Lots of good news for the Gamecocks today:

• Devin Taylor and Jadeveon Clowney have been named to the Nagurski Award Watch List. The award is given annually to the best defensive player in the nation, as chosen by the Football Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.

The winner is chosen from five finalists who are part of the FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, selects the 25-man team and eventually the finalists. Committee members then select the winner. The annual Bronko Nagurski Trophy Banquet will be December 3rd.

• T.J. Johnson has been named to the Rimington and Outland trophy watch lists. The Rimington Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding center in the country and is presented by the Boomer Esiason Foundation; the Outland Trophy is given to the best interior lineman, chosen by the FWAA.

The winner of the Rimington Trophy is selected by determining the consensus All-American center pick from four existing All-America Teams. More than a dozen All-America football teams are selected annually, but the trophy committee will use four prestigious teams to determine a winner: the FWAA, the American Football Coaches Association, the Walter Camp Foundation, and the Sporting News. The award will be presented on January 12th.

The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from three finalists who are part of the FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee selects the 25-man team and eventually the three Outland finalists to be named on Nov. 19. Committee members,the select the winner. That winner will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 6 on ESPN and the trophy will be presented at the Outland Trophy presentation banquet on January 10th.

• Eight USC players have earned spots on the 2012 Coaches Preseason All-SEC teams. Lattimore and Clowney are on the first team; Taylor, Johnson, DeVonte Holloman, and DJ Swearinger were named to the second team; and Akeem Auguste and Bruce Ellington were selected for the third team.

• South Carolina had the most student-athletes of any SEC school on the conference’s first-year academic honor roll. 97 Gamecocks had at least a 3.0 GPA in the 2011-12 school year. The women’s track and field team had the most student-athletes on the list, with 21. This is the fifth year in a row that Carolina has led the conference.

Congratulations all around!