(UL ATHLETICS) – Redshirt senior offensive lineman Ken Marks has been added to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List, the award’s committee announced on Wednesday morning.

Primarily playing left guard, Marks, a Beaumont, Texas, native, has started 16 games for Louisiana on the offensive line during his career, 14 of which came in 2018.

As a redshirt sophomore in 2017, he helped pave the way for a Louisiana rushing attack that ranked third in the Sun Belt in total rushing yards (2,204).

A year later under first-year head coach Billy Napier, his leadership was evident as he guided the team to the Sun Belt West Division crown, an appearance in the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Championship Game and a berth in the AutoNation Cure Bowl.

Marks was poised for big things in 2019 and started in the team’s season opener against Mississippi State at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome before injury forced him to miss the remainder of the year.

Off the field, he has participated in multiple community service outings, including work with the Boys and Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity and the UL Life Program, among others. He has also excelled in the classroom, having been named on the Sun Belt Academic Honor Roll and the Sun Belt Commissioner’s List during his career.

The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award is presented annually to the nation’s outstanding Division I college offensive player who meets one or more of the following criteria: 1. Born in Texas 2. Graduated from a Texas High School or 3. Played at a Texas-based junior college or four-year college.

The player must exhibit the enduring characteristics that define Earl Campbell, including integrity, performance, teamwork, sportsmanship, community and tenacity – Specifically tenacity to persist and determination to overcome adversity and injury in pursuit of reaching goals.

Louisiana Football opens the 2020 campaign on Saturday, September 12, when it travels to Ames, Iowa to face the Iowa State Cyclones at Jack Trice Stadium.