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True Freshman Standouts from Week 1 of College Football

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College football’s Week One saw several true freshmen earn significant playing time and make big plays across the national landscape. Many top prospects from the 2025 cycle made key contributions and thoroughly impressed in their team’s opener.

One of this week’s top five true freshmen was featured in On3’s Preseason True Freshman All-American Team. With that said, let’s highlight the top true freshmen who stood out on college football’s opening weekend. (This will be a weekly feature, released on Mondays; we pushed it back this week due to the games on Sunday and Monday.)

True Freshman of the Week: QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele – Cal

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele introduced himself to college football in one of the best Week One debuts we’ve seen from a true freshman quarterback in recent memory. The Hawaii native was marvelous in Cal’s 34-15 win over Oregon State, completing 20 of 30 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns. Sagapolutele was white hot out of the gate, going 6-for-6 with two touchdowns on the first two drives. He set social media abuzz during the late night block of games with the throws he was making, showing the elite arm talent and passing skill that made him a five-star outlier for On3 and Hawaii’s all-time leading passer. The laser light show continued throughout the game with Sagapolutele consistently delivering exquisitely thrown passes to every level of the field, some which weren’t caught.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder wasn’t just one of the most impressive true freshmen, he had one of the better showings for any quarterback in Week One, finishing with the highest PFF grade among starting quarterbacks (95.1). Sagapolutele’s breakout showing on Saturday changes expectations for Cal’s season and makes the Bears a must-watch as they enter ACC play in a few weeks.

QB Bryce Underwood – Michigan

Bryce Underwood made his awaited debut behind center for Michigan and looked the part of the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 cycle. Underwood had instant command of the offense and flashed his elite arm talent while making sound decisions, completing 21 of 31 passes for 251 yards and one touchdown with zero interceptions in Michigan’s 34-17 win over New Mexico. The former Belleville (Mich.) High standout ripped several impressive throws over the middle of the field. He showed nice touch on his touchdown pass to tight end Marlin Klein and later on a wheel route out of the backfield. He even got in on the action as a run blocker, helping spring Justice Haynes for the game’s second touchdown.

Underwood will have a national stage this week in a tough big road game against Oklahoma. While the competition is sure to be tougher as the season rolls on, he looked the part of On3’s wire-to-wire No. 1 overall prospect from a talent perspective.

QB Malik Washington – Maryland

Malik Washington was one of several true freshmen quarterbacks to draw the opening week start. It took the Baltimore (Md.) Archbishop Spalding product a quarter to settle in, but he came on strong and flashed his considerable physical talent. Washington completed 27 of 43 passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions in Maryland’s 39-7 win over Florida Atlantic. Washington showed his arm strength on his first touchdown pass, hitting a wheel route down the right sideline from 40 yards out. The former four-star prospect went on to hit a number of impressive downfield throws, including a small-window laser from the far hash early on in the second half. While names like Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and Bryce Underwood made more national headlines, Malik Washington served notice that he’s a true freshman quarterback to know.

WR Vernell Brown III – Florida

Vernell Brown III made one of the plays of the weekend in college football in his Florida debut. The true freshman came down with a miraculous, diving one-handed catch during the second quarter of Florida’s 55-0 win over Long Island. The play, which was reminiscent of Odell Beckham Jr.‘s famous catch, held the top spot in SportsCenter’s top ten plays from Saturday. Brown, who finished the game with three catches for 79 yards, figures to be a factor in the Gators’ passing game this season, along with fellow true freshman Dallas Wilson, who is out with injury. A Florida legacy, Brown was considered to have one of the highest floors among wide receivers in the 2025 cycle, due to his quickness, technical polish, and high skill level, and finished as a five-star prospect in the Rivals Industry Ranking.

WR Malachi Toney, Miami

No true freshman had a better performance in one of the several big-time matchups across college football in Week One than Malachi Toney. He was Carson Beck‘s top target in Miami’s 27-24 win over No. 6 Notre Dame. Toney finished as the Hurricanes’ leading receiver, catching six passes for 82 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets. His quickness and spatial awareness while working out of the slot gave one of the nation’s best secondaries trouble all evening. The South Florida native looked like an extremely tough cover and did not shy away from the big stage. Even more impressively, Toney did so as the youngest player on the field. Initially a member of the 2026 cycle, Toney reclassified to 2025. Like Ryan Williams last season, Toney is just 17 years old, turning 18 on September 17. The last time we saw Toney on a football field, he was leading his Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage team to a state title – as a quarterback. Toney is a football player who rises to the occasion in big moments.