UNC Football: Omarion Hampton earns another All-American honor

The UNC football program’s running back has earned plenty of recognition as one of the top players at his position in the entire country.

Along with being named a Doak Award finalist, UNC football star running back Omarion Hampton continues to rack in individual honors.

After being named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press a few days ago, Hampton received more All-American honors, this time from Sports Illustrated. The sophomore running back was recognized by Sports Illustrated as a second-team All-American on Friday.

Coming into the 2023 season, there was doubt as to who the UNC football program’s main running back would be. Once the season got underway, Hampton left little doubt that he was ready to take the reins, as he ended up being one of the best running backs in the entire country.

After recording just 401 rushing yards as a freshman, Hampton exploded during his sophomore campaign, rushing for 1,442 yards. He found the end zone 16 times (15 of which came on the ground), as he also added 215 receiving yards to his impressive sophomore stat line.

While many believed the Tar Heels offense would be very pass-heavy (considering Drake Maye was in his second season as the team’s starting quarterback), Hampton completely changed the narrative, as his ability to get yards on the ground was a huge game-changer for the UNC football program.

Although the regular season didn’t end the way the UNC football program had envisioned, it shouldn’t take away from the fact that Hampton put together an incredible season and solidified himself as the next great running back to put on the Carolina Blue uniform.

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