Nothin' like a freshman party: UCLA's Rosen, BYU's Mangum square off
Freshmen quarterbacks Josh Rosen (18) and Tanner Mangum (22) suit up Saturday for UCLA and BYU, respectively. CBS Sports senior columnist Dennis Dodd explores the unique showdown.
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Dennis Dodd
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4 min read
One was playing on Fridays a year ago. The other was seeking out Mormon converts in Chile.
Sounds like the perfect prelude to, well, some sort of history Saturday at the Rose Bowl. We’re talking opposing true freshman starting quarterbacks playing for ranked teams in what has become one of the biggest nonconference games of the season.
UCLA’s Josh Rosen vs. BYU’s Tanner Mangum.
It’s unclear whether such a matchup has ever occurred in FBS. (Remember: These are true freshman quarterbacks starting for ranked teams.)
It’s certain no one saw it coming.
Rosen, 18, is the early-entry frosh who has thrown (77) and completed (50) more passes than any true freshman in the country. “Magic” Mangum, a 22-year-old returned from a Mormon mission, has helped BYU go 2-0 with a pair of Hail Mary passes.
There are those who want to disparage the historical significance of the matchup with asterisks. Rosen has been on campus since January. It still took him until shortly before the season to win the job.
Mangum is four years older than Rosen -- physically more mature -- as he served his two-year mission before beginning his career. One question: How many football facilities are there in Chile?
This convergence may have been inevitable. For a while, freshmen have had to play more and sooner. USC coach Steve Sarkisian recruits with the idea he’s only going to have players three years. Tennessee coach Butch Jones has had to play 36 freshmen over the last two seasons out of necessity.
Texas played 15 true freshmen in the opener against Notre Dame. That was second only to Georgia (19).
But why? It’s hard to believe Woody Hayes once said you lose a game for every sophomore you play.
“One, [freshmen] are probably more prepared,” said Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez. “Two, you have to play more people.
“As much criticism as there has been for 7 on 7, I think that has helped. High school coaches have done a great job of working their guys year-round.”
Sarkisian’s first recruiting class at USC included three offensive linemen who played as freshmen. Fourteen true freshman Trojans played last week against Idaho. That carried on a tradition that goes back to Pete Carroll.
“Philosophically, what I’ve taken from Pete is we don’t look at a redshirt freshman or a true freshman,” Sarkisian said. “It’s who’s earned the right to play. I learned that early on.”
It’s quite possible no two freshmen have accomplished more at the moment. Rosen is dropping passes down silos at a 65 percent completion rate. For that reason, the Bruins are suddenly considered something more than a Pac-12 challenger.
“He’s a junkie -- football junkie,” UCLA coach Jim Mora Jr. cracked. “I better say football junkie.”
Mangum can’t seem to keep that perpetual smile from his face. Hey, you’d be grinning too if you broke Nebraska’s 29-year opening-day win streak in Game 1.
The Hail Mary winner at the gun had coach Bronco Mendenhall looking for someone to hug just like Jim Valvano in 1983.
In Week 2, Mangum tossed a similar deep pass with 47 seconds left to beat Boise State. Three months ago, he was in Chile spreading the Mormon word.
Now his name is on everyone’s tongue.
“I sound like a broken record,” Mangum said, “but I’m just happy we won.”
We know how they’ve attacked defenses. But how to attack the lingering question about their faceoff: When was the last time two true freshmen quarterbacks started for ranked teams against each other?
It’s hard to tell. Miami’s Brad Kaaya had a fantastic freshman season in 2014 but never faced another freshman signal-caller from a ranked team. Nebraska true freshman Cody Green started the 2009 Oklahoma game against redshirt freshman Landry Jones. Never mind that Nebraska wasn’t ranked going into the 10-3 win.
Oklahoma freshman Jamelle Holieway took over for an injured Troy Aikman in 1985, leading the Sooners to a national championship. He remains the only true freshman quarterback to lead a team to an FBS title.
Tim Tebow backed up Chris Leak as a freshman at Florida in 2006. Notre Dame was never ranked in Jimmy Clausen’s 2007 freshman season. John Elway played sparingly as a freshman at Stanford in 1979. Peyton Manning became a freshman starter for Tennessee in 1994; the Vols were unranked at the time.
That leaves it up to the freshmen of today. Some kind of history is going to be made Saturday at the Rose Bowl.
