AUSTIN, Texas — In the Southeastern Conference, the kids are more than all right this football season.
From quarterbacks to those catching their passes to those rushing the passers, from 17-year-olds to second-year freshmen, the SEC has produced an explosion of young talent emerging as the league’s top playmakers. Some were pressed into duty because of injuries, while some just could not be kept off the field.
And they are not just doing it for teams begging for fresh talent to step up. Some have delivered big plays for teams considered contenders for the conference title — which in the SEC, means also being in the running for the College Football Playoff and the national championship.
At Alabama, it was 17-year-old receiver Ryan Williams and cornerback Zabien Brown making the big plays in the final moments of a wild 41-34 win over Georgia last Saturday night that propelled the Crimson Tide to No. 1 in this week’s AP Top 25 poll. At No. 2 Texas, backup quarterback Arch Manning directed the Longhorns to the program’s first SEC victory, over Mississippi State, while edge rusher Colin Simmons delivered two sacks and three more tackles for lost yardage.
Brown, Manning, Simmons and Williams were all highly rated recruits. Yet it is the mental edge that typically gets freshmen on the field and succeeding quickly, said Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, who was Alabama’s offensive coordinator before heading west to Austin ahead of the 2021 season.
“So many young players come in, they’re the best player on their high school team. The best player in their league, maybe in their state, or maybe the best player in the country,” said Sarkisian, speaking of the players at Texas and adding that’s it important to have “the willingness to say, ‘I’m not going to settle where I’m at right now.’ … Nobody walks in as an instant starter.”
So which players do find their way to the field?
“The guys that can grasp that idea and start working,” Sarkisian said, “and not worry where they are on the depth chart.”
2 FOR THE SHOW
Williams and Brown both wear No. 2 for the Tide, and they also delivered the two plays that secured the victory against Georgia: a go-ahead 75-yard touchdown catch inside the final three minutes and a game-saving interception — his first pick of the season — in the end zone on the Bulldogs’ final possession.
Williams, who reclassified his recruiting year to enter college a season early, will still be just 17 when the season ends. Yet he has already teamed with redshirt junior quarterback Jalen Milroe to become one of the most electric combinations in the country. Williams has led Alabama in receiving in each game during the Tide’s 4-0 start, and he has 16 catches for 462 yards and five touchdowns.
The phenom receiver was first-year Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer’s top recruiting target when he left his old job at Washington. Williams had initially committed to Alabama but opened up his recruiting when Nick Saban retired in January. DeBoer called him from the plane to Tuscaloosa.
“These guys are fun to coach every single day,” DeBoer said. “Two No. 2s out there. Two freshmen. It was fun celebrating with those guys in the locker room. My team loves the way they work every day.”
AP photo by Eric Gay / Texas quarterback Arch Manning (16) is pressured by Mississippi State linebacker Stone Blanton during an SEC game last Saturday in Austin.TEXAS TWO-STEP
Manning’s 2023 season was a redshirt year of learning behind starter Quinn Ewers, but he has stepped in the past three games after Ewers was injured. He has also more than delivered on the hype that comes with being the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and the nephew of two-time Super Bowl championship quarterbacks Eli Manning and Peyton Manning.
The newest Manning taking snaps in the SEC has passed for 901 yards and nine touchdowns and has a 67-yard touchdown run this season, yet he knows he’s likely headed back to the bench once Ewers is recovered from an abdominal strain. Ewers could return for the Longhorns’ next game, against Oklahoma in the annual Red River rivalry matchup on Oct. 12 in Dallas.
“Quinn has proven himself. This is his team,” Manning said. “I think he’ll come back and play really well.”
Simmons leads Texas with four sacks and six tackles for losses as part of a defense that has allowed an average of just seven points a game so far. Texas has surrendered just three touchdowns in all.
“Juice and energy, the young bull’s got a lot of that off the edge,” Texas linebacker David Gbenda said of Simmons.
AP photo by Butch Dill / Oklahoma quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. passes during the Sooners’ SEC road win against Auburn last Saturday.QB SHUFFLE
Oklahoma and Texas A&M have turned to freshmen quarterbacks to rescue their offenses after ineffective play and an injury.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables benched starter Jackson Arnold halfway through a dismal loss to Tennessee to open SEC play two weeks ago, giving the offense to untested freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. Hawkins’ first start was a 27-21 comeback win at Auburn that included his 48-yard touchdown run.
At Texas A&M, redshirt freshman Marcel Reed is 3-0 as a starter with two SEC victories after Connor Weigman was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Reed may start again Saturday when the No. 25 Aggies play No. 9 Missouri.
AP photo by Gerald Herbert / LSU running back Caden Durham leaves a UCLA defender behind as the heads to the end zone for a touchdown on Sept. 21 in Baton Rouge, La.TIGER CUB
Freshman running back Caden Durham did not play in LSU’s season-opening loss to Big Ten program Southern California. Now the Tigers might wish he did.
His 98 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries were a crucial part of a comeback win at South Carolina after LSU trailed 17-0. He had 217 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns against South Alabama, a performance highlighted by his 71-yard touchdown on a swing pass and an 86-yard run to set up another score.
At 5-foot-9 and 205 pounds, Durham is a strong, fast, compact runner whose role in the offense is growing every week.
Said LSU coach Brian Kelly: “He’s just got elite speed.”