Florida running back Jadan Baugh named to 2025 Doak Walker Award preseason watch list
The ball carrier from Atlanta, Georgia, is among 31 sophomores mentioned on the list following a superb campaign in 2024. Baugh tied a program record of five rushing touchdowns in his first start — the only Gator to accomplish this feat in his collegiate debut — while also joining fellow freshman DJ Lagway in becoming the first true freshman running back and quarterback duo to start in the same game in UF history.
Baugh played in all 13 games while leading the team with 673 rushing yards and eight total touchdowns last fall, and tied for a team-best seven rushing touchdowns while averaging 5.1 yards per carry. His efforts earned him a Freshman All-SEC honor for his work following the conclusion of the season.
He also excelled on special teams, averaging 21.6 yards per return while representing one of eight SEC players and one of 11 freshmen in FBS to have two 30-yard-plus kick returns. In the classroom, Baugh was named to the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll and Freshman All-SEC team.
Florida's starting running back was also named to the Paul Hornung Award preseason watch list last week, which is given to the most versatile player in college football.
About the Doak Walker Award
The Doak Walker Award is presented to college football's most outstanding running back and was named after SMU's three-time All-American Doak Walker when it was created back in 1989. The award not only recognizes student-athletes' abilities on the field, but also their dedication to work within the community and the classroom.
The 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award are chosen by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum in November. The three finalists for the award are chosen in early December by the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee, which is comprised of past award recipients, former NFL All-Pro and college All-American running backs, media members, and a few selected special representatives.
The award winner will be announced live at The Home Depot College Football Awards on Friday, Dec. 12.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
44 minutes ago
- USA Today
QB Marcel Reed listed as most important player on Texas A&M's roster by ESPN
When Marcel Reed's number was called to step in and take over the Aggie offense, the Texas A&M signal-caller made a long-lasting impression on the Maroon and White faithful. After former A&M quarterback Connor Weigman suffered an injury, Reed took his place and instantly impressed with his ability to maneuver in the pocket with ease and his deep-throw accuracy. In his first contest against Florida on the road in Gainesville, Reed completed 17 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 83 yards and one score on the ground for a 33-20 victory over the Gators. Through the ups and downs of his freshman season, the Nashville, Tennessee, native flashed his potential against competitive conference foes. Entering his second year in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Reed is undoubtedly the most integral piece to the puzzle for head coach Mike Elko to lead the Aggies to the playoffs. That testament was doubled down by ESPN in a recent list of the most important players for each school ranked in the top 25 before the 2025 season begins. As one can imagine, Reed was named as the player who could impact Texas A&M's success the most this season by ESPN writer Bill Connelly. Reed was grouped with fellow SEC quarterbacks like LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina), DJ Lagway (Florida), John Mateer (Oklahoma) and Austin Simmons (Ole Miss). Here is what Connelly had to say about his ranking of the young gunslingers in the league in his recent list on ESPN: 'It was a jarring and repetitive theme in my SEC preview: 'If [insert quarterback here] is awesome, [insert midlevel contender here] becomes a serious contender for a CFP bid.' Granted, the paths for Florida and (especially) Oklahoma are trickier, and Lagway needs to be healthy before he can really threaten to upend this season. But any of these five QBs could lead playoff runs. Meanwhile, these five teams will play a combined 15 games against projected top-10 teams, per SP+, and 35 games against top-25 teams. If they don't end up in the CFP hunt, they'll have huge roles in determining who does.' According to Connelly, the list of most important to their respective team goes as follows: Sellers (11th), Lagway (12th), Mateer (13th), Reed (14th) and Simmons (15th). Those listed are signal-callers that he considers as young, inexperienced, or new quarterbacks with both spoiler and contender potential. Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Dylan on X: @dylanmflippo.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
The potential key to Georgia's season: Running the (dang) ball
ATHENS, Ga. — Mike Bobo stood at the podium Wednesday, going into another year as the Georgia offensive coordinator, much to the consternation of a healthy segment of the fan base. And contrary to a rumor earlier this year that Bobo would step down for health reasons, which Buck Belue had posted in a case of former-Georgia-quarterback-on-former-Georgia-quarterback social media violence. Advertisement Bobo, who dealt with a nerve issue in his feet when he was Colorado State's head coach in 2019, very much did not step down. Belue said at the time he was glad to know Bobo was doing well. And this week, Bobo said he was invigorated by the players he gets to coach on this Georgia team. 'I feel great, and I'm probably as excited as I've ever been,' Bobo said, adding: 'Not to try to prove something.' But there is something for Bobo and the Georgia offense to prove this season. They need to be better. And to do it, it's time to whip out that five-word phrase from the early 2010s, in Bobo's first stint in this job: Run the damn ball, Bobo. That was popularized by Georgia fans back when the school was known as RBU (or Running Back University), and the denizens thought their offensive coordinator got too cute. Or maybe about the end of the 2012 SEC championship, or the key play against South Carolina in 2014. There were hats and shirts made and everything. Now it's the age of pass the damn ball, an era Todd Monken ushered into Athens as offensive coordinator, winning a couple of national titles before leaving for the NFL. Kirby Smart then gave Bobo his old job back, and the first year it went well: Georgia was second in the SEC in points per game and yards per play. The second year, not so much: Fifth in points per game and ninth in yards per play, with a particular dud against Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl/College Football Playoff quarterfinals. When they got home after that game, Bobo said Wednesday, the staff came to a quick conclusion: They need to fix the running game. 'We've got to be more explosive on offense. … But everything starts with the run game,' Bobo said. 'Hopefully our identity will be that we'll be efficient in the run game and everything will run through that.' So much of the focus on Georgia this season has been on quarterback Gunner Stockton and the debate over whether he's good enough to lead the offense back to glory. But the attention may be misplaced. There's a desire to see other offenses slinging the ball around like a 2010s Big 12 team. And Georgia has had offenses that looked like that, including Bobo's in 2023 when Carson Beck was a first-year starter. But this year's offense, with the dual-threat Stockton replacing pocket-passing Beck, probably doesn't need to air it out. Stockton doesn't need to be a Heisman candidate or even an All-SEC player. He needs to be an efficient passer who doesn't make mistakes and whose feet are a problem for defense. Stockton can be that. The bigger question is what happens around him. Everything is connected. That's simplistic and a cop-out in a world where people want people to blame and to praise. But the formula at Georgia has been complementary football: The defense was great in 2021, but the offense was good, and a year later, the roles were reversed. In neither national title year did one side of the ball carry the team. Advertisement An underplayed issue for Georgia the past few years is a defense that hasn't finished in the top 10 in yards-per-play allowed since 2021, including 30th last year, and has been especially vulnerable to the run since Jalen Carter left the program. Yes, the defense wasn't the main issue against Notre Dame, but it also didn't get stops down the stretch when it needed to, which reflected that it just wasn't the usual Georgia standard, as defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann said Wednesday. 'We weren't consistent enough to say we met the standard … We had four or more games where (we) gave up 28 points or more,' Schumann said. 'You can't be up and down. Consistency is a mark of great defense.' If Georgia's defense ups its game, it takes pressure off the offense. But if the run game isn't better, then the pressure remains on Stockton. This was the third-worst rushing offense in the SEC last year, going by total rushing yards, and still only ranked 11th in yards per rush. Passing-wise, last year Georgia had its lowest yards-per-pass attempt (7.6) since the 2019 season. But the volume was still good (281 passing yards per game, third in the SEC), a sign that the lack of a run game caused the offense to pass too much. The biggest issue appears to be the offensive line, which on paper doesn't look promising: Four regular starters gone, three of whom were drafted in the first three rounds, from a unit that wasn't very good last year. So how do you improve on that? The hope is fewer injuries than last year, and tackles Monroe Freeling and Earnest Greene playing up to their high potential. There may also just be a squeaky-wheel-gets-the-grease situation: The line is getting a lot of attention, with coach Stacy Searels and Bobo knowing their jobs may depend on it. Bobo pointed to injuries along the line last year, which hurt cohesion. The blocking is also more than just the line, with tight ends, receivers, and running backs all involved. Smart alluded last month to some changes they made to help the run game, not disclosing what they were. Advertisement There are other needed areas of improvement: Starting faster, for instance, after Georgia scored just 55 points in the first quarter over its 14 games, compared to 113-124-126 in the next three quarters. That doesn't necessarily mean touchdowns, Bobo added, but at least a few first downs, and help the defense with field position. 'When you go three and out to start games, that's something we definitely got to improve on,' Bobo said. Bobo also hinted at tweaks to make sure their playmaker receivers – such as transfers Zachariah Branch and Noah Thomas – can make plays. 'In the past we've kind of let the offense run through the quarterback, and he takes the guy that the defense gives us on a passing concept,' Bobo said. 'We're going to have to make these guys you mention (receivers) that we generate touches for these guys.' That sounds exciting if you like passing. But ultimately Georgia fans like scoring, and whether the offense does a better job of that will have a big impact on the SEC and CFP race. Georgia has running backs who can be stars: Sophomore Nate Frazier (671 rushing yards last year) is fast and elusive, Illinois transfer Josh McCray (609 rushing yards) is physical, and freshman Bo Walker is generating a lot of summer buzz. But it's not as easy as just handing them the ball and letting them work. It's also about play calling, blocking by the line and skill positions, the quarterback making the right fake – plenty of things. 'We've made it an emphasis every day to point out those things when they're good and they're not up to our standard,' Bobo said, then adding, in so many words, the magic phrase. 'We know that we've got to be able to run the ball.' (Top photo of Zachariah Branch: Joshua L. Jones / USA Today Network) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
SEC announces complete 2025-26 basketball schedule
The Oklahoma basketball team and the rest of the Southeastern Conference know who is on their league slates this 2025-26 basketball season after the league announced the conference schedule on Wednesday. Every team in the league will play the other at least once, and each team will get three opponents twice. Two of those three are considered permanent rivals, while the third will change each year. For the Sooners, the permanent rivals are Texas and Missouri. All three formerly played in the Big 12. Missouri left for the SEC for the 2012-13 academic year, while OU and Texas joined the SEC last year. The Sooners finished the 2024-25 season 20-14 overall and 6-12 in conference play. They made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2020-2021. Here's a look at the schedule for Oklahoma basketball thus far, including the full SEC schedule. Friday, October 24 - Oklahoma at Wisconsin Saturday, November 8 - Oklahoma at Gonzaga Saturday, November 15 - Oklahoma at Nebraska Friday, November 28 - Oklahoma at Marquette Tuesday, December 2 - Oklahoma at Wake Forest Saturday, December 6 - Oklahoma at Arizona State Saturday, December 13 - Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State (in Oklahoma City) Saturday, January 3 - Ole Miss at Oklahoma* Tuesday/Wednesday, January 6/7 - Oklahoma at Mississippi State* Saturday, January 10 - Oklahoma at Texas A&M* Tuesday/Wednesday, January 13/14 - Florida at Oklahoma* Saturday, January 17 - Alabama at Oklahoma* Tuesday/Wednesday, January 20/21 - Oklahoma at South Carolina* Saturday, January 24 - Oklahoma at Missouri* Tuesday/Wednesday, January 27/27 - Arkansas at Oklahoma* Saturday, January 31 - Texas at Oklahoma* Tuesday/Wednesday, February 3/4 - Oklahoma at Kentucky* Saturday, February 7 - Oklahoma at Vanderbilt* Saturday, February 14 - Georgia at Oklahoma* Tuesday/Wednesday, February 17/18 - Oklahoma at Tennessee* Saturday, February 21 - Texas A&M at Oklahoma* Tuesday/Wednesday, February 24/25 - Auburn at Oklahoma* Saturday, February 28 - Oklahoma at LSU* Tuesday/Wednesday, March 3/4 - Missouri at Oklahoma* Saturday, March 7 - Oklahoma at Texas* Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: SEC basketball schedule announced for 2025-26
