By Mark Pszonak
With the college football regular season nearing its conclusion, plenty of elite true freshmen have made a great first impression. Here are several who excelled during Week 13:
RB Abu Sama III – Iowa State
Sama produced one of the top true freshman performances of the season on Saturday night during a 42-35 victory over Kansas State in the snow. He rushed for 276 yards and three touchdowns on only 16 carries, while also adding one reception for 11 yards. On the ground he averaged 17.3 yards per carry.
RB Jai’Den Thomas – UNLV
Thomas only rushed for 48 yards on 10 carries but scored three touchdowns on those attempts during a 37-31 loss to San Jose State. For the season he has now rushed for 501 yards and seven touchdowns.
RB Jahiem White – West Virginia
White followed up his best game of the season with 133 yards on 17 carries during a 34-31 victory at Baylor. He has now rushed for 792 yards this season.
RB Justin Marshall – Colorado State
Marshall finished his season strong with his third consecutive impressive performance. At Hawaii on Saturday night, he finished with a team-high 94 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries, giving him 311 yards and two touchdowns in his last three games.
RB Isaiah Augustave – Arkansas
While it came during a 48-14 loss to Missouri, Augustave was able to follow-up his breakout game last weekend with another solid performance. Rushing for 80 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries, he has positioned himself to be a major contributor next season.
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RB Elijah Davis – Louisiana
Coming into the game with 51 yards rushing on the season, Davis finished with 109 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries during a 52-21 victory over Louisiana-Monroe.
LB Cade Uluave – Cal
Few true freshmen have finished their season as strongly as Uluave, who totaled 12 tackles, two tackles for a loss, one sack and one interception during a 33-7 victory at UCLA on Saturday night. In his last six games he has totaled 54 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks and two interceptions.
LB Everett Roussaw – UAB
Roussaw has had an impressive finish to the season, which continued Saturday against North Texas with a team-high 10 tackles and .5 tackles for a loss.
LB Anthony Hill Jr. – Texas
During a convincing 57-7 victory over Texas Tech, Hill continued his impressive season with four tackles, one tackle for a loss and one sack.
LB C.J. Allen – Georgia
Allen finished with eight tackles, which tied for the team lead, during a 31-23 victory at Georgia Tech. He has 33 tackles on the season, with 21 of those coming in the last three games.
LB Ben Cutter – West Virginia
Cutter, who had already established himself as an important player for the Mountaineers this season, finished with a career-high 10 tackles during a 34-31 victory at Baylor which helped move West Virginia to 8-4 on the season.
DB Caleb Downs – Alabama
At this point it is difficult to even classify Downs as a true freshman, as he once again performed like a veteran during a victory at Auburn with five tackles, one tackle for a loss and one pass breakup.
DB Khalil Barnes – Clemson
Barnes was a playmaker during the Tigers’ 16-7 victory at South Carolina. He finished the game with four tackles, two pass breakups and one fumble recovery, which helped move Clemson to 8-4 on the season.
DB Dereck Moore – New Mexico
In what has been a productive season for Moore, he enjoyed his best statistical performance in the season finale against Utah State. Finishing with a season-high 12 tackles, which led the team on Friday night, Moore totaled 41 tackles in his last five games.
DB Drew Surges – Iowa State
Coming into the game with five tackles on the season, Surges exploded with 11 tackles and one tackle for a loss during a 42-35 victory at Kansas State.
DB Dillon Thieneman – Purdue
Thieneman finished his first collegiate season in style with a team-high eight tackles, one tackle for a loss and two interceptions. He was one of the top overall true freshmen throughout the 2023 season.
WR Kevin Concepcion – NC State
Concepcion was the leading receiver and rusher for the Wolfpack during a 39-20 victory over North Carolina on Saturday night. Through the air he finished with seven receptions for 131 yards and two touchdowns, while on the ground he had 11 carries for 55 yards. The Wolfpack has done a fantastic job getting the ball to their top young playmakers hands.
WR Eric Singleton – Georgia Tech
After a couple of less productive games, Singleton returned to form on Saturday against Georgia with four receptions for 96 yards. On the season he now has 47 receptions for 706 yards and six touchdowns.
WR Jordan Faison – Notre Dame
The Irish have had other true freshman wide receivers step up this season, namely Jaden Greathouse and Rico Flores Jr., but on Saturday it was Faison’s turn. He had his best game of the season against Stanford with three receptions for 66 yards and one touchdown. The receiving corps in South Bend should be fun to watch over the next two or three seasons.
WR Jayce Brown – Kansas State
While the Wildcats suffered a tough 42-35 loss to Iowa State on Saturday night, Brown impressed with five receptions for 69 yards.
WR Landon Sides – North Texas
Sides has had at least one reception each game this season but waited until the finale to have his best performance. He finished with season highs in receptions (6), yards (100) and touchdowns (2) during the victory over UAB.
QB Anthony Colandrea – Virginia
While it came during a 55-17 loss to Virgnia Tech, Colandrea still showcased his potential while completing 29 of 46 passes for 243 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
QB Grayson Loftis – Duke
In his third collegiate start, Loftis completed 20 of 37 passes for 248 yards, two touchdowns and one interception during a 30-19 victory over Pittsburgh. It was his first win as a starter.
QB Ryan Staub – Colorado
With Shedeur Sanders sidelined with an injury, Staub responded by completing 17 of 24 passes for 195 yards and one touchdown during a 23-17 loss at Utah.
QB Kirk Francis – Tulsa
In his second start of the season, Francis got his first win while completing 23 of 37 passes for 297 yards, two touchdowns and one interception against East Carolina. He also rushed for 23 yards on three carries during the win.
