricky Manning, UCLA (1999)
Kendall Fuller, Virginia Tech (2013)
Tracy Saul, Texas Tech (1989)
Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame (2022)
Dillon Thieneman, Purdue (2023)
Charles Woodson, Michigan (1995)
Caleb Downs, Alabama (2023)
SPECIAL TEAMS
K Cade York, LSU (2019)
Professor Ryan Switzer, North Carolina (2013)
Fr. Tom Tupa, Ohio State (1984)
PR TED GINN, OHIO STATE (2004)
K/P Austin Rehkow, Idaho (2013)
K Sebastian Janikowski, Florida State (1997)
KR/PR RAGHhib Imail, Notre Dame (1988)
Captain/p. Robbie Keen, California (1987)
K Evan McPherson, Florida (2018)
PORY TAYLOR, IowA (2020) 15. DT Tommie Harris, Oklahoma Sooners (2001)
A ridiculous athlete and one of the most sensible clients of Texas in the 2001 class, the fast weight of 275 pounds signed for the Protective National Champions and entered an alignment that already had stars such as Roy Williams, Antonio Perkins and Rocky Calmus. Each and every one of the games began as a first -year student and ended with 18 tacle for loss while the Sooners finished seconds in the scoring defense and won 11 games.
A five-star dynamo from Cypress, Texas, the fast but undersized Perkins made his career modestly. But then he reversed a change: In the final seven games of 2022, he recorded 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks, adding 4 sacks in a close win over Arkansas. Injury treatment, his career has had ups and downs since then, but he might have been the most productive player in the country in part of 2022.
Like Perkins, Stingley, a recruit of the most sensible red baton, continued in the first year. (And like Perkins, he could not reach those same notes of height in the following seasons). A recruitment of Red Stick, Singley Jr. , was intelligent in September, registering 10 silver with an interception. It was right in October, establishing 3 additional passes while LSU was located in the national name.
From November on, he was the best defender in the country, locking down half the field and recording a pair of interceptions in an SEC championship-game blowout of Georgia as the Tigers cruised to the national title.
Given the keys to a national title contender, Hurts led the Tide to a 14-1 record and earned the SEC’s offensive player of the year award by throwing for 2,780 yards and 23 touchdowns and rushing for 954 yards and 13 more scores. He had some huge passing games — 28-for-37 for 347 yards against Mississippi State — and when the pass wasn’t working, he served as one of the nation’s best running backs.
Few freshmen enter school with more certainty than Smith. He was the number four prospect in the elegance of 202 four, and he made a quick impression with a series of wild (and one-handed) catches during spring training. And then it came out here and they were given beyond exaggeration.
Smith had 3 hundred-yard games (and yes, a few other seizures in one hand) in the normal season, which makes things very difficult to routine.
Following a frustrating, 35-yard performance in a loss to Michigan he has indeed been the best player in the 2024 CFP. In two games — maybe the two best games any team has played all season — Smith caught 13 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns as the Buckeyes romped over Tennessee and Oregon by a combined 83-38. Smith’s playoff performance has just confirmed what we already knew: He’s a generational talent.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Pitt had as much elite and future pro talent as any roster in the country. Fralic still became an immediate standout, replacing All-American Mark May with almost no drop-off whatsoever. By the end of his college career, he was a two-time unanimous All-American and saw his No. 79 retired at Pitt, then he became a four-time Pro Bowler and a member of the NFL’s all-1980s team.
As good as quarterback Jason White had been in 2003, Oklahoma was held back at times by a merely decent run game. That was not a problem in 2004. Peterson not only stepped into the lineup as a freshman but carried a huge load, rushing 339 times for 1,925 yards and 15 touchdowns as the Sooners charged to 12-1 and a third Big 12 title in five years.
A Cincinnati native, Kuechly was a relatively anonymous recruit, choosing BC over offers from the likes of Duke and Illinois. But he instantly became one of the country’s best defenders, finishing 2009 with 158 tackles, 13 TFLs and a pick-six. And then he somehow got even better, averaging 187 tackles over his next two seasons, then becoming the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year by 2013.
Freshmen didn’t get too many chances to stand out during that initial 1972 season. Then came Dorsett. The pride of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, exploded for 1,686 yards and 13 touchdowns as the Panthers jumped from 1-10 to 6-5-1 in Johnny Majors’ first year in charge. By 1976, Dorsett was rushing for more than 2,000 yards and carrying Pitt to the national title. He rushed for 6,526 yards in college, then went for 12,739 yards in the pros. He was an all-time great, and it started the moment he set foot on campus.
College football had plenty of hard hitters in 1996 — Pat Fitzgerald, Peter Boulware, Chris Canty, Mike Vrabel — but Katzenmoyer was the most intimidating defender in the country from his first snap. His freshman stats were something you would expect from a video game create-a-player: 85 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 6 pass breakups. He took an already-loaded defense to a completely different level.
Considered as a clone of Jerome Bettis, the philadelphia store of 250 pounds, and one of the best most productive school disk pitchers of all time, maintained its commitment to Wisconsin despite a backward impulse of Ohio State and without delay began to produce probable statistics. He ran for 2,109 yards and 21 touchdowns as a first -year student, then finished his career with 7,125 yards, 71 scores, a Heisman and a couple of Rose Bowl. Win. absurdo.
Lawrence, one of the most hyped rookies in history, lived up to the hype. He’s thrown for 3,280 yards, 30 touchdowns and just four interceptions, and he’s improved one way or another down the stretch: In his last four games, he’s finished off 66 percent of his attempts. passed and threw for 1,185 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions as the Tigers carried a 15-0 record and their second national title in three years.
To remember, Luke Fickell: “Here is a guy who measures 6 feet 8 inches and weighs 330 pounds, 50 pounds more than me, and I can’t even approach. I said:” God is right. “But I don’t know if I still believe it because I paint a lot and I can’t even run with this guy. “
Perhaps the most productive offensive lineman in school football history is the most productive since almost his first practice in Columbus.
“Oh my God, a freshman!”
Sometimes the passage of time creates legends that surpass how good a player really was. That’s not the case with Walker. Georgia had gone just 6-5 in 1979 and might have done so again in 1980 if not for the impossibly strong freshman, who rushed for 1,616 yards and 15 touchdowns and saved an extra gear for whenever the Dawgs needed it. And in the Sugar Bowl, with the national title on the line, Walker fought through an injured shoulder to rush for 150 yards and two touchdowns in a 17-10 win over Notre Dame.
Undercover Jimbo. . . Marcos May. . . Russ Grimm. . . Rickey Jackson. . . Pitt was fortunate to possess some of the most productive lineage skills that high school football had produced at that time, but Green still stood out without delay. In Natchez, Mississippi, there are two players at once: on the one hand, he is an elite, fast linebacker who made 92 tackles his freshman year, then averaged over 120 for the rest of his career. On the other hand, he was the most productive defensive end in the sport, credited with 12 sacks, five forced fumbles, and 21 quarterback kills in year one, then replicating that for each of the next 3 seasons (four-year average: 13. 3 captures, 19 dispatches). Linebackers weren’t meant to be so dangerous, and defensive ends weren’t meant to be so ridiculously fast.
Green was selected to the second All-American team in his first year, and honestly, that could have been an injustice. But the electorate compensated him by making him the Holder of Consensus for each of the next 3 seasons.