Ray Davis Added to Maxwell Award Watch List
Kentucky running back Ray Davis has been added to the 87th Maxwell Award Watch List, it was announced Thursday by the Maxwell Football Club. He joins UK quarterback Devin Leary on the list for the prestigious award given annually to the nation’s most outstanding college football player.
Davis’ numbers have been eye-popping and awe-inspiring as the 5-foot-10, 216-pound graduate transfer leads the Southeastern Conference in rushing (111.57 yards per game), rushing scores (8), all-purpose yards (139.14 yards per game) and scoring (11.14 points per game). He is sixth nationally in total rushing yardage with 781, having 111 attempts and averaging 7.0 yards per carry.
Davis, a native of San Francisco, has three 100-yard games this season and 12 in his career. He has scored a touchdown in all seven games, the first Wildcat to score a touchdown in the first seven games of a season in school history, based on single-game statistics available since the 1940s. He also is the first Wildcat to score a touchdown in seven straight games within the same season since Randall Cobb in 2009. He is the first Wildcat to score a touchdown in seven straight games since Benny Snell Jr. tallied the last six games of 2017 and first game of 2018.
The Maxwell Award has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert “Tiny” Maxwell, who was a former standout at Swarthmore College and a renowned sportswriter and football official.
Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced November 13, 2023, while the three finalists will be unveiled November 28, 2023. The winners of the 87th Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 7, 2023. The formal presentations of the Maxwell Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards in March 2024.
Davis’ 2023 Honors
- AP Midseason All-American (Second Team)
- Reese’s Senior Bowl Midseason All-American
- The Sporting News Midseason All-American
- Maxwell Trophy National Player of the Week (Oct. 2)
- Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week (Oct. 2)
- Walter Camp National FBS Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 2)
- Co-SEC Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 2)
- Reese’s Senior Bowl Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 2)
- East-West Shrine Bowl Breakout Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 2)
- CFPA Honorable Mention Performer of the Week (Oct. 2)
- Doak Walker Award Watch List
- Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List
- Maxwell Award Watch List
For more information on the UK football team, visit ukathletics.com/football and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
