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AUSTIN (KXAN) — College football season is closing in and several Texas Longhorns have been named to preseason watch lists for national awards.
Quinn Ewers, Kelvin Banks Jr., Anthony Hill Jr., and Jahdae Barron are all on respective award lists for their positions as the season nears. Ewers was named to the Maxwell Award watch list, Banks landed on the Outland Trophy watch list while Hill and Barron were named to the Nagurski Trophy watch list.
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Ewers enters his third year as the starting quarterback for the Longhorns and it's the second preseason in a row he's been placed on the watch list for the national player of the year honor. Ewers was named to the preseason All-SEC second team while the Longhorns were picked to finish second in the SEC by a media panel during SEC Media Days.
The Maxwell Award has been awarded since 1937 by the Maxwell Football Club. Semifinalists will be named Nov. 12 with the finalists revealed Nov. 26. The winner will be announced Dec. 12 during the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show.
If things work out for Banks, he could be the second consecutive Longhorn to be named the Outland Trophy winner, given to the best offensive or defensive interior lineman in college football. Banks is entering his true junior season as the starting left tackle for the Longhorns and was named a first-team preseason All-SEC selection as well as a preseason second-team All-American nod by Phil Steele. He was a second-team Associated Press All-American last season.
T'Vondre Sweat won the Outland Trophy for the Longhorns last season.
Hill and Barron made it on the Nagurski list which honors the top overall defensive player in college football. Derrick Johnson and Brian Orakpo have won the award for the Longhorns in 2004 and 2008. This is the first time either Hill or Barron have been named to a preseason award watch list. Hill is a sophomore linebacker coming off a tremendous freshman campaign while Barron is the fifth-year defensive back and one of the team's unquestioned leaders.
Training camp for the Longhorns begins Wednesday ahead of the first game of the season Aug. 31 against Colorado State at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.