More preseason accolades for TU Football players

[Chris Harmon]

Shamari Brooks Named to Doak Walker Award Watch List

Media release...

DALLAS, Texas – The University of Tulsa sophomore running back Shamari Brooks was named today as one of 63 preseason watch list candidates for the Doak Walker Award, as announced by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum. The Doak Walker Award is given to the nation's top running back.

Brooks, from Tulsa's Union High School, had his freshman season cut short in 2017 when he suffered a season-ending injury in the ninth game of the year at SMU. In the injury-shortened season, Brooks still rushed for 687 yards, a 5.8 average and 10 touchdowns. He finished his rookie season with the highest single-season rushing total for a Tulsa true freshman and was second overall for all freshmen (true or red-shirt), trailing Reggie Williams (1995) by 68 yards.

Brooks had four 100+ rushing games, including a string of three straight 100+-yard games. Brooks turned in a career-best 164-yard performance with two touchdowns against UConn in his first career start. He also rushed for 111 yards and one TD vs. Houston, totaled 104 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries against Tulane and had his first career 100-yard rushing game in the third contest of the season with 141 yards and three touchdowns at Toledo

The 2017 Doak Walker Award winner, Stanford's Bryce Love, headlines the list of candidates and is also joined by finalist Jonathan Taylor of Wisconsin and semifinalists Justice Hill of Oklahoma State and Devin Singletary of Florida Atlantic.

The award, which will name its 29th recipient in 2018, is named for SMU's three-time All-America running back Doak Walker. It is the only major collegiate award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of other students of the same classification.

The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name 10 semifinalists in November, and three finalists, as voted on by the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee, will be announced on November 20. The committee will cast a second vote beginning November 26 to determine the recipient. The National Selection Committee consists of past recipients, former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives.

The recipient of the 2018 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, December 6 on ESPN.

 

[Chris Harmon]

Willie Wright is Nominee for the 2018 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team

Media release...

NORTHBROOK, Ill. – The University of Tulsa senior offensive lineman Willie Wright is among a select group of football student-athletes with the honor of being commended for their distinguished accomplishments off the field, as the Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) announced 169 nominees for the 2018 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®.

Wright, a senior right tackle for the Golden Hurricane, is an AFCA Good Works Team® nominee for the second consecutive season. A three-year starter, Wright has played in 36 games and has 35 starting assignments. In 2017, he helped lead an offense that ranked 14th nationally in rushing with 247.2 yards on the ground. Wright graded 84-percent or better in all 12 games, including over 90-percent in three contests.

In the community, Wright is normally always the first to jump when asked to speak to an elementary school or be involved in such events as Shadow-a-Student-Athlete Day. He spearheaded a Hurricane Harvey Relief effort last fall with collected items being shipped to the devastated Houston area. Wright has mentored at Monroe Elementary School and Rogers Middle School, while also speaking at other local elementary schools. He has also been an active in the TU TrueBlue Neighbors program in volunteering his time at Kendall-Whittier Elementary School.

The Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® has been one of the most esteemed honors in college football for more than 25 years. Former Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans was an Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® selection in 2016.

The student-athletes who are nominated for this award not only demonstrate a unique dedication to community service and desire to make a positive impact on the lives around them, but they also show tremendous perseverance as well as the ability to overcome personal struggles and come out victorious against all odds.

 

[Chris Harmon]

Justin Hobbs Named to Biletnikoff Award Watch List

Media release...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The University of Tulsa receiver Justin Hobbs was named to the preseason watch list for the 2018 Biletnikoff Award, announced today by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club (TQC) Foundation, Inc. Hobbs is one of 50 receivers, and four from the American Athletic Conference, named to the preseason Biletnikoff Watch List.

The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the outstanding FBS receiver in college football. Any player, regardless of position, who catches a pass is eligible for the award

Hobbs, from Overland Park, Kan., enters his senior season with 2,066 career yards and nine touchdowns on 137 receptions. He has totaled six 100-yard receiving games in his first three seasons. Last season, Hobbs led the Golden Hurricane in receiving with 830 yards and three TDs on 55 receptions, while earning second-team American Athletic Conference honors.

The 6'4" Hobbs had a season-high 141 yards on just three receptions for a 47.0-yard average against SMU last year, while his career-best of 150 yards came in his freshman season, also against the Mustangs.

The name Biletnikoff is synonymous with the term receiver. Fred Biletnikoff, a member of the pro and college football halls of fame, was a consensus All-America receiver at Florida State University, and an All-Pro receiver for the Oakland Raiders. He caught 589 passes for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns in his 14-year Raiders career from 1965 through 1978. Biletnikoff was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XI.

The 2018 Biletnikoff Award winner will be presented live on December 6, 2018, on The Home Depot College Football Awards presented by Gildan to be broadcast 7:00 - 9:00pm (EST) on ESPN. College and pro football hall of famer Fred Biletnikoff will announce the 2018 Biletnikoff Award winner on the show.

 

[Chris Harmon]

Miller Named to Rimington Trophy Fall Watch List

Media release...

TULSA, Okla. –– For the third consecutive season, Tulsa offensive center Chandler Miller has been named to the watch list for the Rimington Trophy, an award presented annually to the nation's most outstanding center, the Rimington Trophy Committee announced today. Miller was named to the award's spring watch list and remains on the Rimington Trophy Fall Watch List as one of 58 nominees.

Miller (6-3, 297), a senior from Bixby, Okla., was first named to the Rimington Trophy Watch List as a red-shirt freshman in 2015. Miller has played and started in all 38 career games at the center position for the Golden Hurricane since that first season. He has anchored the line for an offense that has ranked among the nation's top-15 rushing teams in each of the last two years.

In 2017, Miller received all-conference accolades for the second straight season, earning second team honors after helping pave the way for the American Athletic Conference's leading rusher, D'Angelo Brewer, and the league's third-leading rushing offense with an average of 247.2 yards per game.

As a sophomore, Miller was named first-team American Athletic Conference, while leading a Tulsa offensive line that paved the way for a school record eight 300+ rushing games. Nationally, Tulsa's offense ranked fourth for total offense (527.0 ypg) and eighth for rushing offense (261.7 ypg) in 2016. Miller graded over 90-percent in eight games in the 2016 season, including a grade of 94-percent at Navy and 91-percent against No. 12 Houston.

Miller red-shirted as a true freshman in 2014 following an all-state season at Bixby High School in 2013. He is one of six players from the American Athletic Conference among a total of 57 players on the 2018 Rimington Trophy spring watch list.

The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the Most Outstanding Center in NCAA FBS College Football. Since its inception, the Rimington Trophy has raised over $2.9 million for the cystic fibrosis community. The award is overseen by the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for systic fibrosis and has raised over $130 million for the fight against cystic fibrosis.

Dave Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first-team All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he came the Outland Trophy's only double winner as the nation's finest college interior lineman.

 

[Chris Harmon]

Edmiston Named to the Bronko Nagurski Watch List

Media release...

CHARLOTTE, NC –– The University of Tulsa linebacker Cooper Edmiston was one of 97 defensive players named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List, it was announced today by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is given to college football’s top defender.

Edmiston, a 6’3, 237-pound junior from Gatesville, Texas, was credited with 106 tackles in his first season as a starter in 2018. He also had two fumble recoveries, two TFLs for -9 yards and one interception. Edmiston had six double-figure tackle games last year, including a career-best 17 tackles with 11 solos against UConn.

The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993. In 1995, the FWAA named the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football, then became a star for professional football's Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw “Bronko” Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

 

[Chris Harmon]

Bowling and Miller Named to the Outland Trophy Watch List

Media release...

DALLAS, Texas –– A pair of Tulsa Golden Hurricane senior offensive linemen – guard Tyler Bowling and center Chandler Miller – were named to the Watch List for the 2018 Outland Trophy presented by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, as announced today by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA). The award is presented to the nation’s most outstanding interior lineman. A total of 82 of the nation’s top interior linemen were named to the watch list.

Bowling, a 6’6”, 325-pound left guard from Yukon, Okla., enters the 2018 season having started 26 consecutive games. Miller (6’3”, 297), from Bixby, Okla., has started all 38 games since the first stepping onto the field as a red-shirt freshman in 2015. The tandem has anchored the line for an offense that has ranked among the nation’s top-15 rushing teams in each of the last two years.

Last season, the duo helped pave the way for the American Athletic Conference’s leading rusher, D’Angelo Brewer, and the league’s third-leading rushing offense with an average of 247.2 yards per game.

A two-time all-conference selection, Bowling graded over 85-percent in 11 contests, including five contests over 90 percent.

Miller has already been named to the watch list for the Rimington Trophy, an award that is given to the nation’s top offensive center. He was a first-team all-conference selection as a sophomore in 2016 and earned second-team accolades last season after grading over 90 percent in five games. It’s the second year that Miller has been selected for the preseason watch list for the Outland Trophy.

The Outland Trophy, now in its 73d year, is named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at Penn at the turn of the 20th century. The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from three finalists who are a part of the annual FWAA All-America Team.

The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects a 26-man first team and eventually the three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemen on offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends are not eligible.

 

[mcane]

I don't recall TU having this many pre-season candidates for major awards. It's puzzling to see the low expectations in such light. My recollection is that after the 10 win season, TU was picked 2nd or maybe 3rd. I'm not worried by a last place pick - I'll be shocked if TU doesn't beat Tulane and U Conn here, at worst.

 

[Chris Harmon]

Wright Named to 2018 Wuerffel Watch List

Media release...

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. –– University of Tulsa senior offensive lineman Willie Wright was named to the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List for 2018, it was announced by the All Sports Association in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Wright is one of 106 players named to the list, but one of just 21 players who return to the Watch List from the 2017 season.

The Wuerffel Trophy, known as “College Football’s Premier Award for Community Service,” is named after 1996 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel from the University of Florida. The Wuerffel Trophy is awarded to the FBS player that best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.

Wright (6’3”, 296), from Houston, Texas, is a three-year starter at right offensive tackle for the Golden Hurricane. He has been a mainstay on an offensive line that helped pave the wave for an offense that ranked among the nation’s top-15 in rushing in each of the last two years, while leading the way for the American Athletic Conference’s leading rusher in each of the last two seasons, James Flanders in 2016 and D’Angelo Brewer in 2017.

Earlier this month, Wright was also named as a nominee for the 2018 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®.

In the community, Wright is normally always the first to jump when asked to speak to an elementary school or be involved in such events as Shadow-a-Student-Athlete Day. He spearheaded a Hurricane Harvey Relief effort last fall with collected items being shipped to the devastated Houston area.

Wright has mentored at Monroe Elementary School and Rogers Middle School, while also speaking at other local elementary schools. He has also been an active in the TU TrueBlue Neighbors program in volunteering his time at Kendall-Whittier Elementary School. He has also participated in the Martin Luther King Day Parade, made hospital visits to St. Francis Children’s Hospital and has done volunteer work for the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma and Lift Up America.

During his career, Wright has been an active member of TU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the Association of Black Collegians and the Black Men’s Initiative (BMI).

Former Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith (2003-07) was named the 2007 recipient of the Wuerffel Trophy.