The True Freshman Report: Benjamin Morrison, Quinshon Judkins join elite company

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Notre Dame has had three cornerbacks drafted since 2016: KeiVarae Russell (third round in 2016), Julian Love (fourth round in 2019) and Troy Pride Jr. (fourth round in 2020).

Benjamin Morrison will not be draft-eligible until after the 2024 season, but he’s turning heads in South Bend. He had a pick six a couple of weeks ago in an upset victory against Clemson.

The former four-star recruit from Brophy College Prep in Phoenix is up to five interceptions after pulling a hat trick in a 44-0 blowout of Boston College last week.

He allowed only one catch for 32 yards the six times he was targeted in coverage in the game.

Morrison’s father, Darryl, is a former NFL safety with Washington (1993-96). Benjamin was considered the 37th-best cornerback in the 2022 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite. Oregon and Washington were his other finalists.

Now, Morrison is now in elite company for true freshmen when it comes to yanking down interceptions in the College Football Playoff era.

True freshman INT leaders (CFP era)

Player

  

TM

  

POS

  

Year

  

G

  

INT

  

Andre Cisco

DB

2018

13

7

Derek Stingley

CB

2019

15

6

Dameon Baber

DB

2015

10

6

Kareem Orr

DB

2015

12

6

Benjamin Morrison

CB

2022

11

5

Jevon Holland

S

2018

13

5

Emmanuel Forbes

CB

2020

11

5

Amik Robertson

CB

2017

13

5

Tariq Thompson

S

2017

13

5

T.J. Carter

DB

2017

13

5

Clifton Duck

DB

2016

13

5

Nick Johnson

DB

2014

14

5

Here’s a look at who else shined in Week 12.

Quarterbacks

Eight true freshmen earned starts last week and USF’s Byrum Brown was the most impressive.

He nearly led the Bulls to their second win of the season in his first start. He completed 21 of his 25 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 76 yards and a touchdown, but the Bulls lost 48-42 to Tulsa to fall to 1-10.

Brown, a three-star from Rolesville, N.C., completed his first 21 passes, and his 84 percent completion percentage broke a USF record once owned by Quinton Flowers. USF rolled up a season-high 499 yards total offense.

In his third start, Texas A&M’s Conner Weigman helped put an end to the Aggies’ six-game skid by completing 11 of 19 attempts for 191 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 66 yards in a 20-3 win over 1-10 UMass.

Western Michigan’s Treyson Bourguet evened his record as a starter at 2-2 with a 12-10 win at Central Michigan. Bourguet completed only 7 of 19 passes for 102 yards but ran for 57 yards and didn’t turn it over in icy conditions.

Central Michigan’s Bert Emanuel Jr. didn’t start but ran for 98 yards and a touchdown off the bench in the loss. He leads all true freshman quarterbacks in rushing with 421 yards and four touchdowns on only 51 carries.

Miami’s Jacurri Brown fell to 1-1 as a starter and after he and the Hurricanes’ offense managed only 98 yards in a 40-10 loss at Clemson. Brown was 6 of 13 for 53 yards with an interception and led Miami with 22 yards rushing.

A week after helping UConn qualify for a bowl game for the first time since 2015, Zion Turner couldn’t help the Huskies avoid a 34-17 loss to Army to end the regular season. He was 14 of 24 for 116 yards with two interceptions but ran for 33 yards and a touchdown.

Northern Illinois’ Nevan Cremascoli fell to 1-1 as a starter despite another positive performance in a 29-23 loss to Miami of Ohio. Cremascoli, an unranked prospect from Winnetka, Ill., finished 14 of 22 for 165 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.

Louisiana Tech’s Landry Lyddy fell to 0-3 as a starter after completing 23 of his 31 attempts for 213 yards, with two interceptions, in a 26-21 loss to Charlotte.

Temple’s E.J. Warner fell to 2-7 as a starter after a 23-3 loss to Cincinnati. Warner was 21 of 36 for 167 yards with two interceptions.

Running backs

Ole Miss’ Quinshon Judkins ran for more than 200 yards for the second time in three weeks, but it still wasn’t enough to help the Rebels.

Judkins ran for a season-high 214 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries but also lost a fumble for only the second time this season in a 42-27 loss to Arkansas. His 1,385 yards rank seventh among all true freshman rushers in the College Football Playoff era.

With Mississippi State and a bowl game still left on the schedule, odds are good Judkins will become only the sixth true freshman since 2014 to run for more than 1,500 yards in a season.

True freshman leading rushers (CFP era)

Player

  

Tm

  

Year

  

G

  

Att

  

Yds

  

TDs

  

Jonathan Taylor

2017

14

299

1,977

13

Samaje Perine

2014

13

263

1,713

21

AJ Dillon

2017

13

300

1,589

14

Jarvion Franklin

2014

13

306

1,551

24

Nick Chubb

2014

13

219

1,547

14

J.K. Dobbins

2017

14

194

1,403

7

Quinshon Judkins

2022

11

229

1,385

16

Jemar Jefferson

2018

12

239

1,380

12

Nick Wilson

2014

13

236

1,375

16

Royce Freeman

2014

15

252

1,365

18

Spencer Brown

2017

13

250

1,329

10

Braelon Allen

2021

11

186

1,268

12

TreVeyon Henderson

2021

13

184

1,255

15

With leading rusher Miyan Williams out, Ohio State’s Dallan Hayden has strung together back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances. He ran for a season-high 146 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries in a 43-30 win against Maryland. He’s up to 503 yards rushing.

Oregon State’s Damien Martinez, meanwhile, is closing in on a 1,000-yard season after rushing for more than 100 yards for the fifth consecutive game. He ran 22 times for 138 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-7 win at Arizona State. He led all true freshman running backs with eight missed tackles forced and earned Pac-12 freshman of the week honors.

Penn State’s Kaytron Allen eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the second time with an 11-carry, 117-yard, one-touchdown performance in a 55-10 blowout win at Rutgers.

UConn’s Victor Rosa surpassed 100 yards for the first time with 12 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown in the loss to Army.

South Alabama’s Braylon McReynolds, a three-star from Mobile, Ala., ran for 100 yards on 15 carries in a 27-20 win at Southern Miss.

Others who got in the end zone on rushing scores: Baylor’s Richard Reese (10 carries, 56 yards, 1 TD versus TCU); Texas A&M’s Le’Veon Moss (12 carries, 78 yards, 1 TD versus UMass); Cal’s Jaydn Ott (18 carries, 97 yards, 1 TD versus Stanford) and Memphis’ Sutton Smith (7 carries, 55 yards, 1 TD versus Northern Alabama).

Syracuse’s LeQuint Allen (2 catches, 50 yards, 1 TD) and NC State’s Michael Allen (2 catches, 41 yards, 1 TD) caught touchdown passes.

Receivers/tight ends

Kentucky’s Barion Brown and Houston’s Matthew Golden have been consistent producers all season, and they both had their best performances yet last Saturday.

Brown caught 10 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown in a 16-6 loss to No. 1 Georgia.

Golden hauled in eight balls for 127 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-3 win at East Carolina.

True freshman leading receivers

PLAYER

  

TM

  

POS

  

G

  

TGT

  

REC

  

YDS

  

TD

  

Evan Stewart

WR

9

93

49

607

2

Antonio Williams

WR

11

55

47

506

3

Barion Brown

WR

11

58

41

560

3

Jayden McGowan

WR

11

59

41

434

3

Tetairoa McMillan

WR

11

79

39

702

8

Jaydn Ott

RB

11

46

38

270

2

Luther Burden III

WR

11

60

35

295

4

Matthew Golden

WR

9

51

33

525

6

Kobe Prentice

WR

11

39

30

290

1

Dane Key

WR

11

43

28

435

5

RJ Maryland

TE

11

37

26

287

6

Mason Taylor

TE

11

38

25

253

2

Tiaquelin Mims

WR

8

38

23

355

2

Jordyn Tyson

WR

9

48

22

470

4

Justus Ross-Simmons

WR

9

37

22

364

2

SMU’s RJ Maryland caught two touchdown passes for the second time this season. He finished with six catches for 61 yards in a 59-24 loss to Tulane.

Missouri’s Luther Burden had two touchdowns among his three receptions for 35 yards in a 45-14 win against New Mexico State.

Other receivers and tight ends who caught touchdowns: Colorado State’s Jordan Williams (2 catches, 26 yards, 1 TD at Air Force); Texas A&M’s Noah Thomas (2 catches, 40 yards, 1 TD versus UMass); Oregon State’s Jack Velling (3 catches, 74 yards, 1 TD versus Arizona State); Vanderbilt’s Jayden McGowan (3 catches, 23 yards, 1 TD versus Florida) and Baylor’s Kelsey Johnson (3 catches, 30 yards, 1 TD versus TCU).

Offensive line

The top-graded linemen by Pro Football Focus for Week 12 are familiar faces.

Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. (70 snaps, 89.0 grade), LSU left tackle Will Campbell (64 snaps, 83.7 grade) and Clemson right tackle Blake Miller (78 snaps, 73.7 grade) earned the top marks among offensive tackles. Texas A&M left guard Kam Dewberry (55 snaps, 73.4 grade) earned the highest overall score for a guard.

PFF’s top-graded true freshman OL

Player

  

TM

  

POS

  

Starts

  

Snaps

  

OVR

  

RUN

  

PASS

  

Kelvin Banks

LT

11

728

71

66.4

75.5

Will Campbell

LT

10

675

70

65.3

72.4

Blake Miller

RT

11

778

68.8

71.6

65.6

Armand Membou

RT

3

241

66.8

65.8

67.3

Tyler Booker

LG

0

328

66

58.1

90.3

Kam Dewberry

LG

4

311

63.4

68.5

49.5

Jonah Savaiinaea

RG

11

739

63.1

54.9

75.3

Anez Cooper

RG

4

283

59.4

62.8

61.1

Emery Jones

RT

9

679

58.8

64.9

54

Keylan Rutledge

RG

3

340

58

58

55.5

Banks, who has made 11 starts, failed to give up a pressure for the second consecutive game in a 55-14 win against Kansas and earned the best run grade (89.0) for the week among tackles. Campbell, a 10-game starter, did not give up a pressure for the fourth time this season in a win against UAB.

Dewberry earned the top grade (81.1) for run blocking among guards. He allowed two pressures in the win against UMass, his fourth start of the season.

Front seven

Penn State linebacker Abdul Carter picked up his third sack in four games and recorded four tackles and four pressures in a 55-10 win against Rutgers.

He’s had an outstanding season and is a testament to the great recruiting done by the Nittany Lions in the Philadelphia area. Carter has 48 tackles, 4 1/2 sacks, two forced fumbles and four pass deflections, and grades out third among true freshman linebackers according to PFF.

Only LSU’s Harold Perkins (57 tackles, 7 1/2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 interception) and Maryland’s Jaishawn Barham (49 tackles, 3 sacks, forced fumble, fumble recovery) have graded out better.

Texas A&M linebacker Martrell Harris Jr. and defensive lineman Malick Sylla haven’t had many opportunities to play on defense until the last couple of weeks, but they’re making the most of those limited snaps.

After picking up a sack on only six snaps against Auburn, Harris, a four-star from The Woodlands, Texas, got another one plus three tackles and a forced fumble on only 16 snaps in the win against UMass. Sylla, a four-star from Katy, Texas, played a season-high 34 snaps and had five tackles and a sack.

They were among five true freshmen in the front seven to record sacks in Week 12.

The others:

Arizona edge rusher Isaiah Ward, the nephew of Rams Pro Bowl linebacker Bobby Wagner, had his first sack in a 31-20 loss to Washington State.

Northern Illinois linebacker Nick Alvarado had a sack against Miami of Ohio.

Rutgers edge rusher Kenny Fletcher had a half-sack in the loss to Penn State.

Nebraska’s Ernest Hausmann led all true freshmen in tackles for the week with 12 against Wisconsin.

Defensive backs

It’s been another rough season in Lincoln for the Cornhuskers, but Hausmann and cornerback Malcolm Hartzog are providing reasons for hope moving forward.

Hartzog had his third interception of the season in the 15-14 loss to Wisconsin. He’s second to Notre Dame’s Morrison for picks among true freshmen. He and Morrison were the only true freshmen to grab interceptions in Week 12.

Virginia Tech cornerback Mansoor Delane, making his fourth start, had five tackles, two pass breakups and a forced fumble that led to his team’s go-ahead touchdown in an upset win against Liberty.

Delane and Illinois cornerback Xavier Scott were the only true freshman defensive backs to force fumbles. Scott had six tackles and a forced fumble in a 19-17 loss to Michigan.

Arkansas cornerback Quincey McAdoo and Clemson cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. were the only defensive backs with sacks.

McAdoo, a former four-star receiver from Clarendon, Ark., played 97 snaps in an upset victory against Ole Miss and had seven tackles in his second career start. Pride, a top-100 recruit from East St. Louis, played seven snaps in a 40-10 win against Miami.

Special teams

Ohio’s Nathaniel Vakos maintained his lead as the most prolific true freshman three-point scorer in college football against Ball State last week.

He booted three kicks from 21, 23 and 37 yards in a 32-18 win and has 18 field goals. Iowa’s Drew Stevens, who was good from 21 and 38 yards in a 13-10 win against Minnesota last week, is next on the list with 15.

UCF’s Mitch McCarthy led all punters with a 48.3 average, with three of his four punts downed inside the 20, in the loss to Navy. Louisiana Tech’s Patrick Rea had the longest net punting average for the week (47.5 yards). FAU’s Riley Thompson (57 yards) had the longest punt overall.

Penn State’s Nick Singleton and Indiana’s Jaylin Lucas each returned kickoffs for touchdowns last week.

The second kickoff return for a touchdown for Lucas, a three-star running back from New Orleans, La., went for 88 yards against Michigan State.

Singleton’s return — a 100-yarder against Rutgers — was his first. Five true freshmen have returned kickoffs for scores this season.

(Photo of Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison (20) celebrating one of his three interceptions: Matt Cashore / USA Today)



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