Can't Wait For Saturday Illini Renfro, Scott named to award watch list

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Aug. 21—

There will be only one Heisman Trophy winner named in mid-December. Right now, the list of candidates is enormous.

But one college football honor goes to more than one player. The Comeback Player of the Year Award goes to three players each season. As a member of The Associated Press Top 25 panel, I will be one of the voters. At the moment, there are two local names among the possible winners.

Illinois center Jake Renfro and defensive back Xavier Scott are on the award watch list, which was released Thursday.

Both Renfro and Scott were just named Illinois captains for 2026. While at Wisconsin in 2025, the son of a former Illinois player missed the final eight games of the season. Thus, his comeback status.

Coming off an All-Big Ten season, Scott missed 10 games in 2025. He considered turning pro, but decided instead to return to Illinois for another season.

The Comeback watch list includes 94 players from 59 schools.

Illinois is one of the eight Big Teh schools with at least two candidates, joining Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Rutgers, Southern California, UCLA and Washington.

Washington is tied with Notre Dame for most watch list entries: four.

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