Liona Lefau named to Polynesian Player of the Year Award watchlist
It is the second award watchlist he's been placed on, joining the Butkus Award. The award has never been won by a Longhorn, and Lefau would join the likes of Tua Tagovailoa and Marcus Mariota if he were to win.
This is still a relatively new award, only starting in 2014, when Marcus Mariota won, but the list of winners is star studded, including top WR in the NFL Draft, Tetairoa McMillan. It has quickly become a great honor for all players of Polyneisian descent in college football(as well as NFL and highschool). Lefau, I'm sure, would love to join this elite crew and be celebrated, but it is going to take a remarkable year.
Some of the other contenders for the award include Makai Lemon(USC WR), Francis Mauigoa(Miami OT) and rival Jaydn Ott(Oklahoma RB). It is a loaded group of some of the best players in the entire sport, as the recruiting pipeline to Hawaii has increased since Mariota came onto the scene. Although the competition is fierce, Lefau can absolutely be the winner of this one, given the expectations for him this year.
The Polynesian Bowl, Hall of Fame and Player of the Year award have all become massive pieces of the college football world recently, and the legacy of all of those precede them. Lefau would be able to etch his name into an elite group of players and become the first(hopefully of many) Longhorns to be honored with this award.
Lefau heads into this year as the comfortable starter next to Anthony Hill Jr., but there will be more bodies in that room that are likely to rotate in. I believe Lefau can stand out in a big way this year, and if he does he could have an incredible honor waiting for him at the end of the year.
This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Polynesian Player of the Year watchlist includes Texas LB
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Analyzing the Lakers' 2025-26 schedule
The Los Angeles Lakers' schedule for the 2025-26 NBA season has now been released. While the arrangement of a team's schedule doesn't matter as much in the NBA as it does in the NFL, it is still a factor, and it is still something players and coaches have to take into account. The Lakers' schedule this season will have some really challenging stretches. However, there are also some portions of the schedule that are favorable at the right times, and that is something they can take advantage of as they look to become a legitimate championship contender. Let's start with the initial weeks of L.A.'s schedule. The first month or so isn't easy, but it's manageable The Lakers are still in the process of developing chemistry with Luka Doncic after he arrived in early February. Therefore, a manageable first few weeks of the schedule would really help. They have a challenging game to start the regular season versus the Golden State Warriors at home on Oct. 21. After that, their next 15 games or so are something they should be able to handle while still being moderately challenged enough to grow as a unit. During that time, they will play the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team that knocked them out of the first round of playoffs in five games, on Oct. 24 and Oct. 29. Other than that, the only other truly challenging team they will face in the first month of the season is the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. On the other hand, nine of L.A.'s first 14 games will be on the road. That includes their first extended road trip of the season. The Lakers have three long road trips this season On Nov. 8, the Lakers start a five-game road trip with a contest versus the Atlanta Hawks. Over the following week, they will also play the Charlotte Hornets, Thunder, New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks before returning home for a game against the Utah Jazz on Nov. 18. After that, the Lakers' schedule is pretty manageable until their annual Grammy road trip, which begins this season on Jan. 20, 2026. The first game of that trip will be against the Denver Nuggets. This season's Grammy trip will last eight games and also include contests versus the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks. Then in March, Los Angeles will have its third and final extended road trip. This one will have six games, and it will start with twin games against the Houston Rockets, as well as matchups with the Orlando Magic and the rising Detroit Pistons. There will be a long stretch of predominantly home games After the Lakers return from their Grammy trip, they will be home for almost every game until that six-game trip in March. In fact, they will only have three road games during that stretch against the Phoenix Suns, Warriors and Nuggets. That means they will barely be crossing time zones for about a month and a half. They will, however, have several tough games during that time, including two against the Warriors and Nuggets and one against the Thunder, Timberwolves and Knicks. At least fatigue shouldn't be an issue for that portion of the schedule. The final games of the schedule are a mixed bag The Lakers will have nine games remaining after their six-game road trip in March. They will play the Thunder twice and have one game each against the Warriors, Mavericks and Cavaliers during that stretch. But other than that, they will have some relatively easy games, including their final two of the season, which will be the Suns and Jazz at home. That should give them a relatively soft landing as they prepare for the postseason. How many back-to-back games will the Lakers have? In recent years, the NBA has done a decent job of cutting back on how many back-to-back games every team has had throughout a season. This year, L.A. will have 14 sets of back-to-back games, which is just as many as it had last season. Last season, the Lakers had six sets of back-to-back games in March and April, and they played a stretch of 10 games in 15 days, which included four sets of back-to-back games and three such sets in a row. This season, they will have three back-to-back sets in March and one in April. This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Analyzing the Lakers' 2025-26 schedule
Yahoo
2 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘bold, proud, and built for game day': Sam Adams collabs with Alex Bregman for limited edition beer
Samuel Adams has teamed up with Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman to launch 'Bregman's Beer,' a limited-edition brew. The launch of the beer was celebrated with an exclusive event at the Samuel Adams Downtown Boston Taproom earlier on Thursday The collaboration marks Bregman's first custom beer since joining the Red Sox, celebrating his arrival in Boston with a citrusy pale ale crafted for game days. 'Bregman's Beer' will be available in limited-edition cans and on draft at the taproom and brewery. 'Alex Bregman is new to Boston, but he plays with the kind of passion and grit that this city instantly respects,' said Lauren True, head of brand at Samuel Adams. 'Nothing in Boston is handed to you – you've got to earn it,' said Alex Bregman. 'That's what I love about this city. Bregman's Beer with Samuel Adams is a nod to that spirit – bold, proud, and built for game day.' Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
2 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Guerrero's 20th homer helps Blue Jays beat Cubs 2-1
TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning, helping Max Scherzer and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 on Thursday. Guerrero's big hit off Matthew Boyd lifted AL East-leading Toronto to the series victory. It was the 20th homer of the season for the All-Star slugger. Scherzer (3-2) pitched seven-plus innings while improving to 6-2 in 12 career starts against the Cubs. He permitted one run and five hits. Jeff Hoffman handled the ninth for his 27th save in 32 chances. Toronto improved to 40-20 at home. Boyd (11-6) allowed two hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked one. Boyd walked Davis Schneider to begin the seventh. Ernie Clement followed with a sacrifice bunt before Guerrero lined an 0-2 pitch 402 feet to left-center. The Cubs had just one hit off Scherzer before Michael Busch went deep with one out in the sixth for his 24th homer. Promoted from Triple-A Iowa before the game, Cubs prospect Owen Caissie made his major league debut about 30 miles east of his birthplace in Burlington, Ontario. He went 0 for 4 with a strikeout. ORIOLES 5, MARINERS 3 BALTIMORE (AP) — Rookie Tomoyuki Sugano earned his 10th victory by working 5 1/3 sharp innings before a lengthy rain delay, and Baltimore defeated Seattle. Julio Rodríguez homered for Seattle, which has dropped consecutive games since winning eight in a row. The Mariners (67-55) fell 1 1/2 games behind AL West-leading Houston. Catcher Cal Raleigh, who leads the majors with 45 home runs, was out of Seattle's starting lineup for only the fifth time this season. He walked as pinch-hitter in the ninth. Sugano (10-5) won back-to-back starts for the first time. The 35-year-old from Japan threw 81 pitches and was pulled after the 2-hour, 18-minute delay. Rodriguez hit reliever Rico Garcia's fourth pitch after play resumed into the bleachers in right-center, a two-run shot to bring the Mariners within 5-2. Dietrich Enns allowed Randy Arozarena's one-out RBI grounder in the ninth, but retired Josh Naylor on one pitch to earn his first save since Sept. 20, 2021. The Orioles took the lead against Logan Evans (6-5) in the fourth inning. Jordan Westburg scored on Evans' two-out wild pitch, and Ryan Mountcastle moved from first to third on the same play when Evans couldn't field catcher Mitch Garver's throw. After Daniel Johnson walked, Mountcastle scored when he and Johnson executed a double steal. Johnson came around on Jeremiah Jackson's RBI single. NATIONALS 3, PHILLIES 2 WASHINGTON (AP) — Jose Tena hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the seventh inning, Paul DeJong homered for the third time in five games and Washington rallied past Philadelphia. DeJong walked leading off the seventh against Jesus Luzardo (11-6). Riley Adams doubled, Daylen Lile walked and, with one out, Tena singled past the drawn-in infield against Orion Kerkering to put Washington ahead 3-2. Shinnosuke Ogasawara (1-1) struck out Kyle Schwarber with a runner on to end the seventh and got his first major league win. Rookie Cole Henry worked the ninth and fanned Trea Turner with a runner on third to secure his first career save. Turner had three infield hits for the National League East-leading Phillies, who have lost three straight while scoring three runs. Philadelphia left eight men on base. Luzardo allowed three runs on four hits in six-plus innings. GUARDIANS 9, MARLINS 4 CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez had three hits and scored three runs, Gabriel Arias had a pair of RBIs and Cleveland beat Miami. The Guardians trailed 3-0 in the first and 4-3 in the fourth, but rallied for their 23rd win in 32 games and moved within one-half game of the idle New York Yankees for the final American League wild-card spot. Arias' sacrifice fly in a two-run fifth against Edward Cabrera (6-6) put Cleveland ahead for good at 5-4. David Fry and Brayan Rocchio both singled in runs in the seventh, when the Guardians scored four times off Valente Bellozo. Tanner Bibee (9-9) extended his winning streak to five by working 5 2/3 innings and giving up four runs (two earned). Cade Smith entered with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth and retired Liam Hicks for his sixth save. Augustin Ramírez had an RBI single in the first when Miami took a 3-0 lead. The other runs came in when Guardians catcher Austin Hedges dropped a throw at the plate, allowing Kyle Stowers and Ramírez to score. BRAVES 4, METS 3 NEW YORK (AP) — Ozzie Albies homered, drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the eighth inning, and hit an RBI single as Atlanta beat slumping New York. Bryce Elder (5-9) allowed three runs (two earned) over seven innings for the Braves, who are 7-3 against the Mets this season. Raisel Iglesias earned his 17th save with a perfect ninth. Albies went deep against starter Kodai Senga in the third and hit an RBI single off Tyler Rogers in the sixth. Michael Harris II tied the game with an RBI double off Ryan Helsley (3-3) in the eighth before scoring on Albies' hit to deep right. The Mets have lost 13 of their last 15 games and their lead over the idle Cincinnati Reds in the race for the final wild-card spot shrunk to a half-game. Francisco Lindor hit a third-inning solo homer and Brandon Nimmo (sacrifice fly) and Pete Alonso (single) had back-to-back RBIs to give the Mets a 3-2 lead in the sixth. Senga gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings. TIGERS 4, TWINS 3, 11 INNINGS MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Colt Keith scored on Gleyber Torres' sacrifice fly in the 11th inning and Detroit overcame an early three-run deficit to beat Minnesota. Riley Greene hit his team-leading 28th home run to help Detroit win for the fourth time in five games and fifth in seven. Starting at second base in the 11th inning, Keith advanced to third on a wild pitch by Erasmo Ramírez (0-1) and scored on a Torres' sacrifice fly. Rafael Montero (1-1) got the final four outs for the Tigers. Detroit starter Tarik Skubal overcame a shaky third inning to get through seven innings, allowing three runs. He had only three strikeouts. When he last faced the Twins on June 29, he struck out 13 in seven innings. Edouard Julien homered before Ryan Jeffers and Luke Keaschall had RBIs in a three-run Minnesota third, but Skubal retired 13 of the final 14 hitters he faced. DIAMONDBACKS 8, ROCKIES 2 DENVER (AP) — Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Eduardo Rodriguez pitched a season-high seven innings and Arizona beat Colorado. Arizona improved to 60-62, winning for the sixth time in seven games and the ninth in 12. Rodriguez (5-7), who had allowed five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Rockies five days earlier, matched his longest outing since October 2023. He gave up one run and struck out six. Jose Herrera hit a two-run homer in the second inning, and Ketel Marte and also drove in two runs. The Diamondbacks have homered in 12 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors. They lead the majors with 24 homers since Aug. 2.
