True freshmen get little room for hesitation when the scoreboard reads 25–21 and the opposing quarterback still has the ball. Against Washington on October 3, USC defensive end Luke Wafle faced exactly that assignment.
With 3:55 remaining, Washington snapped from its own 19. Wafle brought down Demond Williams Jr. for a two-yard loss. The Huskies escaped that setback and crossed midfield, but the freshman stayed involved. At the two-minute mark, he stopped Williams behind the line again. Another tackle followed on the next snap.
Three stops on the possession that would decide the game. USC eventually forced an incompletion on fourth down and survived. Wafle helped make the ending possible.
A starting job carries different weight in those minutes. Signing-day expectations offer no protection against a quarterback scrambling toward the sticks. Someone has to get him down.
Across four programs, these true freshmen have supplied different answers to that demand. Their work through October 10 shows how quickly a newcomer can become someone a team needs—and how much harder the assignment gets once opponents start preparing specifically for him.
The job changes after the first start
Winning the opening competition gets a freshman onto the field. Staying there means handling the plays between the highlights: recognizing a receiver’s motion, keeping outside leverage or finding the ball through a double-team.
These four players earned substantial responsibilities during their first college season. Ohio State’s Jay Timmons carries an important qualification: a September 26 injury interrupted his run at nickel. His opening month established the role, even as his availability complicated the midseason picture.
The responsibilities differ. Oregon State needs Jesse Legree to threaten defenses downfield. USC and LSU need their young linemen to disrupt the quarterback before he can exploit the coverage. Behind the rush, a freshman defensive back must survive when the ball comes his way anyway.
Four freshmen who have delivered
1. Jesse Legree keeps coming back for more
San Diego State had already surrendered an 11-yard touchdown reception to Jesse Legree before halftime on October 10. Oregon State’s first offensive snap after the break brought something considerably worse: a 71-yard scoring connection from Braden Atkinson.
Less than three minutes later, Legree scored again.
He finished the 66–14 victory with 10 catches, 191 yards and three touchdowns. His sixth consecutive 100-yard receiving game broke the Oregon State record he had shared with Mike Hass and Brandin Cooks.
Those names give the achievement its proper scale. Hass reached five straight in 2005; Cooks matched that run in 2013. Legree passed both during his first college season.
One explosive Saturday can leave plenty unexplained. A cornerback might slip, or a safety might follow the wrong receiver. Six straight games over 100 yards leave much less room to dismiss the production.
By the end of the San Diego State game, Legree had 932 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. The 71-yard score marked his third reception of at least 70 yards that season. Defenders had reason to fear him well before he approached the end zone.
Making defenses adjust first
For true freshmen at receiver, that combination matters. Legree has produced the long gains that change field position and the repeated catches that keep a quarterback looking his way. Against the Aztecs, he supplied both in the same afternoon.
Atkinson already has a receiver who can turn a possession into an immediate scoring threat. Oregon State can build around that connection now, without waiting for another offseason of development.
The next challenge will arrive in the opponent’s preparation. A corner can crowd the release while a safety waits over the top. Legree will need patience when the easiest route disappears.
A short completion against that attention can still help the offense. So can a route that draws the safety away from another receiver. His influence need not disappear on an afternoon when someone else catches the touchdowns.
Legree has earned the right to make defenses adjust first. Across the line, that adjustment often starts with a simpler demand: reach the quarterback before the receiver gets loose. USC has already handed a freshman part of that responsibility.
2. Luke Wafle stays in the fight
Wafle’s Washington game contained a mistake worth remembering alongside the late stops.
In the second quarter, officials penalized him for a face mask, wiping out a play that had driven Washington backward. The 15-yard penalty gave the Huskies a first down. They eventually finished that possession with a touchdown.
Freshmen do not secure starting jobs by avoiding every error. They must keep contributing after one.
By Washington’s last possession, Wafle had another chance to affect the outcome. His sack came on first-and-10 with 3:55 remaining. Later, after the Huskies converted fourth-and-two with a 43-yard completion, he stopped Williams for a loss at the USC 30.
The drive kept moving. Wafle kept tackling.
Kameryn Crawford eventually supplied a third-down sack near the goal line, and Prophet Brown broke up the fourth-down pass. Wafle had done his part earlier, forcing Washington to spend additional snaps recovering ground.
His final line included five tackles, two tackles for loss and his first college sack. Through that game, his 22 tackles led USC’s defensive linemen. The Big Ten named him Freshman of the Week.
Staying disciplined against a mobile quarterback
Among true freshmen, an edge defender faces a particularly unforgiving balance. Rush too far upfield and a mobile quarterback can escape underneath. Hesitate while protecting that escape route and the passer gains time.
Wafle had to keep solving that problem after Washington recovered from earlier setbacks. Nobody could treat the possession as finished after his sack. The Huskies certainly did not.
For USC, his development offers a chance to build continuity at a demanding position. A defender who handles ordinary rushing downs and remains useful during the final possession gives a coordinator more options.
His Washington performance also resists the polished version of a freshman breakout. He committed an expensive penalty. The opponent continued advancing despite his late stops. Teammates had to finish the possession.
Wafle stayed involved through all of it, delivering three tackles on the drive that decided the game. At LSU, Deuce Geralds has earned similar responsibility from a different starting point: inside the tackles, where the quarterback stands closer but blockers crowd every route toward him.
3. Deuce Geralds makes room inside
Geralds works where the camera usually finds helmets, shoulder pads and very little open grass.
His starting assignment places him against interior blockers who can attack together. A clean first step helps, but a defensive tackle cannot count on getting one. Centers and guards can close the gap before he reaches it.
Geralds has still found ways through.
He entered October with four sacks, including two against Texas A&M. Another against McNeese pushed his total to five before LSU traveled to Kentucky.
That production makes him stand out among true freshmen playing inside. It also creates a temptation to judge every subsequent appearance by whether he reaches the quarterback.
Kentucky supplied a useful correction.
Early in the third quarter on October 10, the Wildcats faced fourth-and-three at the LSU 18. Kenny Minchey attempted a short pass toward Kenny Darby, and Geralds broke it up. The Tigers took possession with 10:53 remaining.
No sack appeared beside that snap. Geralds still ended the drive.
When a quarterback releases the ball before an interior rusher arrives, the defender can still close the throwing lane. Geralds turned a passing opportunity into an empty possession without bringing Minchey down.
He added a quarterback hurry later in the quarter. Even without another sack, he continued making the passer work.
Winning the collisions between the highlights
LSU lost 35–34 in overtime. One productive defensive tackle could not repair every breakdown around him, and the final score prevents the individual highlights from swallowing the larger story.
Geralds nevertheless gave LSU a fourth-down stop when Kentucky threatened to extend its lead. Coaches need those contributions from the starting front, regardless of a player’s experience.
His next step concerns the work that attracts less attention: resisting a double-team, keeping his feet and preventing a blocker from reaching a linebacker cleanly.
A young tackle can chase penetration so eagerly that he opens the gap beside him. Learning when to attack and when to hold position takes discipline. The best pass-rushing move means little if the offense keeps finding easy rushing yards elsewhere.
Geralds has already supplied the disruptive plays. Handling the collisions between them will make him harder to replace.
His fourth-down deflection also spared the secondary another test. When a pass clears those raised hands, defensive backs must finish the assignment. Ohio State trusted Jay Timmons with that work almost immediately.
4. Jay Timmons earns the inside assignment
Texas had run one offensive play when Timmons forced the conversation toward himself.
On September 12, the Ohio State freshman forced and recovered a fumble on the Longhorns’ first snap from scrimmage. He had announced himself before the offense could settle into its opening possession.
The turnover supplied the replay. His workload supplied the stronger evidence of responsibility.
Timmons played 69 snaps and made six tackles against Texas. A week earlier, he had handled 33 snaps against Ball State and broken up two passes. He followed with another pass deflection against Kent State.
Those assignments placed him inside the defense rather than at the edge of a limited freshman package. Ohio State started him at nickel in each of its first four games.
Then the fourth appearance ended early.
Late in the third quarter against Illinois on September 26, Timmons blitzed quarterback Katin Houser and failed to finish the sack. Houser escaped, and Timmons went down injured. Trainers helped him leave the field; he did not return that afternoon.
Timmons had established the role before the injury. His availability afterward requires a separate judgment from the quality of his opening month.
Handling the traffic at nickel
For true freshmen in the secondary, nickel presents a crowded education. A slot receiver has room to break either way. Nearby blockers can turn a coverage snap into a tackling assignment almost immediately.
The defender must read those changes without surrendering the space behind him. Guessing correctly once can produce a spectacular turnover. Repeating the assignment requires control.
Timmons’ early appearances gave Ohio State reason to keep handing him that responsibility. His first college road game alone demanded 69 snaps against Texas. The staff kept him working through a full afternoon against an opponent capable of punishing a late reaction.
The injury paused that development just as future opponents gained enough film to challenge him differently. Returning to the field will bring the next examination.
He has already shown he can make a play people remember. Ohio State will want the same attention to detail when the ball travels elsewhere and his contribution amounts to closing a receiver’s route.
That work earns fewer replays. It helps keep a freshman in the lineup long after the excitement of his debut fades.
November will ask different questions
By the second half of a season, opponents have more than recruiting film and a few opening-week clips. They can study the release that precedes a deep route. Offensive tackles can identify when an edge rusher commits his weight. Quarterbacks can test which motion makes a nickel defender hesitate.
These true freshmen will face adjustments aimed directly at what has worked.
Legree may have to accept an underneath catch while a safety protects the long throw. Wafle must keep rushing without opening an escape lane. Geralds needs answers when a guard withstands his first move.
For Timmons, the immediate task starts with recovering sufficiently to handle the position’s demands again. The next big play can wait until his body allows him to make it.
Coaches will watch the quieter snaps closely. A receiver who maintains his spacing can help someone else get open. An interior defender who holds his ground can leave a linebacker free to tackle.
Nobody roars quite as loudly for those plays. They still help determine who starts the following week.
The four newcomers have supplied concrete reasons for their coaches to trust them: sustained production, late stops, a fourth-down deflection and an opening-possession takeaway.
Now opponents know where to look. They will crowd Legree, test Wafle’s patience, lean on Geralds and challenge Timmons when he returns. The next measure of their progress comes when a coach calls their number knowing the other sideline has spent all week preparing for it.
READ MORE: Midseason Transfer Decisions Scramble College Football Depth Charts
FAQs
Q1. What is a true freshman in college football?
A. A true freshman plays in his first college season. This article profiles Jesse Legree, Luke Wafle, Deuce Geralds and Jay Timmons.
Q2. What receiving record did Jesse Legree break?
A. Legree recorded six consecutive 100-yard receiving games, surpassing Oregon State’s five-game streaks from Mike Hass and Brandin Cooks.
Q3. How did Luke Wafle help USC beat Washington?
A. Wafle made three tackles on Washington’s final possession, including a sack and another stop behind the line. USC won 25–21.
Q4. How many sacks did Deuce Geralds have before the Kentucky game?
A. Geralds had five sacks entering LSU’s October 10 game against Kentucky. He also broke up a fourth-down pass during that game.
Q5. When did Jay Timmons get injured against Illinois?
A. Timmons left Ohio State’s September 26 game against Illinois late in the third quarter. He had started the Buckeyes’ first four games at nickel.
