P.J. Fleck on Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele: 'He doesn't look like a true freshman'

After opening the season against Buffalo and Northwestern State at home, Minnesota will have a huge step up in competition this week on the road against California.

Heading into the season, the Golden Bears looked like they could be in a rebuild year, but true freshman sensation Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has them way ahead of schedule. He has completed 68.7% of his passes for 493 yards and four total touchdowns in the first two games of his college career.

"He doesn't look like a true freshman; he looks like he has been there a long time. You could tell he's very poised, he's very mature," Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck told the media on Monday. "It looks like he has played at Cal for a long time already. he has got good pocket presence. He knows when to use his legs; he's very accurate. They do a really good job catching the ball for him, but he is a really, really talented QB. The poise for him as a true freshman is very rare, so we got our work cut out for us, that's for sure."

Sagapolutele was the seventh-ranked quarterback in the 2025 high school recruiting class according to the 247Sports Composite. Hailing from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, he completed 70.5% of his passes as a senior for 3,404 yards and 46 TDs with three interceptions at James Campbell High School.

He originally committed and signed with Oregon on early National Signing Day in December, but modern transfer portal rules allowed him to change his mind, and he technically transferred to Cal before the spring semester even began in Berkeley.

Sagapolutele still had the entire spring to earn his stripes, and he eventually beat out Ohio State transfer Devin Brown for the starting quarterback role, who was a highly-touted high school prospect himself, albeit in the 2022 recruiting class.

Oregon State is no longer considered a power conference program, but Sagopolutele went on the road in his first career start and led Cal to a 34-15 win over the Beavers. Much like the Gophers, they had an easier test in Week 2 at home against FCS program Texas Southern, but JKS looks like the real deal.

Any time a true freshman earns a starting QB spot at a power conference program, it should catch your eye. Other notable players from the 2025 class include Bryce Underwood at Michigan, Malik Washington at Maryland and Bear Bachmeier at BYU. Situation and opponents matter, but you could make an argument that Sagopolutele has looked the most impressive thus far.

On paper, Minnesota might have advantages over Cal at many positions across the field, but the Golden Bears' 6-foot-3, 19-year-old quarterback might just be good enough to be the great equalizer. The battle between each team's young signal caller will go a long way in determining the outcome of Saturday night's contest.