Many people believe that one of our biggest issues this year is the number of true freshmen we've had to field compared to other teams. Coach Johnson reiterated this problem again this week in his post game comments: "If you look across the country, you're just not going to see as many true freshman as we have playing." And, the national "play-by-play" guys reiterated this issue numerous times during the Cincinnati game. So, I thought I'd check and see how many of our true freshmen are actually contributing.
Clearly, three of our WR's are true freshmen as are two of our TE's. Our kicker is a freshman and our #3 running back is a true freshman. And, on defense, Sean Wilson, a true freshman, is a key contributor. That's eight true freshmen playing significant time. Four others have played lesser roles. So that's twelve out of the 24 scholarship freshmen we have on the roster.
Is that a lot? Is it more than most teams? More than any other team as CJ seemed to suggest? I don't know and the effort to check it is too much. But, to make a "spot check," I looked at LSU. You know, the team that no one should sign with because "they'll never see the field."
Well, I was surprised. So far, LSU has played 15 of their 25 true freshmen and at least eight have played significant time-- probably more than our eight. Hmmm?
Clearly, three of our WR's are true freshmen as are two of our TE's. Our kicker is a freshman and our #3 running back is a true freshman. And, on defense, Sean Wilson, a true freshman, is a key contributor. That's eight true freshmen playing significant time. Four others have played lesser roles. So that's twelve out of the 24 scholarship freshmen we have on the roster.
Is that a lot? Is it more than most teams? More than any other team as CJ seemed to suggest? I don't know and the effort to check it is too much. But, to make a "spot check," I looked at LSU. You know, the team that no one should sign with because "they'll never see the field."
Well, I was surprised. So far, LSU has played 15 of their 25 true freshmen and at least eight have played significant time-- probably more than our eight. Hmmm?