South Carolina Football: Two Gamecocks named to award watch list

The college football season has begun, and week 1 is this weekend, meaning the first major weekend of college football is upon us. South Carolina football fans will watch their team open the season against the rival North Carolina Tar Heels in Charlotte as College GameDay has selected the Battle of the Carolinas as the game of the week.

As has been the case throughout the offseason, award watch lists have been at the forefront of college football’s preseason news.

Which players have the best shot at winning the Heisman Trophy? What team’s quarterback will win the O’Brien Award? Which defender can bring home the Bednarik Award? These are just a few of the questions sparked by the preseason award watch lists that have popped up in recent months.

Now, another list has relevance for South Carolina football fans.

On Thursday, Gamecock true freshmen Nyckoles Harbor and Grayson “Pup” Howard were selected to the preseason watch list for the Shaun Alexander Award given annually to college football’s most outstanding freshman.

Harbor and Howard are both listed in the two-deep on the initial South Carolina football depth chart but are immensely talented and could be in line for big roles as they continue to adjust to life in the SEC.

The Shaun Alexander Award, named for former Alabama running back Shaun Alexander, is so named because of a legendary performance by the ‘Tide back when he was a freshman in 1996. Alexander, who had never really played up to that point, had an epic performance against the rival LSU Tigers.

Alexander had 291 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Bayou Bengals, including 2 carries for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns on his first two carries.

Since the 2018 season, the Shaun Alexander Award has honored the top first-year player in college football, including rival Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who won the award in its inaugural season for his 2018 production.