Joel Klatt: Four freshmen who could raise their team’s ceilings in 2024

Four freshmen shined in college football’s opening week.

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola, Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava and Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams each had standout performances on Saturday that had the college football world buzzing. Raiola threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns in the 40-7 win over UTEP. Iamaleava, who is a redshirt freshman after backing up Joe Milton III last year, threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns, playing in only one half of Tennessee’s 69-3 win over Chattanooga. 

As for the receivers, Smith had six receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns in Ohio State’s win over Akron. He also made a highlight one-handed grab in the win. Williams only had two receptions against Western Kentucky, but the 17-year-old turned both catches into touchdowns for a total of 139 yards in the 63-0 win. 

So, let’s play a little game with each of them called, “If this, then that,” to see how they can each impact their respective team’s ceilings for the 2024 season.

Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola

I believe Raiola might have the biggest impact of these four players. If he’s just a net positive for Nebraska, then the Cornhuskers will be playing meaningful games for the College Football Playoff when November arrives.

That’s actually the standard for Nebraska. Everyone’s been talking about Raiola possibly being the program’s savior and rescuing Nebraska from where it’s been. But if you actually watched and studied what Nebraska did in 2023, you’ll see that this team was very close a year ago with net negative quarterback play. If it doesn’t turn over the ball as much as it did last year, Nebraska is a far different team, at least from a record standpoint. Nebraska would’ve been three or four wins better. 

Think of it this way: Nebraska was minus-17 in turnover differential last year, the worst of any Power 5 school. The Cornhuskers lost five games by one score last year, with four coming by three points and the other being an overtime loss. In those games, they had 16 turnovers, with 14 of them coming from the quarterback.

If you extrapolate that out and say, “If Dylan Raiola is just a net positive and not a net negative; if he’s just taking care of the football,” then those games probably turn into wins. If that gets cleaned up, there’s no doubt that Nebraska will be playing meaningful games this season with the schedule it has ahead.

I was in a little bit of a “wait-and-see” mode with Raiola prior to Saturday’s game. He showed some flashes. So, I think he’s really good, but he just has to be a net positive for Nebraska to be a CFP contender late in the season. 

How big is this Saturday’s game against Colorado in Lincoln? I think it’s the difference between Nebraska having a loss (possibly two) or probably being undefeated when it faces Ohio State on Oct. 26. If Nebraska loses to Colorado, it’ll likely be in another one-score game against a Rutgers-like team (which has vastly improved under Greg Schiano) and you think it might lose a game to that caliber of opponent. If the Cornhuskers beat Colorado, then there’s no one else that really scares you because it proves you can beat two extraordinary players in Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. 

If Nebraska remains undefeated until the Ohio State game, it’d be 7-1 entering the final four games of the season. Nebraska should be able to beat UCLA the following week before closing the year with games at USC, home against Wisconsin and at Iowa. If the Cornhuskers are 8-1 entering that stretch and win two of those games, they’ll not only have an outside shot to play in the Big Ten title game, but they’ll also have an outside shot to be in the College Football Playoff. 

That’s why Raiola’s emergence is such a huge development in not only Nebraska, but also in the college football landscape. 

Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith

Everyone was talking about Smith all spring, and rightly so. In fact, Ohio State has been trying to slow down some of this hype. He was very hyped entering Columbus and Ryan Day had that sigh of relief at the podium when he sent his letter of intent to the Woody Hayes Center last December. 

Smith’s stat line from Saturday might not blow your mind, but some of the catches he made did. The style of the catches Ohio State was going to Smith for was also noticeable. If he was one-on-one, Smith was getting the ball. That tells you everything that you need to know about the belief Ryan Day, Chip Kelly and Will Howard have in Smith. Even Howard was saying that Smith is the type of player you get the ball to if he’s in one-on-one coverage.  

What does that mean for the Buckeyes? Well, if Smith’s him (as the kids say), then he’ll be the tide that rises all boats for Ohio State and its offense. If Smith isn’t at that level, defenses can begin to cheat and commit resources to stopping the run while making Howard’s life much more difficult. 

But if Smith can continue to play at that level, defenses will have a problem. He’s probably commanding a double-team with the safety up high. If the safety’s up high, then Ohio State can block everyone in the run front, at least to that side of the football. With Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson and even Howard, that run game can really get loose. Guess who also would be single-covered or has the coverage ratio in their favor if Smith is double-teamed? Emeka Egbuka. 

We typically only view quarterbacks as the tide that rises all boats as wide receiver is generally a dependent position. But if Smith is impacting the structure of the defense before the snap, he becomes the tide. We saw it a little bit with Marvin Harrison Jr. in the last couple of seasons. 

Ohio State’s offense might not need to score 40 points in a game because of what it can do defensively. But if Smith is him, then watch out. 

Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava

If Iamaleava is the real deal, then Tennessee will be the 2022 version of itself, not the 2023 version.

Iamaleava looked incredible on Saturday, granted it was against Chattanooga and you can make a similar comment about Smith’s opponent. But these are players who are shining when getting a chance to play. I know Iamaleava played in Tennessee’s bowl win last year, but Tennessee becomes a factor if he’s the real deal. The 2022 version was a problem in the SEC.

It wasn’t just that Iamaleava put up incredible numbers in just 30 minutes of football, either. His receivers didn’t have to adjust a lot to his throws. In some of the film I watched, Iamaleava was throwing the ball so accurately and driving it down the field. 

One of our “Big Noon” colleagues, Matt Leinart, has known Iamaleava for a long time due to their California connection. Leinart has always said that Iamaleava is one of the most, if not the most, impressive young passers of the football that he’s seen. That came to fruition for Tennessee in Week 1.

If Iamaleava keeps it up, the Volunteers will make it a deep race in the SEC, similar to what Miller Moss did for USC in the Big Ten on Sunday. Tennessee’s schedule is very difficult, with matchups against Georgia, Alabama and Oklahoma. However, Tennessee has also become a big problem for those teams, too. How does each navigate the Volunteers? If Iamaleava is that good, Tennessee can compete for a spot in the SEC title game. 

Alabama WR Ryan Williams

If Williams is as good as he showed on Saturday, then Kalen DeBoer has answers at receiver for the Crimson Tide.

That hasn’t been the case for Alabama in the last two years. If you asked me what I thought the biggest difference was with Alabama the last two years and the other seasons in the Nick Saban era, it would be its lack of a premier talent at wide receiver. Dating all the way back to Saban’s early years on the job, Alabama always seemed to have one of those guys, whether it was Julio Jones, Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith or Jameson Williams. 

If Williams is him, Alabama has another receiver of that mold again and an elite playmaker on the outside. Not only would Alabama have that talent, but you’re also pairing Williams with DeBoer. Just look at what DeBoer did with Rome Odunze last season. He just went to the national championship game because he had that talent at receiver. I know Michael Penix Jr. was outstanding, too. But a lot of that was from elite receiver play.

So, if Williams is an elite player, watch out for Alabama because DeBoer knows what to do with a receiver room like that. Williams can grow into that and become DeBoer’s new Odunze. 

That should be a scary thought for everybody. 

Joel Klatt is FOX Sports’ lead college football game analyst and the host of the podcast “The Joel Klatt Show.” Follow him on X/Twitter at @joelklatt and subscribe to the “Joel Klatt Show” on YouTube.

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