More preseason honors continue to roll in for UNC football players ahead of the 2021 season, including a trio of upperclassmen this week.

Junior offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu, senior defensive lineman Raymond Vohasek and junior punter Ben Kiernan all landed spots on watch lists for awards this week.

The Football Writers Association of American named each Ezeudu and Vohasek to the preseason watch list for the 2021 Outland Trophy. Given each year, the award recognizes standout interior linemen in college football, choosing between both offensive and defensive candidates. The news came on the same day Ezeudu earned a spot on the preseason All-ACC Team. Returning for his fourth season at UNC, since he red-shirted his freshman year, Ezeudu is expected to help anchor an offensive line returning all of its starters to protect junior quarterback Sam Howell, who also landed on the preseason All-ACC Team on Tuesday.

Vohasek also earned a spot on another watch list: the Nagurski Trophy. Also awarded by the Football Writers Association of America, the trophy goes to the top defensive standout in college football across the country. Set to play his third season in the Tar Heel program, Vohasek will look to build on his 2020 production of 29 total tackles, seven of which were for losses, and 3.5 sacks.

Additionally, Kiernan will start the season on the 2021 Ray Guy Award watch list. The honor goes to the nation’s top collegiate punter, as decided by the Augusta Sports Council. The Dublin, Ireland, native was named a Top 4 Player by the award group last season for the weekend where UNC played No. 2 Notre Dame in 2020. Over 22 games with Carolina, Kiernan has punted 94 times for a 42.2 yard average.

The Carolina football program is set to hold its opening practice for the upcoming season in one week, August 5. UNC opens its 2021 schedule with an away game at Virginia Tech on Friday, September 3.

 

Photo via Carolina Athletics/Jeffrey Calamati.

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.

Related Stories
‹
UNC's Howell Added to Walter Camp Player of Year Preseason Watch List
UNC quarterback Sam Howell earned another spot on a preseason watch list for a prestigious college football award this weekend. The star junior landed on the Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year Preseason Watch List on Friday, according to the foundation. The award is given to the top player in a college football […]
UNC's Howell Voted Preseason ACC Player of the Year, All-ACC First Team
As media votes continue to be released by the ACC on Tuesday ahead of the new football season, UNC quarterback Sam Howell continues to receive accolades. ACC media members voted Howell as the conference’s overwhelming preseason Player of the Year, with the junior from Indian Trail, N.C., receiving 114 of 146 votes. Howell also earned […]
Art’s Angle: The Last Walk
I hope Mack and Sally Brown, after their supporters and naysayers said goodbye in their own ways, found a quiet moment to have a good cry.
Art’s Angle: Looking Ahead
Carolina played a football-basketball doubleheader Saturday that define where each program has to go this year, if not next season. The Tar Heels won the expected game against Wofford (apparently the last small-college team they will play on Senior Day for the foreseeable future), giving quarterback Sam Howell a week to rest his left shoulder […]
Art’s Angle: Bananas Foster
Facing a possible dooms’ day scenario, Carolina pulled out an improbable victory in what the Tar Heels hope will be the first step of a November to remember. The only thing they could bank on when falling behind unbeaten and top 10 Wake Forest by 18 points in the third quarter was an almost identical […]
Art's Angle: 'Throw-Up' Time
Mack Brown is prepared to turn the page after swallowing his worst loss as North Carolina’s football coach since he started taking the Tar Heels to bowl games every year in the early 1990s. “We’re not ready to be the team I thought we’d be,” he said after another bad trip to Atlanta, where UNC […]
UNC Football Lands New Highest-Rated Recruit for Class of 2022
Just six days after landed its highest-ranked high school commitment in the Class of 2022, the UNC Football program added a new high-water mark recruit to its incoming class. Four-star linebacker Sebastian Cheeks of Evanston Township, Illinois, announced his verbal commitment to head coach Mack Brown’s program on Wednesday. The No. 131 ranked high school […]
Top Quotes from UNC Football at ACC Kickoff Event
The Atlantic Coast Conference held its ACC Kickoff media event last week to mark the start of the college football season. Each of the conference’s 14 football programs, including UNC, spoke to members of the press about their goals for the fall amid a return to fans in the stands and a new normal of […]
Report: Parents of UNC Football Players to be Allowed at Remaining Home Games
After campaigning to be allowed into Tar Heel football games, parents of UNC players may have now gotten their wish. A report from Inside Carolina on Friday said parents and family members of the football program received an email from head coach Mack Brown sharing the new attendance policy, a change from around 50 fans […]
Art’s Angle: Yesterday’s Gone
Mack is back, but I’m not sure we can say the Tar Heels are — because they may never have been in this position before. A quarterback who was in high school a year ago. Linebackers who had never played linebacker. Others who had never been in a college game. A new coaching staff that […]
›