On Tuesday, a pair of Cougars were named to watch lists for two of the top national awards given to college athletes.
Senior running back Kenneth Farrow was named to the Maxwell Award watch list, given yearly to the NCAA’s college player of the year, while senior defensive back William Jackson was named to the watch list for the Bednarik Award, an award which highlights the standout defensive player of the year.
Last season, Farrow exploded, recording over 1,000 yards on the ground while racking up 14 touchdowns.
After UH got off to a slow start offensively, Farrow provided a measure of stability behind sophomore Greg Ward Jr., who took over as starting quarterback during the season.
Farrow saved his best games for the end of the year, as he accumulated four 100-yard rushing games in the final four games of the season, and recorded nine of his 14 scores in that time.
Farrow had a total of seven 100-yard rushing games last season, which was the most in the American Athletic Conference.
With the announcement, Farrow adds to his list of off-season notoriety, after he was named to the First-Team All-Conference earlier this year.
Jackson was a vital part of the UH secondary, serving as the Cougars’ lock-down corner to compliment junior safeties Adrian McDonald and Trevon Stewart.
The corner recorded a total of 37 tackles, complimented by 1.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, fumble recovery and a pair of interceptions.
Jackson also posted a conference second-best in pass breakups, with 10 recorded on the season.
In addition to the honor of the award watch list, Jackson was named to Phil Steel’s pre-season Third-Team All-American, as well as being named First-Team All-AAC.