Antwan Raymond just etched his name into Rutgers football history - and Canadian college football history too. The sophomore running back has been named the 2025 winner of the Jon Cornish Trophy, becoming the first Scarlet Knight to earn the honor, which is awarded annually to the top Canadian player in NCAA football.
And make no mistake: Raymond didn’t just win the award - he earned it with authority.
In his second season at Rutgers, Raymond broke out in a big way, racking up 1,241 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on 244 carries. That’s the kind of workload you don’t see unless a coaching staff trusts a guy to be the engine of the offense. And Raymond delivered, week in and week out, especially in Big Ten play where the defenses don’t exactly roll out the red carpet for running backs.
One of his signature moments came in a dominant performance against Maryland, where he exploded for 240 rushing yards in a Rutgers win. That showing earned him Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week honors, and it was one of several games that helped put him on the national radar. By season’s end, he was a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award, given to the best running back in the country - a prestigious nod for any player, let alone a sophomore.
Raymond wasn’t just a ground threat either. He added 18 receptions for 225 yards and two touchdowns through the air, showing off the kind of versatility that modern offenses covet. He’s not just a downhill bruiser - he’s a complete back, capable of staying on the field all three downs.
With the Cornish Trophy now in his hands, Raymond joins a growing list of Canadian standouts who’ve made their mark in American college football. The award, first introduced in 2017, is named after Jon Cornish - a British Columbia native who starred at the University of Kansas before carving out a stellar career in the CFL, where he was a three-time Most Outstanding Canadian and the league’s Most Outstanding Player in 2013.
Raymond is now the third running back to win the Cornish Trophy, following in the footsteps of Illinois’ Chase Brown (2023) and joining a group that includes past winners like Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who’s now with the San Francisco 49ers, and his brother Nathan Rourke, the award’s first two-time winner.
He also becomes the third Cornish Trophy recipient to come out of the Big Ten - a conference known for its physicality and deep talent pool. That only adds to the weight of Raymond’s achievement. To stand out in that setting, as a sophomore no less, speaks volumes about where his ceiling might be.
For Rutgers, it’s a milestone moment. For Raymond, it’s a well-deserved recognition of a season that was equal parts explosive and consistent. And for Canadian football, it’s another rising star making waves south of the border.