South Carolina freshman ‘historically good’ in college debut, analyst says

The highest grade of any college football player in Week 1.

And the highest grade of any major school edge rusher period in four years.

Dylan Stewart, South Carolina football’s true freshman defensive end, certainly passed the eye test in his first college game with four tackles, 1.5 sacks, a QB hurry and two forced fumbles in a 23-19 home win over Old Dominion.

The analytics say he was even better.

According to Pro Football Focus college analyst Max Chadwick, Stewart earned a PFF grade of 97.4 (out of 100) as an edge rusher on Saturday — the best single-game grade by any power conference edge rusher since 2020.

The football analytics website also said in a post Monday that Stewart’s overall PFF game grade of 95.2 was the highest of any FBS player it tracked Week 1.

Not bad for an 18-year-old making his collegiate debut.

The 6-foot-6, 248-pound Stewart made waves this offseason after joining USC as a five-star recruit out of Washington, D.C. He was the No. 1 edge rusher and No. 15 overall recruit in the Class of 2024 — and the Gamecocks’ sixth highest ranked commit ever, only trailing the likes of Marcus Lattimore and Jadeveon Clowney.

Stewart showed those talents and more against the Monarchs, a Group of Five school, in South Carolina’s season opener. No play was bigger than the fumble he forced late in the fourth quarter to set up a go-ahead score.

Having already forced one fumble in the second quarter, Stewart knocked the ball loose from ODU quarterback Grant Wilson and a teammate recovered it at the Monarchs’ 6-yard line with USC trailing 19-16. Two plays later, LaNorris Sellers scored a 3-yard rushing touchdown to put South Carolina up 23-16.

Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer raved about Stewart postgame, saying the true freshman made a “heck of a play,” and said the team gave him a game ball for his efforts at Williams-Brice Stadium.

“I saw the opportunity, and took it,” Stewart said postgame.

Beamer also gave a game ball to Georgia Tech transfer defensive end Kyle Kennard, who also starred in his debut with four tackles, 3.5 tackes for loss, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble of his own.

Stewart and Kennard were named the SEC’s co-defensive linemen of the week on Monday. Stewart also made PFF’s Team of the Week and was 247Sports’ True Freshman of the Week.

Kennard said postgame that Stewart, his fellow defensive end, is “one of the best freshmen I have ever laid my eyes on.”

Was Stewart surprised at how well he played?

“Nah,” he said. “I do it in practice. You practice how you play.”