Photo by Andrew Gearhart
NCAAF is one of the most popular sports in America. Especially in the South⎯it’s not just a sport, there’s an entire culture around it. The great rivalries that define the sport—Florida State vs Florida, Alabama vs Auburn, Ohio State vs Michigan—have games that live forever in the lore of sport, and make fans look back in nostalgia. Some of the most defining moments have been the debuts of impactful players. These memorable moments sparked careers that led to national championships and later, to the NFL.
NFL is the most popular sport in the United States and for good reason. It takes all of the best talent from college teams to create all-star lineups. Particularly when it comes to betting on sports, NFL games are some of the most popular and most exciting to put wagers on. But it’s important understand the NFL odds and figure out which ones offer the most value. Then, you can make the games more interesting and maybe even win some cash while you’re at it.
Without further ado, here are a few debut moments that shook the college football world.
Tua Tagovaiola⎯Alabama 2017
Talk about pressure, Tua had his debut during Alabama’s 2017 national championship run. It started soft, with garbage time against some inferior opponents such as Vandy and Fresno State. But where he really turned heads was coming in to replace Jalen Hurts after half-time during the national championship game.
Despite being on a neutral site and playing in front of millions on TV, the redshirt freshman Tua was sensational⎯he tossed the game-winning 41-yard touchdown pass in overtime to beat Georgia. This was an epic battle that saw lead changes and moment shifts throughout the game. Tua was the deciding factor, and he won the starting job for good, coming into the 2018 season as their QB1.
Jalen transferred to Oklahoma and Bama got blown out in the national title game that year by Clemson and Trevor Lawrence, but that’s another story.
Jameis Winston⎯Florida State 2013
As a 5-star prospect coming out of the state of Alabama, it was well-known that Winston was talented. But no one had any idea that he had record-breaking talent and would lead the Noles to their first perfect season in school history.
Despite Winston’s off-field antics, he was a generational talent. For the starting job, he beat out Jacob Coker, who transferred to Alabama and went on to lead them to a national title in 2015.
Winston came in to replace EJ Manuel, who was drafted by the Bills in 2012. Winston impressed in the spring game but in their season opener at Pitt, he threw for 356 yards and four touchdowns.
Winston’s 41−13 domination of Pitt rang the bell loud and clear—FSU was a force to be reckoned with. However, a weak ACC schedule garnered criticism and the Noles needed help to get into the final BCS era championship game, having only played three ranked foes, Maryland (25), Clemson (3), and Duke (17) in the ACC championship.
Luckily, Oregon lost a key match vs Stanford, Auburn got a miracle win vs Bama (the infamous “kick six”), and the Noles ended up squeezing into the title game, which they won 34−31 vs Auburn.
Payton Manning⎯Tennessee 1995
After seeing limited action in his freshman year, Payton Manning won the starting job in 1995 as a true sophomore. After crushing East Carolina in their season opener, their first game of conference play was vs rival Georgia, which they won 30−27 in a nail biter of a game that had Manning finish as the hero, and a new era for the Vols began.
Although they lost their next game vs the Gators, it was their only loss of the season and the Vols and Manning went on to with the Orange Bowl.
Conclusion
There have been too many great debuts in NCAAF history to list them all here, but the above are a few of the greats. This upcoming season should be extremely interesting and entertaining, especially with some blue bloods back in the mix, like Michigan, Florida State, and LSU. Plus, with the recent rule changes, it’ll be an interesting season to see the changes in action.
With lots of big matchups in week one, and many teams filling holes through the transfer portal, this ought to shake out to be one heck of a season for college football fans around the world.
