Florida State’s backfield got a little more national attention Tuesday, with Ousmane Kromah and Quintrevion Wisner landing on the Doak Walker Award Watch List.
The honor goes to the nation’s most outstanding college running back and is presented by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum. For Florida State, the double selection is notable on its own: the Seminoles are one of seven schools in the country and one of just two in the ACC with multiple players on the list.
Kromah arrives on the watch list after a freshman season that showed plenty of promise. The sophomore from Leesburg, Georgia, played in 12 games and made two starts in 2025, finishing with 408 rushing yards and 147 receiving yards. He averaged 5.7 yards per carry and found the end zone for the first time on a 43-yard touchdown catch.
His best outing came at Virginia, where he ran 12 times for 63 yards. Kromah also opened his career with 31 rushing yards in Florida State’s win over No.
8 Alabama, then added 43 yards against Kent State in a game when the Seminoles piled up a school-record 498 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. A consensus four-star recruit out of Lee County, he was ranked No. 92 nationally in the On3 Industry Rankings.
Wisner brings a much longer résumé with him from Texas. The senior transfer started 21 games across 38 appearances for the Longhorns from 2023-25, rushing 369 times for 1,734 yards and nine touchdowns while also catching 66 passes for 457 yards and two scores.
His 2025 season included 131 carries for 597 yards and three touchdowns, highlighted by a season-high 155 yards in Texas’ win over No. 3 Texas A&M.
A year earlier, Wisner was named third-team All-SEC after rushing for 1,064 yards and five touchdowns and setting a Texas running back record with 44 receptions. He also posted a career-best 186 yards at No.
20 Texas A&M and went over 100 yards against Kentucky, Oklahoma and Clemson as Texas reached the College Football Playoffs.
The Doak Walker winner will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN on December 10.
Florida State opens the 2026 season on August 29 at 7:00 p.m. against New Mexico State inside Doak Campbell Stadium.
Preseason honors have continued to stack up for the Seminoles as well. Duce Robinson has been named a Good Works Team nominee, earned Preseason All-ACC recognition, landed on the Maxwell Award Watch List, was tabbed to Sporting News’ Preseason All-American Second Team, and has also been included on the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List and Walter Camp Player of the Year Watch List. Gabe Panikowski is on the Groza Award Watch List, and Daniel Hughes is on the Ray Guy Award Watch List.
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Florida States Backfield Just Earned Respect Now Comes The Hard Part
Florida States backfield got a notable nod this week when Ousmane Kromah and Quintrevion Wisner were both named to the 2026 Doak Walker Award watch list. Its a small piece of preseason recognition, but it says plenty about how the Seminoles running game is viewed heading into the fall, especially with Florida State joining a short list of programs nationally to place multiple backs on the watch list and standing as one of only two ACC teams to do it.
Kromah and Wisner have each built enough of a track record to draw attention, and now comes the tougher part: turning that respect into production once the games count. The watch list honors are nice, but for Florida State the real question is whether this tandem can match the hype, carry the offense when needed and give the Seminoles a ground game that can hold up against the better defenses on the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State Enters 2025 With Mike Norvell Under Immediate Pressure
Florida State opened 2025 on the outside of the AP preseason Top 25 again, a familiar and frustrating place for a program that has spent much of the Mike Norvell era trying to climb back into national relevance. It is the fifth time in seven years under Norvell that the Seminoles have been left out of the poll, a reminder that last years struggles and a modest transfer portal haul have not yet changed the bigger perception around the program.
The path back will not be easy, either. Florida States schedule includes four ranked opponents, with Miami, SMU, Louisville and Alabama all waiting to test whether the Seminoles are ready to rejoin the conversation. Norvell enters the season with the pressure already building, and how this team handles the early months could determine far more than just its place in the rankings. [Read more 🡒]
Florida States Biggest 2026 Question Is All About Where The Money Went
Florida State kept Mike Norvell in place for a seventh season, even as the conversation around the program has shifted from coaching stability to whether the investment around him is being allocated the right way. The Seminoles poured more than $20 million into the roster, with a clear emphasis on skill positions, and the expectation in Tallahassee was that an aggressive offseason would help reset the programs trajectory.
The question now is whether the most important spot on the field got enough of that attention. The Athletics offseason quarterback rankings suggested Florida State may not have landed at the same level at quarterback as some of its other additions, leaving Ashton Daniels in a less favorable tier than several of the passers brought in elsewhere. For a program trying to justify both its spending and its direction, that is the kind of mismatch that can loom over an entire season. [Read more 🡒]