UCLA's Josh Rosen is among only a handful of true freshmen to start a season opener.
Freshmen quarterback aren’t a rarity in college football, not by a long shot. Names like Jameis Winston and Tim Tebow come to mind in recent memory a successful youngsters, while players like Jamelle Holieway -- who led the 1985 Oklahoma Sooners to a national championship as a freshman -- rank among the best freshmen to ever play.
Josh Rosen exploded on to the college football scene with style for UCLA, totaling impressive numbers in his season opening debut against Virginia. But Rosen isn’t the first true freshman -- without redshirting -- to start the season opener.
Since 2003, 18 true freshmen have started the season opener for teams from the major conferences, with varying degrees of success. Some, like Rosen, put on a spectacle in blowout wins, while others disappointed and never lived up to the hype they had coming out of high school.
So how did Rosen stack up against his the rest of the freshman? Let’s take a deep dive into his performance.
Here's how all 18 freshman fared in their season opening debuts:
