TYLER, Texas — As one of five finalists for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, UTSA sophomore running back Sincere McCormick will be featured in a virtual award ceremony scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28.
Hosted by CBS Sports college football analyst Brian Jones, the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Virtual Award Ceremony is free for the public to watch live at boxcast.tv/view/earl-campbell-tyler-rose-award-321598. The award's annual banquet has changed to a virtual format this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
McCormick joins a quartet of seniors in Jaelon Darden of North Texas, D'Eriq King of Miami (Fla.), Kellen Mond of Texas A&M and Kyle Trask (Florida) as finalists for the award that recognizes the top offensive player in college football with ties to the state of Texas. The Converse Judson High School product is the first Roadrunner to be a finalist for the award and he is the only underclassman among this year's final five.
The 2020 Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year and first-team all-conference selection finished his second season as a Roadrunner with 1,467 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns on 249 carries — all school records — in 11 games. A second-team All-America performer by both the Football Writers Association of America and Phil Steele, he led C-USA and ranked second in the FBS in rushing yards, while his 133.4 rushing-yards-per-game average was sixth nationally.
McCormick, the 2020 Dave Campbell's Texas Football Texas College Player of the Year, also caught 20 passes for 131 yards en route to bettering his own UTSA single-season all-purpose yardage record with 1,598 yards and help lead UTSA to a 7-5 record and the program's second bowl appearance. The four-time C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honoree logged a conference-best seven 100-yard rushing games, including five of 150-plus yards, and he registered the top two and five of the top 10 rushing games in C-USA in 2020.
McCormick became UTSA's all-time rushing yardage leader after piling up 122 yards on 23 carries against No. 16 Louisiana in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl, as he has racked up 2,450 yards and 19 touchdowns on 426 attempts in only 23 career contests. The Doak Walker Award semifinalist eclipsed his own UTSA single-game standard with 251 rushing yards and two TDs on 23 totes in the 49-17 victory against North Texas.
He was named Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award National Player of the Week on Oct. 27 after tallying 165 yards and three scores on a school-record 37 carries in the win over Louisiana Tech. He posted 173 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 32 rushes in the 23-20 road win over Southern Miss in a game that saw him surpass the 1,000-yard mark for the year and break Jarveon Williams' single-season rushing record.
McCormick opened his sophomore season with 197 yards and a TD on 29 carries in the 51-48 double-overtime triumph over Texas State. He carried 22 times for 150 yards and a score versus UAB and piled up 133 yards on 18 attempts against Army West Point.
Announced in 2012 by the Tyler Chamber and SPORTyler, the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award recognizes the top offensive player in Division I football who also exhibits the enduring characteristics that define Earl Campbell: integrity, performance, teamwork, sportsmanship, drive, community and tenacity; specifically, tenacity to persist and determination to overcome adversity and injury in pursuit of reaching goals.
In addition, the nominee must meet one or more of the following criteria: born in Texas and/or graduated from a Texas High School and/or played at a Texas-based junior college or four-year NCAA Division I Texas college. For more information about The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award go to www.earlcampbellaward.com.
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Jeff Huehn/UTSA Athletics