The college football season in Texas starts a week earlier than normal with a Week 0 matchup between North Texas and UTEP. To celebrate us making it through another off-season, we’re counting down the 50 most important players in Texas every day until Aug. 27. The list isn’t necessarily about which players are the best, though talent plays a major factor in most important. 

No. 49, Trevor Harmanson, UTSA senior linebacker 

The History

Harmanson began his college career at Blinn College where he earned second-team All-Southwest Junior College Football Conference honors in 2018 after posting 39 tackles, two sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery. He redshirted in 2017. Harmanson was a two-time all-district selection as a prep at Dickinson High School. He also played basketball and participated in track and field. 

Harmanson arrived at UTSA as a sophomore in 2019 and promptly earned playing time. He started in eight of the 12 games he participated, ranking third on the team with 48 tackles, including 8.5 for loss. Harmanson broke out as a junior in 2020 with an honorable mention All-CUSA season that included 73 tackles, which was second on the team. He was also an honorable mention selection at linebacker in 2021 after tallying 57 tackles in 12 starts. 

The Skillset 

The 6-3, 225-pound Harmanson is rarely out of position and is a good finisher of tackles. He hasn’t ranked lower than third on the team in tackles in the three seasons as a Roadrunner. Harmanson offers continuity and consisteny to the inside linebacker position. He enters 2022 with 32 starts since the start of the 2019 season. If you add in his time at Blinn, he’s started 40-plus games as a college athlete over five seasons. He’s a sixth-year senior with loads of experience and enough athleticism to make plays all over the field. He’s not a liability in coverage and does a great job organizing the front seven. 

The Impact 

UTSA faces a few question marks on the defensive side of the football entering the 2022 season. Harmanson must be a rock for the unit as it breaks in new faces, specifically the defensive linemen in front of him and fellow linebacker Jamal Ligon. The loss of Clarence Hicks to the NFL also means Harmanson might need to get after the quarterback more than he did in 2021. The Roadrunners hope he’s closer to the 2020 version than the one we saw in 2021. Not that Harmanson wasn’t a difference-maker last year, but his 2020 season suggested that he’d be one of the more dominant linebackers in Texas. That’s exactly what UTSA needs to repeat as conference champions. 

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