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USA Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Three Longhorns earn spots on Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list
Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list includes three Longhorns With the start of the 2025 college football season less than a month away, three Longhorns stars have found themselves on a prestigious watch list. On Monday, Arch Manning, Anthony Hill Jr., and Colin Simmons were named to the Walter Camp National Player of the Year preseason watch list. The award is given annually to the national player of the year. While the Longhorns trio will face competition, they have each shown flashes of brilliance, starting with Manning. In 10 games last year, he showed why his future is bright in Austin. The New Orleans native completed 61 of 91 passes for 939 yards and nine touchdowns. His stellar play earned Manning the SEC's Co-Freshman of the Week on Sept. 16. While he thrived under center, the Longhorns got a boost from Simmons on defense. During his freshman campaign, Simmons led the team in sacks with nine. The talented edge also ranked second in tackles for a loss with 14. As Simmons made life difficult for offensive coordinators, he etched himself into the history books. He was rewarded for his stellar play with the Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Year Award. Simmons is the only player in program history to take home the honors. On defense, Texas also got a boost from Hill. He led the Longhorns in total tackles with 103 and tackles for a loss with 16.5. In his second year in the Forty Acres, the Texas native was a model of consistency, appearing in all 16 games. As the talented linebacker was a human highlight reel, he added three double-digit tackling performances to his resume. Although the Longhorn trio is focused on winning a national title, they will be keeping a close eye on the award. The list will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists in early November. Then, a month later, the finalists will be revealed in early December. The winner will be announced on December 12th. Regardless of who wins the award, the Longhorns are in a good position to build on their success from last year. That is partly due to the trio of Manning, Hill, and Simmons, who are in a great position to do special things during the 2025 campaign.
USA Today
11-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Florida softball outfielder Taylor Shumaker earns SEC Freshman of the Week honors
Florida softball outfielder Taylor Shumaker earns SEC Freshman of the Week honors The Florida Gators are one of the true powerhouses in collegiate softball, and the Orange and Blue appear to have another star on its hands. Freshman outfielder Taylor Shumaker put on a loud, five-homer performance over opening week and earned SEC Co-Freshman of the Week honors. Shumaker is tied for the Division I lead in home runs with UNC Greensboro's Jessie Shipley and is tied for eighth in runs batted in. Shumaker, a Fullerton, Calif. native, went 9-for-18 (.500) and scored 11 runs over Florida's first six games. She's the first Gators freshman since 2008 to hit two home runs in a regular-season game against a ranked opponent and has tied a single-game record with four runs scored against Michigan. Her 1.444 slugging percentage leads the Orange and Blue. A lefty, Shumaker shows power to all fields. Her first homer went to left-center against North Florida at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium just over the College World Series graphic. She's the first Florida freshman to hit a home run in the season opener. "It was just awesome," head coach Tim Walton said after the game. "Any time you can get a hit in your first Gator game, let alone your first hit is a home run, that's a special feat, especially going opposite field." Shumaker's first two-homer game came on Saturday against No. 22 Michigan. She hit a two-run homer in the first inning and another to center field in the third. On Sunday, she sat on a pitch in the outer third against South Florida and took it over the tall wall in left field. In the same game, she hit an almost identical home run off a screwball. Shumaker has been a star for some time, leading the No. 1-ranked Orange Country Batbusters Stith on the Alliance fast-pitch circuit. She led that team with a .663 batting average, 17 homers and 60 RBI over 36 games, and won a championship title with the organization in 2023. Shumaker earned a spot on the 2024 MaxPreps All-America Team last June at the conclusion of her high school career. She was No. 9 overall recruit in the 2024 Softball America class. It became apparent very early that Shumaker's power would translate to the college level. Head coach Tim Walton projected her as the team's starting right fielder after a convincing performance in fall practice. 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.
