Anyone who’s even tangentially familiar with college football knows the big names – Caleb Williams, Bryce Young, Will Anderson, etc. But here are some guys who came out of nowhere to have a big impact in the first week of the season.
DL John Morgan – Pittsburgh
It isn’t often that a player “breaks out” during his redshirt senior season, but that may have been the case for Morgan on Thursday night against rival West Virginia. Starting in place of the injured Deslin Alexandre, Morgan finished the game with four tackles, three tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a sack. It will be interesting to see if he can be an impact player all season long for the Panthers.
John Morgan is having himself a GAME for Pitt pic.twitter.com/t2UJnZbGEr
— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) September 2, 2022
DL Michael Hall – Ohio State
After redshirting last season (he did play in four games) Hall was still a bit of a mystery coming into the 2022 season. He is a bit less of a mystery today after his performance against Notre Dame on Saturday night. Hall finished with four tackles, two tackles for a loss and a sack as his play further strengthened an already strong Ohio State defensive line.
One of my favorite performances of the weekend. OSU DT Michael Hall was unblockable against ND. pic.twitter.com/LotkdsOiyg
— Ryan Fowler (@_RyanFowler_) September 5, 2022
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LB Jacoby Windmon – Michigan State
This wasn’t necessarily a breakout for Windmon at the college level, as he had a huge 2021 season at UNLV, but considering this was his first game with the Spartans at the Power 5 level, his performance was eye-opening. Finishing with seven tackles, four tackles for a loss, four sacks and a forced fumble, Windmon quickly proved that he is a player who the Big Ten will have to focus on in 2022.
Just thinking again about Jacoby Windmon putting up a season's worth of sacks on opening night. ?@JW1NDMON x @MSU_Football pic.twitter.com/AAyljwJfvm
— Michigan State on BTN (@MichiganStOnBTN) September 4, 2022
