South Carolina’s Hay is Outland Trophy National Player of the Week

South Carolina’s Hay is Outland Trophy National Player of the Week

DALLAS (FWAA) – South Carolina center Nolan Hay cleared the way for the Gamecocks to roll up 344 total yards against one of the FBS’ top defenses Saturday. Quarterback LaNorris Sellers was electric again working behind Hay’s protection, and for his work up front in South Carolina’s 27-24 win over No. 11 Tennessee, Hay was selected as the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week honor for games during the weekend of Oct. 24, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

This is the fourth season for the FWAA to select an Outland Trophy National Player of the Week as part of the NCFAA’s weekly national honors from 12 awards. The recipient of the 2026 Outland Trophy will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards, live on ESPN on Dec. 11. The official presentation to the winner will be made at the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner sponsored by Werner Enterprises and produced by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee in Omaha, Neb., on Jan. 27, 2027.

Hay is the second South Carolina player to earn the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week honor, following guard Torricelli Simpkins III from the week of Nov. 2, 2024. The weekly winners, including Hay this week, are added to the award’s watch list going forward.

Hay, a 6-foot-3, 328-pound fifth-year player from Katy, Texas, started his seventh game of the season and his second straight at center blocking for an offense that racked up 210 passing yards and 134 rushing yards, averaging 5.5 yards per play, a season-high average against Tennessee. He was the South Carolina coaches’ top-graded offensive lineman with a 91 score among those who played 50 or more snaps.

South Carolina’s 27 points were a season-high against Tennessee, which came into the game leading the SEC and listing 11th nationally allowing only 14.7 points per game. Sellers accounted for 306 total yards (210 passing, 96 rushing) and three touchdowns, including two rushing scores, only the second time for Tennessee to give up multiple rushing touchdowns to an opponent.

The SEC’s Offensive Lineman of the Week has been versatile working between the left guard position and center along South Carolina’s line. Saturday was his third start at center, and he has four starts at left guard earlier in the season.

Hay has already earned his undergraduate degree at South Carolina. He originally transferred from Incarnate Word in the summer of 2025 and played two seasons at Houston Christian prior to that. He redshirted in his first season in Columbia after playing in four games with a pair of starts. An injury took him off the field for multiple games, but he returned in time to start the 2025 finale against Clemson.

South Carolina has not had an Outland Trophy winner.

The FWAA will announce the Outland Trophy semifinalists on Nov. 18, and those players will then be paired down to three finalists announced on Nov. 24. The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from those finalists who will be part of the annual FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects a 26-man first team and eventually the three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemen on offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends and edge rushers are not eligible.

The Outland Trophy, celebrating 81 years since its founding, is the third-oldest major college football award. Created in 1946 when Dr. John Outland presented the FWAA with a financial contribution to initiate the award, the Outland Trophy has been given to the best interior lineman in college football ever since Dr. Outland, an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1890s, eventually took up practice in Kansas City, Mo. An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Outland believed linemen did not get the credit they deserved and wanted an award to recognize them.

The Outland Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored nearly 1,000 recipients since 1935. Visit NCFAA.org for more information or follow on X at @NCFAA.

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The Greater Omaha Sports Committee, founded in 1977, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, consisting of more than 1,300 men and women from the City of Omaha, the State of Nebraska, and others. The Committee serves to communicate, develop, initiate and promote sports activities in the Greater Omaha sports area. In addition to the Outland Trophy Award Events and Dinner, the Greater Omaha Sports Committee promotes high school, college, and professional sports in the Greater Omaha area and the Midwest.  For more information contact Bob Mancuso Jr., Chairman at bmancuso@showofficeonline.com or see showofficeonline.com.

Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,200 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.