The first day of October means the start of Spooky Season. Here are the 10 players who've caught Texas college football by surprise in 2024.

10. Texas State DE Kalil Alexander

In three games, Alexander has one less tackle than he did all of last season and one more sack. On a defensive line that was revamped through the transfer portal with Tunmise Adeleye and Steven Parker, Alexander has the same amount of sacks (3) as those two have combined.

9. North Texas Mean Green S Evan Jackson

Let’s be clear – Chandler Morris is North Texas’s best player. He’s in the top five nationally in passing yards (1,643) and touchdowns (16). But safety Evan Jackson is the pick here because Morris’ output as a Power Four to Group of Five transfer paired with arguably the nation’s best play-caller in Eric Morris is not surprising. That doesn’t take away from his excellent season, but does keep him off the list.  

North Texas is once again ranked at the top of the American Athletic Conference in total offense. But the Mean Green are 4–1 because the defense has improved from conference worst to conference average. North Texas is eighth in the AAC in rushing defense, largely thanks to more aggressive secondary play.

Jackson, a sophomore, is second on the team with 32 total tackles, but he’s also added two interceptions in the passing game. He is the third-highest-graded safety in Texas, per PFF.

8. Texas Longhorns DT Vernon Broughton

Media pundits assumed Texas couldn’t fill the massive hole on the interior defensive line left by NFL Draft picks Byron Murphy II and T’Vondre Sweat. But fifth-year senior Vernon Broughton has followed a similar trajectory to the one Murphy and Sweat saw last year, from starting two games over four seasons to becoming the No.6-ranked defensive tackle, per PFF.

7. Sam Houston Bearkats QB Hunter Watson

Watson is the biggest surprise from the state’s most surprising team, the 4–1 Sam Houston Bearkats. It’s fitting Sam Houston resides in a city where Wal-Mart is the biggest employer, because the Bearkats are running a Wal-Mart version of the Cam Newton offense. The Sam Houston QB powered Texas State to death in the Group of Five game of the Year on Saturday, as Watson became the first quarterback in program history with back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances.

Look, Watson’s passing stats (57 percent completion rate, 5:5 TD/INT ratio) aren’t the prettiest in the state. But he showed up in Huntsville as potentially a third-string quarterback and now is piloting an offense averaging 10 more points and 138 more yards per game.

Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed can be argued for in this position, but I’m giving Watson the nod because we saw Reed’s potential last season when he threw for 361 yards in the Texas Bowl.

6. Texas A&M RT Dametrious Crownover

Prior to the 2024 season, Dametrious Crownover was a high-upside but inconsistent football player. The Grandview product joined the program in 2021 as a tight end/defensive end and didn’t start a game until the 2023 Texas Bowl. 

Crownover has put all the pieces together, starting every game this season at right tackle for a Texas A&M offense that’s second in the SEC with 231.6 yards per game and three tackles for loss allowed per game.

5. Texas Longhorns EDGE Colin Simmons

Colin Simmons, the No. 2-ranked recruit in the 2024 DCTF Hot 100, leading the Texas Longhorns in sacks at some point in his career was predictable. But leading the Longhorns with four sacks and six tackles for-loss as a true freshman on the No. 2-ranked team in the country is absurd.

4. SMU Mustangs QB Kevin Jennings

In his last five starts at quarterback, Kevin Jennings has won the first state championship for Dallas ISD since 1959, the American Athletic Conference Championship, the Iron Skillet and SMU’s ACC opener against Florida State. 

“I think one of his biggest big-game characteristics is he doesn’t know it’s a big game,” head coach Rhett Lashlee said.

Jennings came into 2024 splitting time with last year’s starter Preston Stone but has proven the Mustangs correct for turning to him full-time before the bye week. He’s thrown for 391 yards and five TDs in the last two games, and SMU has scored 108 points.

3. Baylor Bears LB Keaton Thomas

Keaton Thomas began his career as a defensive back at West Virginia, transferred to Northeast Mississippi Community College and became a junior college All-American linebacker. This season, he has become one of the best Power Four linebackers in the country. Thomas is the second-highest-graded linebacker in the Big 12, per PFF.

2. SMU Mustangs RB Brashard Smith

The former Miami Hurricanes wide receiver has been a revelation for SMU in the backfield, a necessity for the offense after Jaylan Knighton’s season-ending knee surgery. Smith is second in the ACC with 509 rushing yards on 70 carries, but he’s also building a case for the state’s all-purpose MVP early in the year.

Against Florida State, he split out wide and won a one-on-one contested catch battle with the Seminoles’ safety. He also returns kicks for the Mustangs.

1. TCU Horned Frogs WR Jack Bech

The best way to judge if a player has exceeded expectations is by checking their preseason rating on EA Sports College Football 25. Jack Bech is the only player in the top three nationally in receiving yards (647) and touchdown catches (6), per TCU sports information director Mark Cohen. It’d be difficult for a TCU fan firing up their console to get that same production - Bech is 74 overall.

Bech finished 10th on TCU’s team with 12 receptions in an injury-shortened 2023 season. This year, he’s leading the Big 12 in yards and touchdowns.