The first week of the 2026 college football season didn’t feature every team, but it still produced a fast-moving early leaderboard at receiver. A handful of freshmen, transfers and under-the-radar veterans wasted no time putting up numbers.
At the top of the list sits USC freshman Trent Mosley, who announced himself in his debut against San Jose State. The former four-star prospect wasn’t even targeted until the second quarter, but he still finished with a team-best 7 catches for 118 yards and a touchdown.
No other Trojan had more than four receptions. His score came in the third quarter and stretched USC’s lead to 35-3.
Texas A&M also found a big-play threat in its matchup with Florida State, even though the Aggies came up short. The offense still generated 272 passing yards, and Malone-Bradford was right in the middle of it with 6 catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. The 6-foot-5 wideout turned heads with a 33-yard touchdown in the opening quarter, and he had already matched a career benchmark by scoring twice in all of last season.
North Carolina’s remade offense entered its rematch with TCU with plenty of questions, but Thurman helped answer some of them. The Ohio State transfer broke out with 4 receptions for 94 yards, including 55 yards on the Tar Heels’ first possession.
His 25-yard catch on North Carolina’s final drive helped seal the win. Thurman had totaled 144 receiving yards across three seasons with the Buckeyes.
Eastern Michigan’s win over Sacramento State featured several names near the top of the national receiving chart, and Devereaux was one of them. The veteran was a steady part of the Eagles’ passing game, moving the chains on a third down during the opening touchdown drive and then putting the game away with a 31-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that made it 28-10.
He finished with 6 catches for 73 yards. Devereaux is one of three Eastern Michigan-Sacramento State receivers to land in the FBS top 10 in receiving yards after Week 0.
Another Eagle, Prosper, also cracked the early list after producing 7 catches for 81 yards in the opening game of his first season at Eastern Michigan. Hall did his damage for Stanford on the opening drive, hauling in a 57-yard catch that pushed the Cardinal into the red zone before the drive ended in a touchdown. He was otherwise quiet and finished with 2 catches for 81 yards.
On the losing end of that same Eastern Michigan-Sacramento State matchup, Smith Jr. still made noise. Entering his fourth season at Sacramento State with just 45 receiving yards on his résumé, he nearly doubled that total in one night, finishing with 9 catches for 86 yards in his first game at the FBS level.
San Jose State didn’t get much going until the third quarter, but Clark provided the Spartans’ biggest spark. He opened the second-half scoring drive with a 42-yard catch, and his final three receptions all came on scoring drives.
At Texas A&M, King added another big moment against Florida State with a 34-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that made the game tighter than expected. He ended the night with 7 receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown.
Hawaii also got an early contribution from a freshman. With the Rainbow Warriors bringing in several transfers to help Micah Alejado, it was Kainoa Carvalho who delivered the biggest jolt in game one. The 5-foot-6, 165-pound freshman caught 5 passes for 72 yards in a loss to Stanford.
It’s only Week 0, but the early receiving chart already has a little bit of everything: freshmen flashing, transfers stepping in, and a few veterans reminding everyone they still have juice.
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Steve Belichick remains on medical leave as the investigation continues, leaving the Tar Heels to navigate a serious off-field situation with questions still hanging over the staff structure. For a program trying to move forward, the deeper concern now is not just the names attached to the inquiry, but how many people connected to the team may ultimately be swept into it. [Read more 🡒]