GAINESVILLE, Fla. (FWAA) – Two freshman players who helped take their teams into the College Football Playoff and another who took his team to the cusp of the 12-team mix are the trio who make up the 2024 Freshman Offense, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Year presented by Chris Doering Mortgage and awarded by the Football Writers Association of America.
Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore, who will face Ohio State’s dynamic offense in Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game, is the Freshman Defensive Player of the Year. Nolan Hauser, Clemson’s kicker and leading scorer whose walk-off field goal in the ACC Championship Game sent the Tigers into the CFP, is the Freshman Special Teams Player of the Year. LaNorris Sellers, a dual-threat quarterback who led South Carolina to its first top-15 ranking in 10 years, is the Freshman Offensive Player of the Year.
All three are a part of the FWAA Freshman All-America Team presented by Chris Doering Mortgage announced yesterday. The three awards are based on regular-season performances. Hauser, Moore and Sellers will be honored during a ceremony Feb. 24 at Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille in Gainesville, Fla., along with Syracuse head coach Fran Brown, who earned the FWAA’s First-Year Coach Award in a separate announcement today.
Moore, a 6-2, 190-pound true freshman cornerback from Round Rock, Texas, helped the Irish make up for the loss of injured star cornerback Benjamin Morrison in the early season. Moore has nine starts this season, including all three Irish playoff wins, and leads Notre Dame with 10 passes defended, the fifth-best total among FBS freshmen. He also has two forced fumbles, two interceptions, two tackles for loss and is seventh on the team with 43 tackles.
Moore is Notre Dame’s fifth FWAA Freshman All-American in the last six seasons.
Sellers, a 6-3, 242-pound redshirt freshman, was named to the third-team All-SEC squad and was recognized as the SEC Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches. He completed 64.9 percent of his passes (172-for-265) for 2,274 yards and 17 touchdowns. His 655 yards rushing on 155 carries (a 4.2 average) was the third-best total among SEC quarterbacks and his seven rushing touchdowns tied for second among that group. Sellers was a two-time winner of the SEC Offensive Player of the Week award and a two-time recipient of the league’s Freshman of the Week honors.
Together with two other South Carolina players on the FWAA Freshman All-America Team, Sellers is a part of the Gamecocks’ first members on that list since 2011 and Jadeveon Clowney. The freshman trio join three others on this season’s regular All-America team for a total of six FWAA All-Americans hailing from South Carolina, tops among all FBS programs.
Hauser, a 6-1, 190-pound true freshman from Cornelius, N.C. outside Charlotte, delivered under pressure for the ACC champion Tigers. Hauser (pronounced HOO-zer) connected on 17 of 23 field goals in the regular season and hit on 56 of 57 extra-point attempts. Hauser will stay forever in Clemson lore after kicking a career-long 56-yard field goal as time expired to stave off SMU’s comeback and win the ACC Championship Game, 34-31, which sent the Tigers into the CFP. He became the first FBS player ever to win a conference championship game by kicking a field goal of 50 or more yards as time expired. Hauser led Clemson with 106 points in the regular season, already a Clemson freshman record, and finished with 113 points following the Tigers’ playoff loss at Texas. The 113 points are the fourth-best total among FBS freshmen, seventh-best among all kickers and the 34th highest total among all players.
Clemson led all schools on the FWAA Freshman All-America team with four members. Hauser and the Tigers have now had seven players on the last two teams and have had at least one player on the FWAA’s freshman list the past five seasons.
Chris Doering Mortgage, based in Gainesville, Fla., was established in April 2007 as a residential lending company providing mortgage products including conventional, FHA, USDA, and VA loans. The branch is a division of MortgageAdvisors.com – 3940 NW 16th Blvd., Suite A, Gainesville, FL 32605 – NMLS 70168/1937321. FHA Lender ID 2631500094. For more information, visit ChrisDoeringMortgage.com. College football analyst Chris Doering, a former wide receiver for Coach Spurrier both in college and the NFL, serves as the branch manager.
Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of journalists, broadcasters, publicists, photographers and key executives in all areas of college football. The FWAA works to govern media access and gameday operations while presenting awards and honors, including an annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its programs and initiatives, contact Executive Director Steve Richardson at (214) 870-6516 or tiger@fwaa.com.
All-Time FWAA National Freshman Players of the Year
2018: Trevor Lawrence, Clemson (QB)
2019: Kenneth Gainwell, Memphis (RB)
2020: Will Anderson Jr., Alabama (LB)
2021: Brock Bowers, Georgia (TE)
2022: Drake Maye, North Carolina (QB)
2023: Noah Fifita, Arizona (QB); Dillon Thieneman, Purdue (S)
2024: LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina (QB); Leonard Moore, Notre Dame (DB); Nolan Hauser, Clemson (K)