By Michael Germanese
College football in 2024, was a year of upsets, controversy, and debates on who’s the best.
Whether it’s on the teams that belong or don’t in the playoffs or who’s the best player in college
football, 2024 has been a year of various opinions. And when you think college football couldn’t
give fans anything else to argue about the announcement for Freshman of the Year comes and
adds another topic to debate.
On Dec. 26, Texas defensive end Colin Simmons was named Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year by the Maxwell Football Club. Simmons
helped the Longhorn to their first SEC championship game, second straight college football
playoff appearance, and with a win Friday their first trip to a playoff finale. There is no doubting
Simmons’ talent and, in most years, would deserve the award. The only problem is it’s not most
years thanks to Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
Smith is a generational talent who would be at least a top 5 pick in this year’s draft if
college football had the same one-and-done rule as college basketball. And Smith isn’t just the
best freshman WR, he’s arguably the best WR in the country already. He’s only a freshman but
there has already been talk of NFL teams tanking to add a talent like Smith to their roster.
Through the Semifinals, Smith led Ohio State in receiving yards with 1,224, 14 TD’s, and is tied for the
lead in receptions with 70. Simmons led Texas in sacks with nine and tied for second in forced
fumbles with three, he’s ninth in total tackles with 44 and fourth in interceptions with one.
But season stats don’t always paint a true picture of how the year went. That’s because top
programs season comes down to three or four games that will determine the success of the season. It’s
that lack of parity in college football that lets players pad their stats against the smaller schools,
not giving a clear picture of the year. What you do against the smaller schools shouldn’t matter
as much as how you perform against similar competition your team plays.
The Longhorns this season played six games, including the CFP that could have gone either way.
In those games, Texas went 4-2, two of the losses were to Georgia with wins over Michigan,
Texas A&M, Arizona State, and Clemson. Against the top teams, Simmons totaled 11 tackles,
2.5 sacks, one pass defended, an interception and a forced fumble. The interception was especially crucial though, as it came against
Clemson in the first round of the playoff to seal the game.
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Ohio State, like Texas, played six real games this season and shared the same record at 4-2. The
Buckeyes lost to Oregon and Michigan while beating Penn State, Indiana, Tennessee, and
Oregon in the rematch. In four of the six games, Smith was the leading receiver and took home the
Rose Bowl offensive MVP for his performance on New Year’s Day. In those games, Smith had
34 catches on 49 targets, 554 yards, and six touchdowns. Add in he was able to get those numbers
playing next to not one but two number-one receivers on almost any team is extraordinary.
When the Freshman of the Year award was announced, many people believed it would be Smith,
but instead, Simmons won the award. The award was handed out and Simmons is a great player,
but Smith is elite and should have taken home the award. Now it’s like the football gods have
granted college fans a gift with both player’s teams meeting in the semifinals. They now have a
chance to prove it on the field on just who the best freshman is.
Fans now get the best defensive freshman against the best offensive one. Whoever has the bigger
impact in helping their team get the victory will be remembered as either the player who won the
award or should have won it.
