Texas A&M Semifinalists For One of College Football’s Most Prestigious Awards

The Texas A&M Aggies have had a start to remember in the 2025 season and show no signs of slowing down.

Multiple players are on award watchlists spanning from the Heisman Trophy and Biletnikoff to the Paul Hornung Awards and Walter Camp Player of the Year.

While the Heisman Trophy is considered to be the flagship of the collegiate football honors, there is one award that is arguably harder to attain: the Joe Moore Award. Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, the Maroon Goons are semifinalists for the coveted piece of hardware.

What is the Joe Moore Award?

Texas A&M Aggies offensive lineman Koli Faaiu (61) and offensive lineman Chase Bisontis (71) block against the Auburn Tigers during the second quarter at Kyle Field. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Offensive line is the only position in every major sport where the players spend 100 percent of their time on the field facing away from the ball, an extremely slim possibility of getting the ball and an entire job of protecting other players on the field. It is often the most thankless, selfless position and arguably the most demanding, both physically and mentally.

For decades, the behemoths that allow for offenses to operate have gone without recognition outside of All-Conference and All-American honors. In 1991, the Touchdown Club of Columbus created the Jim Parker Trophy, a yearly award that went to the nation’s top offensive lineman. There is one issue with awarding a singular player— offensive line is a unitary position. A guard’s success often depends on the quality of his tackle and his center, a center’s success often depends on the quality of his guards and a tackle’s success often falls on the quality of his guard and tight end.

In 2015, a solution came about. The Joe Moore Award was created with the intention of being passed around by the best offensive line unit in the nation, until the next year’s winner is announced. The winning unit is determined by all 128 FBS offensive line coaches, media members who played offensive line and a “legacy committee” consisting of colleagues of legendary offensive line coach Joe Moore and players who were coached by him.

The Texas A&M Aggies have been named as a semifinalists for the 10th edition of the award, among Cincinnati, Duke, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Oregon, Utah and Vanderbilt.

Behind its impressive offensive line, Texas A&M has averaged 204.9 rushing yards per game, totaled 22 rushing touchdowns and have only given up eight sacks on the season.

“Even in a season marked by volatility, these 10 offensive line units have put their best work on tape,” said Joe Moore Award co-founder Aaron Taylor. “Now comes the true test – the leap to finalist requires peak performance when the stakes are highest. November separates the ready from the rest.”

Upon the announcement, Texas A&M offensive line coach Adam Cushing took to X to show his appreciation towards his unit.

”It’s an honor to work with these men everyday,” Cushing wrote. ”More work to do Saturday. #MaroonGoons”

The Aggies host the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday at Kyle Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 11am CT.