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True Freshman Standouts from Week 5 of College Football

wam1Wl2j_400x400by: Clark Brooks4 hours agoClarkBrooks_On3
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Saturday was plenty fun. Overtimes galore, comebacks a’plenty, and statement showings all but proclaimed the unofficial start of teams entering the “meat” of their schedules. Injuries are piling up. Staffs are re-tooling their schemes on the fly. And, more freshmen are making impact plays for their teams.

A three-star first year was thrown into the fire against a conference foe and didn’t allow a single pressure, a four-star ripped off a series of splash carries in a primetime performance, and a five-star passer continued to play to his pedigree, to mention a few notable displays.

Let’s check out the top freshmen footballers from this past weekend!

True Freshman of the Week: RB Nate Sheppard – Duke

Nate Sheppard helped guide the Blue Devils to an easy road win against Syracuse, totaling over 200 yards from scrimmage as Duke’s RB1. The former four-star and top25 back in the 2025 class had college football’s 4th-highest ground output this week. His big day started on his very first carry on Duke’s opening drive, ripping of a crisp 17-yarder and helping them get on the scoreboard first. The first of his two tuddy’s came on their next series — a 49-yard scamper where he bounced and bursted north untouched to paydirt. All in all, six carries gained at least ten yards.

The Orange defense didn’t appear too interested in making things difficult for Sheppard. Of his 168 yards, 114 came before contact. He only broke two tackles as a ball carrier. Either way, his pop is a nice element for an already good offense. Now sitting inside the nation’s top35 in rush yards and top15 in yards/attempt, he’s poised to be one of the ACC’s best young bell cows.

WR Dakorien Moore – Oregon

The top receiver in the 2025 class had a key part in Oregon’s clutch victory against No. 3 Penn State. Dakorien Moore was targeted on a quarter of his team’s passes and led the Duck’s in receiving. That’s not worth nothing facing a quality defense in a wild white out environment. Both of his explosive catches led to points. And subsequently, his 89 yards were the most of any first year pass catcher in Week 5. And on the year, his 296 yards is also tops.

RB Caleb Hawkins – North Texas

North Texas keeps rolling along and its lead back is quickly emerging as one of the top ball carriers in the G5. For the second-straight week, Caleb Hawkins snatched multiple TDs and impressed on tape. The Mean Green’s Rushing Machine made great use of his 6’2, 200 pound build, topping 200 yards from scrimmage. Breaking nine tackles in the process, 82% of his production came after contact. He wasn’t just running to space or benefitting from pristine run lanes.

And because of his ability to take care of business against adversity, the Shawnee (Okla.) North Rock Creek product exits the weekend with a 92.7 offensive grade per PFF — the top mark of any freshman. But in case that metric is too nebulous for you, Hawkins is the only running back in the country to be top10 in First Down+TD Rate (45.2%) , Broken Tackle Rate (47.6%), and yards per route run (3.33). If he can keep this up, he might be among the prized gems come portal season.

QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele – Cal

Another week, another shoutout for JKS in this piece. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele bounced back last week’s dud (44.7% Completion, 5.5 Y/A, 0 TD, 2 INT in a shutout loss to San Diego State) with a encouraging road performance that resulted in the Golden Bears snatching a key conference win against Boston College. Contested from the opening kickoff, the first-year showed great resolve keeping his team in the game by connecting on nearly 65% of his passes.

But, his most impactful throw came in crunch time with Cal trailing. With roughly a minute-and-a-half left in the game, Sagapolutele extended towards his dominant side and cooly orchestrated a nice delivery down the seam to Mason Mini for what ultimately was the game winning score. Nothing small about that play. Good ole all verts.

Though a few other young QBs are vying for All-America honors, Sagapolutele’s impact and aura are arguably top of the crop as his continues to turn heads.

RB Dierre Hill Jr. – Oregon

Dierre Hill provided a yeoman’s effort for the Ducks in their aforementioned overtime win against the Nittany Lions. Leading Oregon in rushing with 82 yards, he broke 6 tackles across his 10 attempts; 3 tries topped ten yards. For good measure, Hill also secured an 8-yard TD catch late in the 3rd quarter maneuvering off a tunnel screen.

On the year, Hill has seen over a third of his carries birth an explosive carry. And, his 10.1 Yards/Attempt is the highest mark in the Power4.

The Ducks seem to be riding the hot hand and operating by a committee aproach. But based on his potency, the staff would be wise to continue to expand his role within the offense.

LB Noah Chambers – Virginia Tech

The Hokies might not know who their coach of the future will be, but they might have a good idea who’ll be a main cog of their defense the next few years. Super optimistic; but Noah Chambers debut hammered home why On3 considered him a top55 LB in the 2025 class. In Virginia Tech’s 2-point road upset against NC State, he logged 3 stops and a sack.

OG Robert Smith IV – Boston College

Despite not starting a game before Saturday, Robert Smith IV turned in one of the cleanest games from a freshman linemen. Only 7 of his peers logged more snaps and only Stanford’s Emeka Ugorji and Zak Yamauchi had more pass sets. But while they were busy having their hand’s full with San Jose State and allowing multiple pressures each, Smith disallowed his a single hurry and recorded the highest PFF offensive grade among rookie frontliners that had at least 55 snaps.

DL Pupu Sepulona – Utah

No freshman defender compiled as many stops as Pupu Sepulona’s 4 in Week 5. If his 12.9% Stop Rate versus West Virginia was averaged out over the course of a season, it would be one of the top marks on record. For what it’s worth, only 3 defenders boasted a double-digit clip last fall. And, none of them were interiors. A tough ask for a player fighting for playing time. But, one can dream.