Best freshmen in I-AA all-time

[DuckDuckGriz]

The thread on the other sports got me to thinking -- who are some of the best to ever play at I-AA during their freshman year?

I have a couple

Chad Pennington, Marshall -- 1995 led the Herd to the NC as a backup QB
Adrian Peterson, Georgia Southern (1998)?

[Mr. C]

The thread on the other sports got me to thinking -- who are some of the best to ever play at I-AA during their freshman year?

I have a couple

Chad Pennington, Marshall -- 1995 led the Herd to the NC as a backup QB
Adrian Peterson, Georgia Southern (1998)?
It would be hard to see someone do more than AP did in 1998. Of course, Peterson helped the Eagles to the title game, where they lost a fluky game to UMass.

Pennington, BTW, took the Herd to the championship game, where they were beaten by Montana on a late field goal. What a great performance under the gun by Montana senior QB Dave Dickenson. Pennington had to watch from the sidelines as a redshirt the next season, when one-year transfer Erik Kresser came in from Florida to help Marshall win the national title.

Dexter Coakley had a pretty strong freshman year with App State in 1993, with 90 solo tackles and 69 assists (an amazing 159 total). He had 24 tackles in the final game of his freshman year against VMI, many on his best friend, Keydet TB Thomas Haskins. The 24 tackles were a single-game high for Coakley in his Mountaineer career and tied him for the third-highest single-game total in ASU history (Dino Hackett has the record of 27 against ETSU in his final college game in 1985). The biggest surprise is that nobody named Coakley as an All-American until his sophomore year.

If there was anyone who might have been better than Peterson as a freshman, it was Randy Moss. Moss was the game breaker for what I think was the best I-AA team ever, Marshall 1996. There was no one who could stop him that season. The closest game the Herd had was a 24-10 win over Appalachian State in Boone and Moss made two spectacular touchdown catches to pull the game out. Marshall would have lost that day without him.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

Moss, then Peterson. Nobody dominated like Moss, Peterson was close, but not quite to the same degree. Everyone else is distant.

[Mr. C]

Myself and many others around the SoCon think that Adrian Peterson was at his best as a freshman. He got worn down as his career progressed and he lost something along the way. You put a 19-year-old AP on the Chicago Bears and let's see them try to keep that kid out of the starting lineup.

[DuckDuckGriz]

I don't know, I'm partial to AP's sophomore season, which produced "The Run."

Another great freshman season was Northern Arizona's Jason Murietta. The Jacks had a pretty dominant season in `03 thanks to him and pummeled top seeded McNeese out of the playoffs. Murietta or NAU hasn't produced anything like that since though.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

Myself and many others around the SoCon think that Adrian Peterson was at his best as a freshman. He got worn down as his career progressed and he lost something along the way. You put a 19-year-old AP on the Chicago Bears and let's see them try to keep that kid out of the starting lineup.

I won't argue that. But even as a Freshman, Moss looked like a man amongst boys who could score whenever he wanted. He was the most dominant player ever to play in the I-AA ranks.

[Go...gate]

Keith Elias, Princeton (1991)

Ryan Vena, Colgate (1996)

[JMU2004]

Tony Lezotte had 146 tackles in 2004 as a freshman

[Mr. C]

Tony Lezotte had 146 tackles in 2004 as a freshman
LeZotte definitely had a great year as the Dukes won the national championship. How many freshmen make All-American teams? Does anyone have a list of I-AA players who have done it (I'd love to see that)? I thought that he was the leader of the defense, at least in terms of play on the field. It was really an unsung group on defense, other than LeZotte.

[Mr. C]

Keith Elias, Princeton (1991)

Ryan Vena, Colgate (1996)
Can you give us any kind of stats comparison between Vena's freshman year and the year that Jordan Scott had last season?

[Mr. C]

I won't argue that. But even as a Freshman, Moss looked like a man amongst boys who could score whenever he wanted. He was the most dominant player ever to play in the I-AA ranks.
I would lean towards Moss, too. But AP was great as a freshman.

[Sundown]

What year was McNair in when he came into his own at Alcorn?

[Go...gate]

Can you give us any kind of stats comparison between Vena's freshman year and the year that Jordan Scott had last season?

Vena did not start until the fifth game of the season, so if were going only on statistics, he has to be eliminated in favor of Scott, who broke all rushing records for a Colgate freshman. However, his play in the last seven games of the year resulted in the end of Colgate's 16 game losing streak over three years and nearly a Patriot League title. The next three years, he was the best offensive football player in the PL, leading the league in total offense.

[golionsgo]

Martin Hankins deserves to be on the list somewhere. He threw for 3,537 yards and 30 TDs as a true freshman. Granted the schedule wasn't as tough at the time (though we did play Troy, McNeese, NW State, and Texas State) but it's still an impressive accomplishment for an 18 yr old QB.

[Tod]

I would lean towards Moss, too. But AP was great as a freshman.

Moss was a freshman in '96?

[Mr. C]

Moss was a freshman in '96?
Yes, Moss was a freshman in 1996.

[mikebigg]

What year was McNair in when he came into his own at Alcorn?

I was just about to say Steve McNair...

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

UNH's Ricky Santos had a pretty good freshman year -- 3,318 passing yards and 31 TDs wasn't too shabby. Nor were wins at Delaware, Rutgers, Villanova and Georgia Southern.


Santos completed a storybook first season with the Wildcats by breaking nearly every passing record. He completed 272-425 passes for a UNH record 3,318 yards. He also broke the Wildcat record for touchdown passes in a season with 31. Santos also ranked high in many of the national NCAA I-AA statistics listings. He was ranked 12th in passing efficiency among all I-AA quarterbacks and 11th in total offense with 277.0 yards per contest. Santos also set the UNH record for touchdown passes in a game with six in UNH big win at Villanova and he threw for five in the team's amazing upset victory at Rutgers.

RICKY SANTOS NAMED ECAC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (http://www.unhwildcats.com/football/20042005/122104a.shtml)

[grizband]

While probably not the best all-time, James Noble had a pretty good season last year.

James Noble
11 games
223 carries
1578 yards
143.5 yards/game
7.1 yards/carry
74 longest carry
16 touchdowns

[GrizFoo]

UNH beat me to the punch on mentioning Santos. How was Ball as a Frosh?

As a note, at least single game. Dave Dickenson came in at halftime, or so, against a decent Oregon Duck team and amost brought the Griz back to win the game. After the game the Duck coach was in awe of Dave and asked the Griz coaches if he was Houdini.

[CrunchGriz]

UNH beat me to the punch on mentioning Santos. How was Ball as a Frosh?

As a note, at least single game. Dave Dickenson came in at halftime, or so, against a decent Oregon Duck team and amost brought the Griz back to win the game. After the game the Duck coach was in awe of Dave and asked the Griz coaches if he was Houdini.

DD was a sophomore that year, GrizFoo ('93). He got the starting job the game after Oregon (which the Griz lost 35-30 after being down 28-3, I think it was), and then the real fun began. They won nine straight after that, finally falling to Delaware in the first round of the playoffs in a classic "Defense? We don't need no stinkin' defense!" game when the Griz missed an extra point, 49-48.

Interestingly, DD had engineered what was I think was (and still is) the biggest comeback in UM history the week before in relief against South Dakota State, when he brought the Griz back from a 38-7 second-half deficit to win 52-48. (You'd think the coaches would have noticed who should have been starting at this point, especially when one of them was the very astute Don Read, but Bert Wilberger wasn't bad himself.)

[Sundown]

I'll be damned if I can find McNair's freshman stats online... :read:

[Brad82]

Casey was 1st team all A-10 as a frosh,tough to do better than that.
Santos is best frosh I have ever seen.

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

UNH beat me to the punch on mentioning Santos. How was Ball as a Frosh?


I didn't find any freshman stats for David Ball, but my memory says he was good enough that he wasn't redshirted (doesn't happen that often these days at UNH) and got significant playing time. IIRC, he started at WR along with David Bailey. The outrageous numbers started to be amassed during his sophomore year when Santos took over at QB after Mike Granieri was injured during the 2nd quarter of the first game of the season (at Delaware).

[grizband]

Ball's numbers for his freshman year aren't all that exciting when compared with the past two seasons. Just think the numbers he would have now if these were a little higher:

38 catched
486 yards
4 touchdowns

Compare that with his sophomore year:

86 catches
1504 yards
17 touchdowns

[Tod]

Ball's numbers for his freshman year aren't all that exciting when compared with the past two seasons. Just think the numbers he would have now if these were a little higher:

38 catched
486 yards
4 touchdowns

Compare that with his sophomore year:

86 catches
1504 yards
17 touchdowns

Fine numbers for a freshman, great numbers for a sophomore.

I expect Ball to win the Payton this year. We shall see (and I can't wait to see)!!

[JohnStOnge]

The thread on the other sports got me to thinking -- who are some of the best to ever play at I-AA during their freshman year?

I have a couple

Chad Pennington, Marshall -- 1995 led the Herd to the NC as a backup QB
Adrian Peterson, Georgia Southern (1998)?

I do think that Pennington played the best game I've ever seen a quarterback play against McNeese during the 1995 semifinal. He was really on. Maybe some other McNeese fan can post what his completion/attempts numbers were but I think it was something like 22 of 29. It was remarkable because it was very windy that day. Marshall was a running team and their tailback was the headliner coming in. McNeese pretty much controlled Marshall's running game but Pennington's very accurate passing won the day.

[grizband]

Fine numbers for a freshman, great numbers for a sophomore.

I expect Ball to win the Payton this year. We shall see (and I can't wait to see)!!
I wasn't trying to take anything away from Ball as a freshman, but his numbers the last two years are amazing! He should go down as one of the best receivers in I-AA history in my opinion.

[Tod]

I wasn't trying to take anything away from Ball as a freshman, but his numbers the last two years are amazing! He should go down as one of the best receivers in I-AA history in my opinion.

Sorry if I came across that way, gb, it wasn't my intention. Just hyping Ball, who I think is very much worth the hype. :nod: :nod:

[grizband]

Sorry if I came across that way, gb, it wasn't my intention. Just hyping Ball, who I think is very much worth the hype. :nod: :nod:
He is very much worth the hype! I hope he makes it in the pros.

[GrizFoo]

DD was a sophomore that year, GrizFoo ('93). He got the starting job the game after Oregon (which the Griz lost 35-30 after being down 28-3, I think it was), and then the real fun began. They won nine straight after that, finally falling to Delaware in the first round of the playoffs in a classic "Defense? We don't need no stinkin' defense!" game when the Griz missed an extra point, 49-48.

Interestingly, DD had engineered what was I think was (and still is) the biggest comeback in UM history the week before in relief against South Dakota State, when he brought the Griz back from a 38-7 second-half deficit to win 52-48. (You'd think the coaches would have noticed who should have been starting at this point, especially when one of them was the very astute Don Read, but Bert Wilberger wasn't bad himself.)

Thats right, what am I thinking. My brother was on that team and said the players knew Dickey was the better QB before the season even began.

DD tore up the #1 D constantly in practice as well.

[elkmcc]

Interestingly, DD had engineered what was I think was (and still is) the biggest comeback in UM history the week before in relief against South Dakota State, when he brought the Griz back from a 38-7 second-half deficit to win 52-48.

Interestingly enough DD's last game of the same year was probably his best carreer performance. The opening round of the '93 playoffs against Delaware Dickey was unfrigginbelievable. I think at one point in the game he was 37-39. This is impressive in its own right but anyone that was at that game would remember that it was extremely frigid and windy that afternoon. I was the coldest nastiest day I ever spent in Wa/Griz and I haven't missed a game in that stadium since that game. I think I still have that game on tape, somewhere.

[blueballs]

Adrian Peterson's stats from his freshman year at GSU in 1998. The team went 14-1 losing to UMass in the NC game. This kind of production is unprecendented by a freshman playing at this level in our division's history.

1998 Game-By-Game Statistics


Opponent ATT YDS TD

Elon 20 135 2
JSU 21 219 4
Wofford 18 102 0
UTC 29 221 4
VMI 16 122 2
WCU 32 178 1
ASU 24 210 2
Citadel 22 231 5
ETSU 18 209 2
Furman 31 183 1
So FL 26 122 2
Colgate 26 178 3
UConn 33 232 4
Western Ill 21 103 0
UMass 28 161 2

Totals 365 2,606 34

Avg YPC 7.14
AVG YPG 173.73
AVG TD/G 2.267


... and he didn't win the Payton.xlolx

[parr90]

And he did it with all the defenders knowing he was going to get the ball.

[slostang]

Jordan Beck may not of had the best I-AA freshman season ever, but it was impressive. Jordan was recruited as a WR (his freshman # was 83) and he converted to MLB when the starter got hurt in camp. He started his true freshman season and led the team in tackles, the first of four straight year in which he did. The fourth year ended with him winning the Buck Buchanan award.

Also James Noble had impressive #'s as a redshirt freshman. 1,578 yards rushing with 16 TDs and a 7.1 yards per carry average. I am hoping that it was just the beginning of a great I-AA career.

[Mr. C]

I do think that Pennington played the best game I've ever seen a quarterback play against McNeese during the 1995 semifinal. He was really on. Maybe some other McNeese fan can post what his completion/attempts numbers were but I think it was something like 22 of 29. It was remarkable because it was very windy that day. Marshall was a running team and their tailback was the headliner coming in. McNeese pretty much controlled Marshall's running game but Pennington's very accurate passing won the day.
Marshall was a balanced team in 1995. They would run first behind Chris Parker, but the Herd was very capable of beating teams with the pass. They had an all-conference receiver in Tim Martin and a future NFL tight end. They were also effective passing the ball to their running backs. Pennington's composure was a major reason for his success. He was cool and collected and didn't make a lot of mistakes all year. After taking over because of an injury to Larry Harris and ineffectiveness from Mark Zban, a I-A transfer, Pennington only lost two games as a starter, against Appalachian State in a 10-3 Mountaineer victory in Huntington and in the national final when Dave Dickenson led a late comeback.

The Marshall-McNeese State (which I watched on TV) was a weird game. The Cowboys had some chances on some possessions deep into Marshall territory where they just didn't get it done and came away with no points. McNeese QB Kerry Joseph had what I thought was an off-game for him. You kept expecting the McNeese offense to get on track and it never did. Of course, McNeese State shut down the Marshall running game. The Cowboys were one of the toughest defenses against the run that I've seen in ALL my years of covering I-AA. I think a lot of us covering I-AA that season were surprised to not have a McNeese State-Appalachian State final after the way that those two teams dominated the regular season. But take nothing away from Pennington. That was probably the finest freshman season that a quarterback has ever had in the Southern Conference. This is a conference where freshman QBs are usually eaten for lunch by defenses and outside of the ASU game, Pennington was brilliant.

[McNeese75]

Marshall was a balanced team in 1995. They would run first behind Chris Parker, but the Herd was very capable of beating teams with the pass. They had an all-conference receiver in Tim Martin and a future NFL tight end. They were also effective passing the ball to their running backs. Pennington's composure was a major reason for his success. He was cool and collected and didn't make a lot of mistakes all year. After taking over because of an injury to Larry Harris and ineffectiveness from Mark Zban, a I-A transfer, Pennington only lost two games as a starter, against Appalachian State in a 10-3 Mountaineer victory in Huntington and in the national final when Dave Dickenson led a late comeback.

The Marshall-McNeese State (which I watched on TV) was a weird game. The Cowboys had some chances on some possessions deep into Marshall territory where they just didn't get it done and came away with no points. McNeese QB Kerry Joseph had what I thought was an off-game for him. You kept expecting the McNeese offense to get on track and it never did. Of course, McNeese State shut down the Marshall running game. The Cowboys were one of the toughest defenses against the run that I've seen in ALL my years of covering I-AA. I think a lot of us covering I-AA that season were surprised to not have a McNeese State-Appalachian State final after the way that those two teams dominated the regular season. But take nothing away from Pennington. That was probably the finest freshman season that a quarterback has ever had in the Southern Conference. This is a conference where freshman QBs are usually eaten for lunch by defenses and outside of the ASU game, Pennington was brilliant.

It was a very frustrating day :bang:

[Mr. C]

Jordan Beck may not of had the best I-AA freshman season ever, but it was impressive. Jordan was recruited as a WR (his freshman # was 83) and he converted to MLB when the starter got hurt in camp. He started his true freshman season and led the team in tackles, the first of four straight year in which he did. The fourth year ended with him winning the Buck Buchanan award.

That's a good story. Jordan told me that story himself at The Sports Network awards banquet in 2004. What a great kid.

Can we discuss some other great defensive players, other than Beck, Dexter Coakley and Tony LeZotte?

I throw another defensive name into the mix. Appalachian State safety Corey Lynch intercepted two passes in his second start, one which saved a game against a very good Morehead State team. From there, Lynch was coming up with interceptions and fumble recoveries almost every week as the Mountaineers fell just short of a Southern Conference championship (which they probably would have won against Wofford, if Richie Williams had not been out of the lineup for nearly three quarters because of an injury).

On the offensive side, another name to throw out there is Kevious Johnson, the fullback from Wofford. He gained less than a thousand yards, but was the Terriers' big-play runner all season (just ask Georgia Southern) and was one of the major reasons the Terriers reached the I-AA semifinals (and gave Delaware its toughest playoff competition).

[umassfan]

It would be hard to see someone do more than AP did in 1998. Of course, Peterson helped the Eagles to the title game, where they lost a fluky game to UMass.


OKay man the more and more crap that comes out of your mouth the more and more i dislike what you say... 98 was not a fluke game... just because an undefeated SOCON team lost it has to be a fluke?

[UNH 40]

One guy who has failed to be mentioned and is probably the most impressive is Jerry Azumah. As a true freshman in 1996 Azumah ran for an astounding 2079 yards and 25 touchdowns for a crappy team. That to me is more impressive than what Peterson did for GSU a team that went 14-1 and participated in the NC game.

[Tribe4SF]

One guy who has failed to be mentioned and is probably the most impressive is Jerry Azumah. As a true freshman in 1996 Azumah ran for an astounding 2079 yards and 25 touchdowns for a crappy team. That to me is more impressive than what Peterson did for GSU a team that went 14-1 and participated in the NC game.

I second that! Azumah was an incredible player, and did it on his own.:hurray: :hurray: :hurray:

[Baldy]

OKay man the more and more crap that comes out of your mouth the more and more i dislike what you say... 98 was not a fluke game... just because an undefeated SOCON team lost it has to be a fluke?
xlolx

Uhhhhh yeah. UMass scored 31 points off of 7 turnovers. GSU scored 43 points in spite of 7 turnovers. Yeah, very fluky. No big deal, your team got the W...calm down. xlolx

[Mr. C]

OKay man the more and more crap that comes out of your mouth the more and more i dislike what you say... 98 was not a fluke game... just because an undefeated SOCON team lost it has to be a fluke?
Grow up. There is no CRAP coming out of anyone's mouth. There are A LOT of people who share my view of the 1998 championship game. Of course, we all know a certain poster will get nasty when anything "bad" is said about UMass. Georgia Southern's 1998 team was one of the most impressive offensive teams in I-AA history. The fact they scored 43 points despite making seven turnovers is proof of that. It has nothing to do with the fact they were a SoCon team. They were just one of the best teams to ever play in I-AA, PERIOD. You saw the Eagles come back and win back-to-back titles in 1999-2000 (the last I-AA squad to do so). If UMass was so good that year, why didn't the Minutemen come back and do something the next couple of years? One of the great things about sports are upsets. And nearly everyone considers the 1998 championship game to be one of the greatest upsets in I-AA history. You have your title to celebrate from that year. Don't make a fool of yourself. If you played that game 100 times, realistically, how many times do you think UMass wins?

By the way, the topic is great I-AA freshmen and the loss in the title game doesn't change the fact that Adrian Peterson had one of the two or three best offensive seasons a freshman has ever had in I-AA.

[PDXCat]

Lofu Tatupu - It was Maine wasn't it?

[umassfan]

Grow up. There is no CRAP coming out of anyone's mouth. There are A LOT of people who share my view of the 1998 championship game. Of course, we all know a certain poster will get nasty when anything "bad" is said about UMass. Georgia Southern's 1998 team was one of the most impressive offensive teams in I-AA history. The fact they scored 43 points despite making seven turnovers is proof of that. It has nothing to do with the fact they were a SoCon team. They were just one of the best teams to ever play in I-AA, PERIOD. You saw the Eagles come back and win back-to-back titles in 1999-2000 (the last I-AA squad to do so). If UMass was so good that year, why didn't the Minutemen come back and do something the next couple of years? One of the great things about sports are upsets. And nearly everyone considers the 1998 championship game to be one of the greatest upsets in I-AA history. You have your title to celebrate from that year. Don't make a fool of yourself. If you played that game 100 times, realistically, how many times do you think UMass wins?

By the way, the topic is great I-AA freshmen and the loss in the title game doesn't change the fact that Adrian Peterson had one of the two or three best offensive seasons a freshman has ever had in I-AA.

Why didnt UMass come back in 99 and 2000? Well we did have a good season in 99 despite loosing a WR who had 98 receptions and a TE who had something like 78. That is like taking Ball and UNHs number 2 reciever out for Santos. How great will UNH be then? The fact that we went down to GSU and held that high powered offense to just 38 points minus the 7 turnovers at their place the following year just goes to show we were no fluke. AP prob was one of the top 5 freshman of all time and he did burn himself out but I think it has to do with the fact that his teams got worse as his years went on.

[umassfan]

xlolx

Uhhhhh yeah. UMass scored 31 points off of 7 turnovers. GSU scored 43 points in spite of 7 turnovers. Yeah, very fluky. No big deal, your team got the W...calm down. xlolx

Well a great team doesnt make 7 turnovers now do they?

[Eagle_77]

Why didnt UMass come back in 99 and 2000? Well we did have a good season in 99 despite loosing a WR who had 98 receptions and a TE who had something like 78. That is like taking Ball and UNHs number 2 reciever out for Santos. How great will UNH be then? The fact that we went down to GSU and held that high powered offense to just 38 points minus the 7 turnovers at their place the following year just goes to show we were no fluke. AP prob was one of the top 5 freshman of all time and he did burn himself out but I think it has to do with the fact that his teams got worse as his years went on.

Are you freaking serious? Do you follow the same I-AA football that everyone else does? Peterson played in 3 championships (98, 99, & 00) and then lost to Furman in the Simi's in 01. How in the hell is that getting worse?

And you are going to talk about keeping GSU in check in 99 at out place? Peterson ran for over 300 yards against you guys. Yeah you kept him and our offense in check.

[Mr. C]

Why didnt UMass come back in 99 and 2000? Well we did have a good season in 99 despite loosing a WR who had 98 receptions and a TE who had something like 78. That is like taking Ball and UNHs number 2 reciever out for Santos. How great will UNH be then? The fact that we went down to GSU and held that high powered offense to just 38 points minus the 7 turnovers at their place the following year just goes to show we were no fluke. AP prob was one of the top 5 freshman of all time and he did burn himself out but I think it has to do with the fact that his teams got worse as his years went on.
Are you serious? Holding a team to 38 points isn't going to win you hardly any games. That shows how how the 1998 game wasn't a fluke? I don't follow your logic.

You could take the four years of AP's career and compare it with any I-AA program in history. Outside of Youngstown State making it to four straight championship games (winning three from 1991-94), Eastern Kentucky making it to four straight championship games (1979-82, winning two) and Marshall (five finals and a semifinal from 1991-96, with two titles) no one has done more than what Georgia Southern did in a four-year period with AP. So how did Georgia Southern get worse as his career progressed? Dude, you jump on people's opinions like crazy, but then you back your opinions with faulty facts.

[blueballs]

Peterson's production dropped from absolutely ridiculous to merely amazing when Mark Williams, Rich McGrath (both first team all american o-linemen) and Greg Hill (QB, SoCon POTY as a SR in 1999- the same year AP won the Payton- shows you what the coaches thought of Hill) graduated in 1999.

While JR Revere was a great player for us at QB, he didn't represent the homerun threat on every play that Hill did, so defenses loaded up on Peterson to an extent they couldn't when Hill was there.

Peterson's last two years were every bit as great and in some ways moreso as his first two even though there was less production because he had such a target on him and EVERY team's sole purpose was to shut him down and he still dominated.