Ray Davis, Jeremy Flax earn more awards for performance against Florida
The honors continue to pour in for Ray Davis and Jeremy Flax.
After both of the Kentucky Wildcats earned SEC Player of the Week honors for their performances during the Wildcats’ 33-14 win over Florida on Saturday, they’ve now added even more hardware to their trophy cases. On Tuesday, Davis was tabbed as the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week and Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week. Meanwhile, Flax was named the first Outland Trophy (best interior offensive lineman) National Player of the Week for the 2023 season.
In particular, Davis has been hauling in award after award since Saturday’s game. Along with the three honors mentioned above, the super senior was also declared as the Maxwell Player of the Week, the East/West Shrine Bowl Breakout Offensive Player of the Week, the Reese’s Senior Bowl National Player of the Week, and even gained honorable mention acknowledgment from the College Football Performance Awards for national player of the week. Davis has also popped up as a potential NFL Draft sleeper for his record-setting game against Florida.
Davis and Flax are now on the watch lists for both the Doak Walker Award and Outland Trophy, respectively, which will be handed out at the end of the regular season.
Looking at Davis’ outing against Florida, the former Vanderbilt transfer is more than worthy of the praise he’s received in recent days. He totaled 280 rushing yards — third-most in school history — while scoring three touchdowns (one coming off a career-long 75-yard rush) on the ground and catching one more through the air. It was also the second-most rushing yards ever allowed by Florida in the program’s rich history.
As for Flax, the Michigan native has shattered preseason expectations. Once considered to be on the hot seat at right tackle, he’s since established himself as the clear-cut starter. Against Florida, he did not allow a sack or quarterback pressure, nor did he get hit with a penalty. Flax recorded five knockdown blocks and graded out at 87 percent. He helped Kentucky run for a combined 329 yards on the ground against a Florida defense that came into the matchup giving up just 82.0 rushing yards per game.
Davis and Flax will look for repeat performances when they lead No. 20 Kentucky into Athens on Saturday for a showdown against top-ranked Georgia. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.
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