Top 5 Quarterback Performances of Week 1 College Football: Jaxson Dart, Shedeur Sanders, more

September 5, 2024

Justin's NCAA college football top quarterbacks from Week 1 of the 2024 season. Top performers include Jaxson Dart and Shedeur Sanders.

The 2024 college football season has finally arrived. I mean, technically there was the game in Ireland last weekend and a sprinkling of others, but this week was our first full slate of games. And what a slate it was.

From Notre Dame defeating Texas A&M to Iowa scoring a whole 40 points, it was a memorable weekend of football. Even No. 1 Georgia found itself in a dogfight with Clemson for the first half, though the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half.

Below are the top five quarterback performances from Week 1 of the college football season. These are judged through a combination of statistics, fantasy scoring, and game context, with consideration also given based on the team's offensive systems. Let's take a look at this week's top performances.

Honorable Mentions

These guys didn't make the top five, but a shout out to a few other QBs from Week 1:

• South Alabama's Gio Lopez led all losing QBs in yards, throwing for 432 of them in a 52-38 loss to North Texas. This won't be the last time we talk about that game.
• Heisman favorite Dillon Gabriel was 41-for-49 for 30 yards and two touchdowns in a win over FCS Idaho. Strong game, but not quite enough.
• Iowa'a Cade McNamara deserves credit for playing as well as he did while in a Hawkeyes jersey. He was 21-for-31 for 251 yards and three touchdowns. That's like throwing for 500 yards in a normal offense.
• Behren Morton threw for five touchdowns as Texas Tech beat Abilene Christian.
• Alabama's Jalen Milroe just didn't throw the ball enough to warrant a spot in the list, but he was efficient, going 7-for-9 for 200 yards and three touchdowns and adding 10 carries for 79 yards and two more scores.

5. Cam Ward - Miami

Miami had arguably the most impressive win of anyone on Saturday, going on the road and beating Florida. Sure, Miami was the ranked team so they were expected to win, but they did so in dominant fashion. The Hurricanes took down the Gators 41-17.

This offseason, Miami grabbed former Washington State quarterback Cam Ward out of the transfer portal, with Ward choosing Miami over his other option of declaring for the NFL Draft. It's only been one week, but it looks like Ward made the right call.

Cam Ward says that transferring to Miami instead of declaring for the NFL Draft is the “best decision” he’s made.

— Luke Chaney (@lukechaney247) August 31, 2024

Things were a little shaky right at the beginning as Ward threw an early interception, but he settled in from there. He was 26-for-25 for 385 yards and three touchdowns and also added 33 rushing yards. Ward is one of the most exciting QBs in college football and has a chance to really transform the Hurricanes.

4. Noah Fifita - Arizona

Arizona looked like an ascendant program last year, but then the Nick Saban retirement launched a chain of events that saw Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch move to Washington. But Fisch wasn't able to convince quarterback Noah Fifita to follow him.

That would have been a boon for the Huskies because Fifita is a program-changing talent. He would have been a star in the Big Ten from the moment he first took the floor. By sticking around Arizona, Fifita now has a chance to make the Wildcats contenders in the Big 12 immediately.

Fifta had a few accuracy issues in the team's season-opening win over New Mexico as he completed 61.3% of his passes. He made the most of those 19 completions though, throwing for 422 yards and four touchdowns. He was also picked off once. I love Fifta as a longshot Heisman bet right now.

3. Chandler Morris - North Texas

For the second year in a row, the Mean Green are quarterbacked by someone named Chandler. Last year, it was Chandler Rogers. This year, it's Chandler Morris, who comes over after three seasons at TCU.

Morris hasn't lived up to his pre-college expectations, but he's going to have an opportunity to pile up the numbers in 2024 in a UNT offensive system that emphasizes the pass. His career high in passing touchdowns is 12 from last season, but he's almost certainly going to blow past that this season.

In the team's season-opening win over South Alabama, Morris was unstoppable. He was 32-for-41 for 415 yards and three touchdowns and also added five carries for 17 yards and two scores. On a day when the UNT defense struggled, Morris put the offense on his back and delivered huge results.

2. Shedeur Sanders - Colorado

Opening the season with eye-popping numbers is now a tradition for Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

In 2023, Sanders made his FBS debut against TCU and was unstoppable, going 38-for-47 for 510 yards and four touchdowns. The Buffaloes defeated the Horned Frogs and ignited a few weeks of hype around Colorado.

Per @PFF, Shedeur Sanders had the highest possible passer rating of 158.3 on plays in which he was in the pocket for 2.5 seconds or more. And these were NOT always clean pockets. pic.twitter.com/Y4Ail7gcYQ

— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) August 30, 2024

This year, Sanders had a much easier Week 1 matchup against FCS program North Dakota State, but he still posted huge numbers. He was 26-for-34 for 445 yards with four touchdowns and a pick. Not quite at the level of his 2023 debut, but still a strong way to start the year.

(It feels like we went full circle on Colorado, doesn't it? They were overhyped all last season, but now they almost feel underhyped.)

1. Jaxson Dart - Ole Miss

The Jaxson Dart Heisman campaign got off to a strong start on Saturday against Furman. I mean sure—it was just Furman, but Dart was 22-for-27 for 418 yards and five touchdowns and also added six carries for 27 yards and a touchdown.

Dart entered the season with high expectations. He had the fourth-best preseason Heisman odds at +1400 after a 2023 season in which he completed 65.1% of his pass attempts for 3,364 yards and 23 touchdowns. After tossing 11 picks in 2022, he threw just five of them last year.

Lane Kiffin's system at Ole Miss helps generate big-yardage games from quarterbacks, so this might not be the last time we see Dart throw for 400 yards. He never hit that mark in 2023, but he did go over 350 three times.

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