Three Gamecocks Highlight Outland Trophy Watch List

July 10, 2014

Three University of South Carolina offensive lineman are among the 19 Southeastern Conference players represented on the 64-man 2014 Outland Trophy Watch List, released today by the Football Writers Association of America. The Outland Trophy annually recognizes the nation’s top interior lineman.

The Gamecocks are represented on the list by senior offensive guard A.J. Cann, senior offensive tackle Corey Robinson and junior offensive tackle Brandon Shell.

Cann, a 6-4, 311-pounder from Bamberg, S.C., has made a team-leading 38 career starts at the left guard position. He has been named to several preseason All-America squads. Robinson, a 6-8, 344-pounder from Havelock, N.C., has started 22 contests and protects the quarterback’s blind side from the left tackle position. Shell, a 6-6, 333-pounder from Goose Creek, S.C., has made 23 career starts while manning the right tackle position.

The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from three finalists who are part of the FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects the 26-man first team and eventually the Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemen on offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends are not eligible.

The list will be trimmed to six or seven semifinalists on Nov. 20. Four days later, three Outland Trophy finalists will be named by the FWAA. The winner of the 69th Outland Trophy, named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at Penn at the turn of the 20th century, will be announced on ESPN on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 11 from Disney’s Boardwalk in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald won the award last season.

The Outland Trophy presentation banquet, sponsored by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee, will be held on Jan. 15, 2015, in Omaha, Neb. This year, Notre Dame’s Ross Browner, the 1976 Outland Trophy winner, will be honored and presented an Outland Trophy, which was not given in the era in which he won the award.