DALLAS (FWAA) – Louisville offensive lineman Lance Robinson started at right tackle on Friday night, played most of the evening at left tackle and a series at center and helped clear the way for the Cardinals to roll up 397 rushing yards and six touchdowns in a 44-20 homefield romp over Florida State. For his efforts up front, Robinson was selected as the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week honor for games during the weekend of Oct. 10, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.
This is the fourth season for the FWAA to select an Outland Trophy National Player of the Week as part of the NCFAA’s weekly national honors from 12 awards. The recipient of the 2026 Outland Trophy will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards, live on ESPN on Dec. 11. The official presentation to the winner will be made at the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner sponsored by Werner Enterprises and produced by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee in Omaha, Neb., on Jan. 27, 2027.
Robinson is the first Louisville player to earn the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week honor. The weekly winners are added to the award’s preseason watch list going forward. Robinson was already a preseason member of that list.
The 6-foot-4, 295-pound fifth-year player from Camilla, Ga., played all 58 snaps at three positions in the win as Louisville ran for 397 yards, the second-most rushing yards ever allowed by Florida State. Robinson started and played at right tackle for eight plays, then anchored down at left tackle for 47 and played center for three plays.
The ACC’s Offensive Lineman of the Week, Robinson and the Louisville line paved the way for running back Isaac Brown’s career-best 235 yards, the most rushing yards by an FBS player in a game this season. One of his two touchdowns came on an electric 97-yard run, the longest play from scrimmage in program history, and tying for this season’s longest run in the FBS. Robinson graded out at 90 percent with three knockdowns per the Louisville staff and paced Brown to become the ACC’s Running Back of the Week.
Louisville’s six rushing touchdowns were the most by the Cardinals against an FBS opponent in 10 seasons.
Robinson has started every game for Louisville this season, and at three different positions. He started at left tackle for the opener against Ole Miss and again the next week against Villanova. He then started at center for three games, his native position if he has one and where he was posted as part of the preseason Outland Trophy Watch List, before moving to right tackle at the start of Friday’s game. He soon slotted over back to left tackle for the remainder.
It was a banner day for Robinson, the Cardinals’ most experienced player with 43 career starts, and their most tenured player in a career that spans back to playing at Middle Tennessee in 2020. Robinson started at right tackle in the 2025 season opener, then moved to left guard and started the final nine games of the season there, earning Honorable Mention All-ACC honors. He played two seasons at Middle Tennessee (2020-21) and one at Houston (2022) before making his Louisville debut in the 2023 Holiday Bowl. He missed the 2024 season after suffering an injury in fall camp.
Louisville has never had an Outland Trophy winner.
The FWAA will announce the Outland Trophy semifinalists on Nov. 18, and those players will then be paired down to three finalists announced on Nov. 24. The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from those finalists who will be part of the annual FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects a 26-man first team and eventually the three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemen on offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends and edge rushers are not eligible.
The Outland Trophy, celebrating 81 years since its founding, is the third-oldest major college football award. Created in 1946 when Dr. John Outland presented the FWAA with a financial contribution to initiate the award, the Outland Trophy has been given to the best interior lineman in college football ever since Dr. Outland, an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1890s, eventually took up practice in Kansas City, Mo. An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Outland believed linemen did not get the credit they deserved and wanted an award to recognize them.
The Outland Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored nearly 1,000 recipients since 1935. Visit NCFAA.org for more information or follow on X at @NCFAA.
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The Greater Omaha Sports Committee, founded in 1977, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, consisting of more than 1,300 men and women from the City of Omaha, the State of Nebraska, and others. The Committee serves to communicate, develop, initiate and promote sports activities in the Greater Omaha sports area. In addition to the Outland Trophy Award Events and Dinner, the Greater Omaha Sports Committee promotes high school, college, and professional sports in the Greater Omaha area and the Midwest. For more information contact Bob Mancuso Jr., Chairman at bmancuso@showofficeonline.com or see showofficeonline.com.
Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,200 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.
