Tulane honored with selections to Nagurski Award, Outland Trophy Watch Lists
Dallas – Tulane’s football team saw four more members of the squad named to 2023 Preseason Award Watch Lists on Tuesday by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).
Tulane center Sincere Haynesworth and offensive guard Prince Pines were both named to the preseason watch list for the Outland Trophy. Tulane is one of 20 schools with multiple candidates for the Outland Trophy this season along with Georgia (3), Alabama (3), LSU (3), Utah (3), Michigan (4), Ohio State (3), Penn State (2), Illinois (2), Notre Dame (2), Clemson (2), Kansas State (2), Arizona (2), Oregon State (2), USC (2), App State (2), James Madison (2), Liberty (2), SMU (2) and UTSA (2).
Haynesworth and Pines aided the Tulane offense to average 36 points, 441.4 yards while totaling 30 passing touchdowns and 34 rushing touchdowns in 2022. The duo blocked in front of the 2022 American Athletic Conference (AAC) Offensive Player of the Year in Tyjae Spears, with each also being named First Team All-AAC last season.
The Outland Trophy recognizes 91 returning standout interior offensive linemen representing all 10 Division 1 FBS conferences and independents.
The recipient of the 2023 Outland Trophy, the award’s 78th anniversary, will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards, live on ESPN in December. The official presentation to the winner will be made at the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner sponsored by Werner Enterprises and produced by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee in Omaha, Neb., on Jan. 10, 2024.
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.
Players may be added or removed from the watch list during the course of the season. For the first time, the FWAA will announce an Outland Trophy National Player of the Week each Tuesday this season. If not already on the watch list, each week’s honored player will be added at that time.
The Outland Trophy, celebrating 78 years since its founding, is the third-oldest major college football award. Created in 1946 when Dr. John Outland presented the FWAA with a financial contribution to initiate the award, the Outland Trophy has been given to the best interior lineman in college football ever since. Dr. Outland, an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1890s, eventually took up practice in Kansas City, Mo. An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Outland believed linemen did not get the credit they deserved and wanted an award to recognize them.
The Outland Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. This season, 12 NCFAA awards will honor national players of the week each Tuesday.
Also recognized on Tuesday by the FWAA with a spot on 2023 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List was Tulane cornerback Jarius Monroe and outside linebacker Darius Hodges. In total 96 defensive standouts from 70 schools in all 10 Division I FBS Conferences plus independents were recognized. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce finalists for the 2023 trophy on November 15 and the winner will be unveiled Dec. 4 at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet in Charlotte, N.C. Tulane is one of 21 schools with multiple members on the preseason watch list along with Ohio State (3), Penn State (4), Michigan (3), Georgia (3), Alabama (3), LSU (2), Missouri (2), Clemson (3), Florida State (2), Utah (2), Buffalo (2), Notre Dame (2), Illinois (2), UTSA (2), Marshall (2), Oregon (2), Toledo (2), Troy (2) and UTEP (2).
Monroe was First Team All-AAC last season. He led the team and ranked 10th in the conference in interceptions. He placed sixth overall on the squad with his 49 tackles while playing in 14 games with six starts. Hodges was a Second Team All-AAC selection in 2022. He tied for third on the team with eight tackles for loss.
The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s full membership, selects a 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Nagurski Trophy finalists. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner will be chosen from the five finalists named in November. Committee members, by individual ballot, select the winner they regard as the best defensive player in college football.
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.
This season, Tulane brings back four of the team’s five starters on the offensive line (Haynesworth, Pines, Josh Remetich, Rashad Green), two of the team’s top three rushers (Michael Pratt and Shaadie Clayton-Johnson), the starting quarterback (Pratt), two of the top four receivers (Jha’Quan Jackson and Lawrence Keys III), the team’s punter (Casey Glover), the team’s kicker (Valentino Ambrosio), the team’s leader in interceptions (Monroe) and three of the five leading defensive players in tackles for loss (Patrick Jenkins, Hodges and Keith Cooper Jr.).
In 2022, Tulane’s football team completed an unprecedented 12-2 campaign, culminating with an American Athletic Conference title and a 46-45 win over USC in the Cotton Bowl. At season’s end, the Green Wave finished with a ninth overall ranking, the second-highest in program history. Tulane opens the 2023 season at Yulman Stadium hosting South Alabama on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.
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