Four newcomers shone 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 of them put on outstanding performances on Saturday that sent the college football world into a frenzy. Raiola threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns in the 40-7 victory over UTEP. Iamaleava, who is a redshirt freshman after Joe Milton III threw 314 yards and three touchdowns last year and played only one half of Tennessee’s 69-3 victory over Chattanooga.
As for the receivers, Smith had six receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns in Ohio State’s victory over Akron. He also made a highlight one-handed catch in the win. Williams had only two receptions against Western Kentuckybut the 17-year-old converted both catches into touchdowns for a total of 139 yards in the 63-0 victory.
So let’s play a little game called “If This, Then That” with each of them to see how they can each influence their respective team’s performance ceiling for the 2024 season.
Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola
I believe Raiola could have the biggest impact of these four players. If he is just a net gain for Nebraska, the Cornhuskers will be playing important games for the College Football Playoff in November.
That’s actually the standard for Nebraska. Everyone talks about Raiola potentially being the savior of the program and getting Nebraska out of its predicament. But if you’ve actually watched and studied what Nebraska has done in 2023, you’ll see that this team was very close a year ago with net negative quarterback play. If it doesn’t lose the ball as much as it did last year, Nebraska is a much different team, at least record-wise. Nebraska would have been three or four wins better.
Look at it this way: Nebraska had a turnover differential of minus-17 last year, the worst of any Power 5 school. The Cornhuskers lost five games last year by one point, four times by three points, and once in overtime. In those games, they had 16 turnovers, 14 of which were by the quarterback.
Highlights: Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. UTEP Miners
If you extrapolate that and say, “If Dylan Raiola is just a net gain and not a net loss; if he just cares about the football,” then those games will probably become wins. If that gets sorted out, there’s no doubt that Nebraska will have important games to play this season with the upcoming schedule.
Before Saturday’s game, I was in a bit of a “wait and see” mood with Raiola. He’s shown flashes of some stuff, so I think he’s really good, but he just has to be a net gain for Nebraska to be a CFP contender late in the season.
How important is the game on Saturday against Colorado in Lincoln? I think it’s the difference between Nebraska suffering a loss (or two) and probably being undefeated when it faces Ohio State on October 26. If Nebraska loses to Colorado, it will likely be another one-point game against a Rutgers-like team (that has improved tremendously under Greg Schiano) and you think it could lose a game against an opponent of that caliber. If the Cornhuskers beat Colorado, then there is no one who really scares you because it proves that you have two exceptional players in Travis Hunter And Shedeur Sanders.
What impact did Colorado’s win have on the team’s prospects this season?
If Nebraska remains undefeated until the game against Ohio State, it would be 7-1 in its final four games of the season. Nebraska should be able to beat University of California the following week, before the year begins with games at USCat home against Wisconsin and at IowaIf the Cornhuskers have an 8-1 record at the start of this stretch and win two of those games, they not only have an underdog chance to play in the Big Ten title game, they also have an underdog chance to be in the College Football Playoff.
That’s why Raiola’s rise is such a big development not only in Nebraska, but across the entire college football landscape.
Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith
Everyone has been talking about Smith all spring, and rightly so. In fact, Ohio State has tried to temper some of that hype. He was very hyped when he came to Columbus, and Ryan Day breathed a sigh of relief at the podium when he sent his letter of intent to the Woody Hayes Center last December.
Smith’s stats on Saturday may not blow you away, but some of his catches will. The style of catches Ohio State made to Smith was also notable. When he was one-on-one, Smith got the ball. That tells you everything you need to know about the belief of Ryan Day, Chip Kelly and Will Howard in Smith. Even Howard said that Smith is the type of player you pass the ball to when he’s in one-on-one coverage.
What does this mean for the Buckeyes? Well, if Smith’s him (as the kids say), he’ll be the tide that lifts all boats for Ohio State and its offense. If Smith isn’t at that level, defenses can start cheating and devoting resources to stopping the run, making Howard’s life a lot more difficult.
Dylan Raiola and Jeremiah Smith: Can they take Nebraska and Ohio State to the next level?
But if Smith can continue to play at this level, the defense will have a problem. He will likely command double coverage with the safety high up. With the safety high up, Ohio State can block anyone in the run front, at least on that side of the football. With Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson and even Howard, that running game can really get out of hand. Guess who else would only be covered once or who would have the coverage ratio in their favor if Smith was double covered? Emeka Egbuka.
We usually just look at quarterbacks as the tide that lifts all boats, since wide receiver is generally a dependent position. But when Smith affects the structure of the defense before the snap, he becomes the tide. We saw it a little at Marvin Harrison Jr. in the last few seasons.
Ohio State’s offense may not need to score 40 points in a game because they are so good defensively. But if Smith himthen be careful.
Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava
If Iamaleava is the right fit, 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 shine when they get a chance to play. I know Iamaleava played in Tennessee’s bowl win last year, but Tennessee will be a factor if he’s the right one. The 2022 version has been a problem in the SEC.
Not only was Iamaleava putting up incredible numbers in just 30 minutes of football, but his receivers didn’t have to adjust much to his throws. In some of the videos I watched, Iamaleava threw the ball very accurately and drove it down the field.
One of our Big Noon colleagues, Matt Leinart, has known Iamaleava for a long time because of her connection to California. Leinart has always said that Iamaleava is one of the most, if not the most, impressive young passer he has ever seen. That proved true for Tennessee in Week 1.
If Iamaleava continues like this, the Volunteers will have an exciting race in the SEC, similar to Müller Moos 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 become a big problem for those teams as well. How is everyone getting on with the Volunteers? If Iamaleava is this good, Tennessee can compete for a spot in the SEC title game.
Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams
If Williams is as good as he showed on Saturday, then Kalen DeBoer has the right answers for the Crimson Tide at receiver.
That has not been the case with Alabama over the last two years. If you were to ask me what I think was the biggest difference between Alabama over the last two years and the other seasons in the Nick Saban era, it would be the lack of a top-notch talent at wide receiver. Even from Saban’s first few years in office, Alabama always seemed to have one of those guys, whether it was Julio Jones, Amary Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith or Jameson Williams.
If Williams himAlabama has another receiver of that ilk and an elite playmaker on the outside. Not only does Alabama have that talent, but you pair Williams with DeBoer. Just look at what DeBoer can do with Rome Odunze last season. He only made it to the national championship game because he was so talented as a receiver. I know Michael Penix Jr. was also excellent. But that was largely due to the play of the elite receivers.
Kalen DeBoer explains his path to Alabama and why he’s ready to follow GOAT Nick Saban
So if Williams is an elite player, then Alabama is one to keep an eye on because DeBoer knows what to do with a receiver room like that. Williams can develop in there and become DeBoer’s new Odunze.
This should be a frightening thought for everyone.
Joel Klatt is FOX Sports’ lead college football game analyst and host of the podcast “The Joel Klatt Show.” Follow him on X/Twitter at @joelklatt And Subscribe to the “Joel Klatt Show” on YouTube.
(Want great stories delivered straight to your inbox? Create or log in to a FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized daily newsletter.)
Get more out of college football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more