6 | August 2024
HUSKERS PREVIEW
What history tells us about true freshman quarterbacks
LUKE MULLIN Lincoln Journal Star N ebraska football may have a rare situation at the center of its offense this season. At the time of this writing, late July, head coach Matt Rhule has yet to decide upon a starting quarterback, but the likelihood of five-star recruit Dylan Raiola winning the camp competition re- mains high after a strong spring campaign. If Nebraska were to name Raiola the starter prior to the program’s Aug. 31 season opener against UTEP, it’d place the Huskers in rare
legendary Nebraska coach oversaw one of the most impactful seasons from a true freshman quarterback in college football history. Tommie Frazier was a simi- larly heralded recruit who made a major impact as a seven-game starter in 1992 — but the situations around Frazier’s rise into the starting role mirror that of many other freshmen. It was Mike Grant who began the year as Nebraska’s starter, not Frazier, only ceding the role weeks after the Huskers dropped their first game of the season. Injuries or poor per- formance are often what vault true freshmen quarterbacks into the spotlight — starting right away is a rarity. Even in the modern era of college football where freshmen sign big-money NIL deals prior to playing a single snap, the nation’s best quarterback prospects still take time to find the field. During the 2020 season, just two of the top-50 true freshmen quarterbacks according to Phil Steele Magazine started the majority of their team’s games: Ken Seals at Vander- bilt and former Husker Jeff Sims at Georgia Tech. Vanderbilt went 0-9 with a true fresh- man at the helm while Georgia Tech posted a 3-7 record. Meanwhile, future No. 1 overall NFL draft pck Bryce Young completed just 13 passes for Alabama as top-ranked recruits at Texas, Or- egon, Ohio State and Georgia didn’t see the field at all. A return to a full 12-game regular season in 2021 didn’t reverse the trend, either, as only two players — Caleb Williams and Shedeur Sanders spent over half the season in a start- ing role. The nation’s best incoming quarterback recruit, Williams began the year backing up Spencer Rattler at Oklahoma before going 5-2 as a starter across the Sooners’ final seven games. Sanders, meanwhile, featured as Jack- son State’s starter for the entire season at the FCS level and led the Tigers to an 11-2 record. Even fewer true freshmen have won start-
i n g j o b s in the two years since. Con- necticut’s Zion Turner was a 12-game starter in 2022 after team- mate Ta’Quan Roberson was injured in the season opener
TOMMIE FRAZIER
fresh- m a n quarter-
backs too. Cody Green started two games as a true fresh-
company as a team starting a true freshman quarterback from day one. The time needed to further physical development and knowledge of the playbook are factors that keep true freshmen off the field re- gardless of position. Particu- larly at quarterback, where a high-level knowledge of the
man in 2009, and then Taylor Martinez took over as a 12-game starter the next year, albeit following a redshirt season. It was only when Adrian Martinez led the offense in 2018 that Nebraska ticked off a new first: a true freshman starting quarterback in the team’s season opener. Martinez led Ne- braska to a 4-7 record across his 11 starts. Recent history suggests that not only are true freshman starting quarterbacks uncom- mon, programs that field an untested signal- caller rarely find themselves with a winning record at the end of the year. If Raiola wins the camp competition and leads Nebraska onto the field this August, it’ll be because the Nebraska coaching staff be- lieves his talent and skillset gives the Huskers the best chance of winning — both immedi- ately and down the road. “You’ve got to make some plays and have the freedom to make plays so we can’t be safe,” Rhule said of his philosophy with young quarterbacks. “Remember when you first started driving? You had two hands on the wheel and you never got into a wreck but you didn’t get anywhere. The key is to be able to drive real fast, go fast and take chances with- out making a ton of mistakes. That’ll come as we go.”
and led the Huskies to a 6-7 record overall. Vanderbilt’s AJ Swann, meanwhile, won his first-ever start but lost the next six games he appeared in. And in the most recent campaign, it was a quiet year for the nation’s freshmen signal- callers overall. UCLA’s Dante Moore and Arizona State’s Jaden Rashada both came into the year as day-one starters, only to find themselves on the sidelines by the end of the season after Moore struggled and Rashada suffered a thumb injury. Others, like Texas’ Arch Man- ning, Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava and Okla- homa’s Jackson Arnold, only saw the field as backups. For programs that start true freshmen quarterbacks, many experience initial grow- ing pains — but it’s Rhule’s belief that such a process is beneficial for a player’s long-term development. “To me, it seems the best thing, if we look back in 10 years, is to bring in young players and let them play through their mistakes and eventually have a confident guy out there,” Rhule said. “We played Heinrich (Haarberg) last year, it was really his first time playing (quarterback), and we let him play through his mistakes. Dylan and Danny (Kaelin) right now are playing through their mistakes.” Nebraska has its own recent history with
Raiola
offense, excellent decision-making and lead- ership skills are needed to excel, those traits are rare in an 18-year-old with no prior col- legiate experience. Yet, Rhule sees plenty of those skills in Raiola. “He spends a lot of time learning the foot- ball and understanding because as a freshman it’s hard to process,” Rhule said of Raiola at Big Ten Media Days. “I was talking to coach (Tom) Osborne about playing freshmen and he’s like, ‘They get really good against the de- fense they see every day and all of a sudden you go to Week 1 and Week 2 and it’s a whole different defense. When they’re juniors, it’s easy, but when they’re a freshman it’s a lot of learning.’ “What Dylan has shown me is that he’s willing to put that time in, and the game comes natural to him because he puts the work in.” It’s fitting that Rhule consulted Osborne for advice on playing freshmen considering the
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