This started purely as a fascination into the incredible story of North Texas redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Mestemaker.
Some college football fans may have become aware of him last bowl season, but most probably hadn’t heard his name until after last Friday night when he set a school record with 608 passing yards (with 4 touchdowns and an interception) in the Mean Green’s 54-20 win at Charlotte.
The eye-popping stats are only the start of the story, though.
Mestemaker never started at quarterback for the varsity team at Vandegrift High School in Austin, Texas. After backing up one QB his junior season, Mestemaker was then passed over again as a senior when Louisville commit Deuce Adams transferred into the school. According to MaxPreps.com, Mestemaker logged a mere 17 pass attempts that season while getting some playing time as a defensive back and punter.
“It was a shot in the heart to see that dream die,” Mestemaker said, reflecting back in an interview this fall with Dallas-area TV station WFAA.
But the dream didn’t die — quite the opposite.
He had no scholarship offers coming out of high school, but he walked on at North Texas, worked his way up the depth chart, and when Mean Green quarterback Chandler Morris entered the transfer portal last December the team needed someone to step up and play in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl vs. Texas State.
After logging just 5 pass attempts all season to that point, Mestemaker made the start and, more to the point, made sure it wouldn’t be his last. He passed for 393 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions (the second coming at the very end of the game trying to lead a comeback in the waning moments) and added a 70-yard touchdown run in a narrow 30-28 loss.
Now, he’s no longer a walk-on, and in fact, the Denton Record-Chronicle reported this week that North Texas is “lining up its effort to keep Mestemaker” with presumably a larger NIL investment.
Overall, Mestemaker is completing 68.2 percent of his passes for 2,468 yards, 21 TDs and 4 INTs (plus 4 rushing TDs) for a 7-1 North Texas team that hosts 7-0 Navy on Saturday (on ESPN2). The Mean Green are very much alive in the AAC race, with the winner likely to receive the College Football Playoff berth reserved for the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion.
“Who would have thought a year ago I’d be in this position right now,” Mestemaker said in the interview with WFAA. “… I dreamed about these moments, I prayed about these moments, and now I’m living it out.”
Despite his record-breaking performance last week, Mestemaker still might be an under-the-radar name for most college football fans.
With that in mind, here are five other underrated quarterbacks across college football who deserve a brighter spotlight on their success.
Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby
Sorsby should be gaining more notoriety for what he’s done this season leading Cincinnati to seven straight wins, a 7-1 record and a viable shot at the Big 12 championship and CFP, but the redshirt junior is not one of 12 players BetMGM even has listed Heisman Trophy odds for as of Friday.
Sorsby isn’t a top Heisman candidate, but the point is he’s not really getting national attention anywhere to the level he deserves.
He’s passed for 1,843 yards, 20 TDs and 1 INT while rushing for 425 yards and 7 TDs for the No. 17-ranked Bearcats, who have a pivotal Big 12 battle with No. 24 Utah on Saturday night.
ESPN’s “College GameDay” crew will be in Salt Lake City ahead of the game, so maybe Sorsby will get some due spotlight from that, but he’s a fun story in his own right.
He went to Indiana out of high school, redshirted his first year and then made seven starts in 2023. But when Hoosiers coach Tom Allen was fired, Sorsby quickly entered the transfer portal — days before new coach Curt Cignetti was even announced.
Of course, Indiana then went on an incredible run last season under Cignetti, winning 11 games and crashing its way into the CFP, while Cincinnati went 5-7. Sorsby was solid last year, passing for 2,813 yards, 18 TDs and 7 INTs with 447 rushing yards and 9 TDs, but he’s elevated his game and his team in a big way in 2025.
Duke QB Darian Mensah
Mensah shouldn’t be under the radar either — we promise this entire list isn’t going to be top passers from Power Four conferences — but how many college football fans have really spent much time watching Tulane or Duke the last couple years? That’s what we thought.
He broke out last season as a redshirt freshman at Tulane, passing for 2,723 yards, 22 TDs and 6 INTs, leading the Green Wave to nine wins and the AAC championship game. He then received a substantial NIL package in transferring to Duke — reported by ESPN, CBS Sports and others to be a two-year deal worth $4 million per year.
So, yeah, he certainly wasn’t underrated or undervalued in the transfer portal.
But again, the Blue Devils haven’t been a part of the national discussion this season, and it warrants noting that Mensah has backed up the hype (and the investment) while passing for 2,211 yards, 17 TDs and 2 INTs.
In four ACC games, he’s averaging 293.8 passing yards with 9 TDs and 0 INTs while leading Duke to a 3-1 start in conference play. In the lone loss, to undefeated Georgia Tech, Mensah completed 32-of-44 passes for 373 yards and 2 TDs.
Pittsburgh QB Mason Heintschel
After a 2-2 start and back-to-back losses, Pittsburgh benched Alabama QB transfer Eli Holstein in favor of Heintschel, a true freshman.
That move saved the Panthers’ season as they’ve reeled off four straight wins while averaging 41.3 points per game in that span with Heintschel playing a leading role.
The breakout star has passed for at least 320 yards in three of his four starts and is up to 1,243 yards, 9 TDs and 3 INTs overall (plus a rushing TD).
Pittsburgh is suddenly 6-2, still in the ACC chase and one of the more entertaining teams in college football.
Southern Miss QB Braylon Braxton
Braxton has the chance to win Sun Belt championships in consecutive years with two different teams.
Last season, he was named the MVP of the Sun Belt championship game while leading Marshall to a 31-3 win over Louisiana as part of a 10-3 season. After mostly sitting the bench for three years at Tulsa before that, Braxton passed for 1,624 yards, 19 TDs and 2 INTs last season at Marshall while rushing for 610 yards and 4 TDs.
He then transferred to Southern Miss, where he’s passed for 1,959 yards, 18 TDs and 4 INTs and rushed for 215 yards and a score, leading the Golden Eagles to a 6-2 overall record and 4-0 start in the Sun Belt, which is tied for first in the conference’s West division.
James Madison QB Alonzo Barnett III
Barnett had a breakout season last year as a redshirt sophomore, passing for 2,598 yards, 26 TDs and 4 INTs while rushing for 442 yards and seven scores.
That included a career-best performance against in a 70-50 win over the ACC’s North Carolina Tar Heels in which he passed for 388 yards, 5 TDs and 0 INTs and rushed for 99 yards and two scores, setting a school record with the 7 total TDs while becoming the first Sun Belt player to ever have 5 passing TDs and 2 rushing TDs in the same game.
And yet, Barnett only received honorable mention All-Sun Belt recognition.
That qualifies as underrated, right?
He then got off to a slow start this year with just 4 passing TDs over the first five games, but since then he’s been playing at an elite level. In James Madison’s last three games, Barnett has averaged 283 passing yards, totaled 9 TD passes with 2 INTs and rushed for 279 yards and five scores in that stretch.
That included a 63-27 win over Old Dominion in which he passed for 295 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs and ripped off 153 rushing yards and 4 TDs. Then this past Tuesday in a 52-20 win against Texas State, he had 264 passing yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT and 98 rushing yards with a TD.
Overall, Barnett has passed for 1,516 yards, 13 TDs and 3 INTs and rushed for 364 yards and 10 scores, leading James Madison to a 7-1 record and 5-0 start in conference play.
Great article, wish Chandler Morris was mentioned 🙂 Go Hoos!