AUSTIN — Texas Longhorns edge rusher Colin Simmons has been named the 2024 winner of the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award, the Maxwell Football Club announced Thursday. He’s become the program’s first recipient of the award in its seven-year history.

Many fans felt that Colin Simmons was robbed of winning the SEC Freshman of the Year, but the Texas Longhorns edge rusher is still receiving major national recognition as his first collegiate season comes closer to an end.

Maybe nobody, least of all Steve Sarkisian, should sell the Longhorns’ running game short. Other than the two Georgia losses, Texas has been able to run at will. The Longhorns have rushed for at least 200 yards three times in the last four games and four times in the last six.

Texas defensive lineman Colin Simmons has been named the top freshman in all of college football for the 2024 season.

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Not many national awards are given out on Christmas Day, but Shaun Alexander made the special call to Texas freshman Colin Simmons. “You know what it means if I call you on Christmas Day,” Alexander told Simmons via FaceTime.