2019 Football Roster
Kenneth Gainwell
- Position:
- RB
- Ht./Wt.:
- 5-11 / 191
- Class:
- Redshirt Freshman
- Hometown:
- Yazoo City, Miss.
- Prev School:
- Yazoo County HS
Career
Returns for his third year after a historic 2019 campaign ... Has seen action in 18 games with 14 starts ... Has 2,212 career all-purpose yards … Has 235 carries for 1,550 yards and and 14 TD ... Has a long rush of 75 yards ... Also has 57 receptions for 662 yards and three TD ... Has three solo tackles ... Has three years of eligibility remaining.
Honors (Academic/Athletic)
2020 Doak Walker Award Watch List … 2020 Maxwell Award Watch List … 2020 Athlon Sports Preseason All-American … 2019 FWAA Freshman of the Year … 2019 First Team FWAA Freshman All-American … 2019 Sporting News All-American … 2019 American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year and unanimous first team selection … 2019 Doak Walker Award semifinalist … 2019-20 American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team … Tiger 3.0 Club for the 2019 fall semester.
On The Charts
Career:Â Second in rushing average (6.6) ... Tied sixth for most 100-yard games (7) ... Tied 38th in scoring (102). Season: Fourth in yards rushing (1,459, 2019) ... Fourth in rushing attempts (231, 2019) ... Tied fifth most 100-yard games (7) ... Tied sixth in most TDs (16, 2019) ... Tied seventh in rushing TDs (13, 2019) ... Tied 15th in points scored (96, 2019).Game: 5th in average per carry (14.9 at ULM) ... Tied eighth in TDs scored (3 at Tulsa) ... Tied ninth points scored (18 at Tulsa) ... 15th in rushing yards (209 at ULM).
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2019 (Redshirt Freshman)
Saw action and started in all 14 games for the AAC Championship Tigers … Led all FBS freshmen with 2,069 all-purpose yards … Ranked 12th nationally with 1,459 rushing yards … He became just the third player in school history to record over 2,000 all-purpose yards (DeAngelo Williams in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and Darrell Henderson in 2018) … After stepping in for senior Patrick Taylor Jr. who suffered an injury in the season opener against Ole Miss, he rattled off six consecutive 100-yard rushing performances, a Memphis freshman record … Against the Rebels, he carried the ball six times and caught one pass as part of a six minute and 21 second drive that sealed the victory … His first 100-yard rushing performance was in Memphis’ road victory at South Alabama … Recorded his first 200-yard game at ULM … During that stretch of games was a 200-yard receiving effort to compliment a 100-yard rushing performance against Tulane … also during that same stretch, he logged nine rushing TD… His performance against Tulane marked the first FBS player since 1997 to post a 200-100 effort … Finished the season with seven 100-yard rushing games after tallying 128 yards on the ground at USF … was one yard shy of another 100-yard rushing game at Houston … Had a long run of 75 yards on Memphis’ opening drive against Navy … Finished the season with 610 receiving yards, ranking third on the team behind Damonte Coxie, Memphis’ second receiver to post at least two 1,000-yard receiving seasons and NFL third round pick Antonio Gibson … Had a long catch of 68 yards against Tulane … Finished with three receiving TD … Played a crucial role in the Tigers posting a 12-2 overall record and earning a berth to the 84th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
2018 (Freshman)
Redshirted ... Before decision to redshirt, played in the season’s first four games ... Rushed for 91 yards on four carries and scored a TD ... Pulled in six receptions for 52 yards ... Credited with two solo tackles as a member of the special teams unit ... In season opener vs Mercer, had two rushes for 11 yards, three catches for 26 yards and a solo hit ... Had two catches for 25 yards, including a season-long 14-yarder, at Navy ... Ran the ball twice for 80 yards and a score in a home win over Georgia State ... Scored first collegiate TD on a 72-yard scamper late in the fourth quarter ... The 72-yard rush was the third-longest by a Tiger in 2018 ... Posted second solo tackle of the season vs South Alabama ... Member of the 2018 squad that went 8-6, won the American Athletic Conference West Division title, played in The American Championship Game and earned a Birmingham Bowl berth ... The 2018 Tigers overcame a three-game deficit heading into the month of November to win the league’s West Division crown.
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High School
Three-year starter at quarterback for head coach Robert Dobbs at Yazoo County High School ... Four-year varsity player for the Panthers ... Member of four-straight winning squads at Yazoo County ... Panthers earned Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) state playoffs berths all four years (4A in 2014; 3A in 2015-17) ... Four-year career numbers included: 8,412 total yards (4,730 rush/3,682 pass), 4,903 all-purpose yards (4,730 rush/142 kick return/31 punt return), 24 100-yard rushing games, 75 rushing TDs, 32 TD passes and one kick return TD ... Accounted for 108 career TDs ... Had a career 9.4 yards per rushing average … Helped lead Yazoo County to its best season in school history with a 14-1 record and an appearance in the MHSAA Class 3A state championship game in 2017 ... Totaled 2,973 yards (1,834 rush/1,139 pass) his senior season ... Ran for 32 TDs and passed for 10 scores ... His kick return for TD was a 65-yarder vs North Panola in the state playoffs (North Half championship) ... 2017 honors included: MHSAA Class 3A Mr. Football, Mississippi Association of Coaches (MAC) Class 3A Player of the Year, USA Today All-USA Mississippi second team, Clarion Ledger All-State first team honors ... Co-MVP of the 2017 Mississippi/Alabama High School All-Star Classic ... Rushed for 56 yards and three TDs in Mississippi’s all-star game victory.
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Personal
Son of Curtis and Monica Gainwell ... Younger brother, Kory, joined the Tigers prior to the 2020 season … Birthday is March 14 ... Criminal justice major.
