Welcome to college football Freshman Class of 2013.
The first collegiate appearance is always a trying time for a freshman football player. Most freshmen players were stars at their individual high schools and already have scrapbooks full of accolades and honors courtesy of the multiple media services and magazines that herald the subculture that is college football recruiting.
But for the freshmen player college football is different. They will be facing players that are faster, stronger and more talented than anybody they have ever lined up against in high school. Regardless of how many prep honors a player has achieved in his career, that first college game is intimidating. Some players are hardly noticeable in their first game, others, however, rise to the occasion.
Some of those players played in the Southeastern Conference.
Perhaps none of the freshmen rose to the occasion more than Ole Miss wide receiver Laquon Treadwell and Arkansas running back Alex Collins.
Treadwell was named by the league’s SEC Freshman of the Week. Treadwell, a 6-foor-2, 215 pound wide receiver out of Crete, Illinois, led Ole Miss with nine catches for 82 yards, including scoring the first points of his career when he grabbed a two-point conversion pass in the Rebels’ 39-35 win at Vanderbilt.
His nine catches are an Ole Miss freshman record and the most by a Rebel since Mike Espy had nine against Auburn in 2005. At one point in the game on Saturday, he caught a pass on three straight plays and four out of five in another stretch.
Treadwell led his high school team, Crete-Monee, to the Class 6A state title and hauled in 81 catches for 1,424 yards and 16 touchdowns, while rushing for 257 yards and seven more TDs on the ground. Treadwell also played defense in high school and had 56 tackles and six interceptions as a senior.
But Hugh Freeze will be counting on Treadwell’s contributions to the Ole Miss passing game and not on defense.
Ole Miss’ rookie crop was as good as advertised against Vanderbilt. Besides Treadwell, defensive end Robert Nkemdiche had two tackles and one tackle for loss; and safety Tony Conner had three tackles and one interception. Two more freshmen, tackle Laremy Tunsil and guard Austin Golson played quite a bit in the second half, too.
At Arkansas, Collins and Hunter Henry made huge impressions in their opening games for the Razorbacks.
Collins broke into the Arkansas offense with 131 yards on the ground, becoming the first Arkansas true freshman to rush for 100 yards in his first game since Felix Jones in 2005. Collins’ 131 rushing yards ranks sixth in the SEC and 21st in the NCAA. According to Arkansas coach Bret Bielema, everything Collins did in the Razorbacks’ 34-14 win over Louisiana was not perfect.
“I think he was loose with the ball a couple of times.” said Bielema. “There was a play where the ball was away from his body. Anytime you see air between the football and a ball carrier that’s an issue. To me, that’s a big-time issue. That was one that I think you really saw. The positives definitely outweighed the negatives.
“I know everybody likes the long runs and you could see that very first play he’s a hiccup away from going the distance. I think that’s the kind of player he is. The two third-and-short plays that he got where he just stuck it right up in there and knew where the chains were going to be and got it were big-time plays. He made a couple of nice cuts in pass protection, which as a running back, anytime you’ve got that going now you’ve got a multi-purpose back,” the coach said.
Henry, a 6-6, 235-pounder from Little Rock, led the Razorback receivers with five catches for 75 yards, although he did have a fumble after an 11-yard catch.
Another freshman who made a major contribution to his team on the opening week was Auburn defensive tackle Montravius Adams. The 6-4, 305-pounder dominated Washington State’s offensive line a number of times en route to a two tackle and a sack college debut.
His performance was significant considering Auburn already had two main contributors (end Dee Ford and tackle Jeffrey Whitaker) out with injury along the defensive front.
“Montravius is a big athlete and we feel like he’ll improve each game,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said.
Around the league there were others who made contributions in their college debuts like Alabama running backs Altee Tenpenny and Derrick Henry, Tennessee wide receivers Marquez North and Josh Smith and Texas A&M linebackers Jordan Mastrogiovanni and Darian Claiborne, who led Texas A&M in tackles in the Aggies’ win over Rice. Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin played 16 true freshmen against Rice.
It’s easy to see the contributions made by skill position players, it is less obvious to the average fan to know what freshmen are making major contributions up front where the linemen do their down and dirty work. But they were there impressing their coaches with their play even if the fans don’t notice.
The first act on the whole was a success for the 2013 freshman class. Act two is coming up this weekend.