It's been a blazing start from college football's true freshmen so far in the 2024 season. Dylan Stewart saved South Carolina's game (season?) in a Week 1 win over Old Dominion, Michigan State's Nick Marsh lit up Maryland and Caden Durham helped LSU survive on the road against the Gamecocks.
Those are just a few of the freshman highlights so far this year. Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith would also like a word.
Thus, let's look at some other freshman who've shown out at the quarter point of the 2024 season.
DYLAN RAIOLA'S SPECIAL START
It's early — like, very early — but there's an argument to be made that Dylan Raiola's first three starts are better than any true freshman quarterback this decade. First, the stats and then the context:
He's completed 59 of 80 passes (73.8%) for 670 yards (8.4 per attempt) and five touchdowns to one interception.
Raiola ranks 24th in ESPN's QBR metric, and his 77.6 PFF grade is 34th among FBS starting quarterbacks who've taken at least 50% of their team's snaps.
Yeaaaaaaaaaaa Dylan Raiola is worth all the hype tbh pic.twitter.com/NXlXvNpvfV
— Ryan Roberts (@RiseNDraft) September 13, 2024
That's an excellent start. It's also unusual in this era where transfer quarterbacks tend to nab jobs coming out of fall camp.
Looking at the data since 2020, only a handful of quarterbacks started their team's first three games and found even a modicum of instant success. The most prominent example is likely Seth Henigan, who threw for 841 yards and eight touchdowns with a 61.3 completion percentage while leading Memphis to a 3-0 start in 2021.
Two examples are Ken Seals, who started Vanderbilt's first three games in 2020, and Jeff Sims, who did the same for Georgia Tech that same year. Those two went a combined 1-5 in their debuts.
Nebraska fans are certainly hoping Raiola's start results in a career like Henigan's more than Seals or Sims. The early returns suggest it will be.
By the way, Raiola is the first Top247 five-star true freshman quarterback to start his team's first three games since JT Daniels did so for USC back in 2018. He's a rarity even among the best signal-callers every cycle.
THE 2024 WR CLASS IS AS ADVERTISED
Let's examine at the top eight wide receivers from the 2024 class, all of whom ranked inside the top 40 of the Top247 rankings, and how they've fared so far this season:
No. 1 Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State: Eleven receptions for 211 yards (19.2 per catch) and three touchdowns in two games.
No. 2 Cam Coleman, Auburn: Four receptions for for 115 yards (28.8 per catch) and one touchdown in two games.
No. 3 Ryan Williams, Alabama: Ten receptions for 285 yards (28.5 per catch) and four touchdowns in three games.
No. 4 TJ Moore, Clemson: Four receptions for 51 yards (12.8 per catch) and one touchdown in two games.
No. 5 Micah Hudson, Texas Tech: Four receptions for 47 yards (11.8 per catch) in three games.
No. 6 Gatlin Bair, Oregon: Sitting out the 2024 season to go on an LDS mission.
No. 7 Ryan Wingo, Texas: Seven receptions for 197 yards (28.1 per catch) and one touchdown in three games.
No. 8 Perry Thompson, Auburn: Three receptions for 114 yards (38 per catch) and one touchdown in three games.
Smith and Williams lead their teams — both of which rank in the top 10 — in receiving yards, with Williams leading the country in yards per reception among those with at least 10 catches. And yes, those in Lubbock would like to see a bit more of Hudson.
But the early overall results back up the hype this class generated coming into the year. Said 247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins in January: "It's unique. A ton of different variety in terms of skill sets and sizes, if you were looking for a wide receiver this was the year."
It's not just the five-stars and the borderline five-stars who are finding success.