ELON – Few offensive freshman have had a bigger impact in the Coastal Athletic Association, and across the FCS landscape, than Elon running back Kamerin McDowell-Moore.
 
Through eight games of the 2026 season, McDowell-Moore leads the conference in rushing yards with 1,182 despite starting just five out of Elon's nine games. In doing so, McDowell-Moore became the first true freshman running back for Elon to have more than 1,000 yards since 1977. McDowell's contributions have been recognized, as he is the only offensive player from the CAA to be named to the midseason watch list for the Jerry Rice Award, which honors the top freshman in the FCS.
 
When asked about his success, McDowell-Moore praised his coaches for instilling an approach on not trying to do too much when he's on the field and focusing on basic responsibilities. McDowell-Moore additionally felt there is still improvement in certain areas such as when he's cutting into open lines where opposing defenders aren't around to tackle him.
 
"They've pushed me a lot, but they don't try to overcoach me," McDowell-Moore said. "I still have little hiccups where I'm still like a high schooler, but Coach (Nate) Harris just points out the little things to try to fix it."
 
Harris said it has especially been easy to coach McDowell-Moore and offer him guidance that comes in handy on game days. He noted McDowell-Moore's maturity as a significant reason why he's so coachable citing how he often responds to any challenge his way.
 
"He's been a pleasant surprise from a maturity standpoint," Harris said. "He has his moments like any other freshman, but he's done a good job. We ask a lot out of him and put him in difficult situations, but he does a good job responding."
 
McDowell-Moore has consistently been tasked to produce throughout the season, as seen by his 158 rushing attempts, which are most among all Phoenix running backs. However, this is nothing new for him. A star player at Tarboro High School, located two hours east of Elon, McDowell-Moore rushed for 6,360 yards and 96 touchdowns in four years for the Vikings. McDowell-Moore said despite the heavy responsibility he's tasked with at Elon, he just wants to help the team win.
 
"In high school, everybody was depending on me," McDowell-Moore said. "I just try to be the best player I can and do whatever the team needs."
 
Harris said he gives plenty of credit to Tarboro's development of McDowell-Moore, which went 55-4 in his four years there. He said their yearly expectations of winning on a regular basis set the foundation for McDowell-Moore's transition from high school to college because he learned what it took to constantly perform under the spotlight.
 
"There was a lot of pressure there because all they know is winning on a regular basis at a high level," Harris said. "He's done a good job taking that mentality from high school to college from a standpoint of being able to handle the pressure of performing when the lights are bright."
 
As for McDowell-Moore's impact, Harris said that while he had high expectations, even he was impressed by how great McDowell-Moore has been this early. He circled back on McDowell-Moore embracing such high responsibility as a freshman.
 
"We knew he was pretty good, but we didn't think it was (going to happen) this early," Harris said. "It's a credit to him wanting the pressure and putting himself through the ringer when it comes to watching film, learning the playbook and carrying the film room information over to the game field."
 
McDowell-Moore said he sees it as a great thing to have immense expectations. He said it's just a matter of trusting himself to work through the ups and downs toward being the best player he can be.
 
"I don't try to make it too hard on myself, because I'm going to make mistakes," McDowell-Moore said. "I'm going to mess up here and there, but it feels good to have that responsibility placed on me."
 
On which skillsets have especially paid off, Harris pointed to McDowell-Moore's vision and quickness as key strengths. He said McDowell-Moore has shown lots of patience when he gets the ball, and it puts him in a better position to elude defenders.
 
"We talk about how far he's come from (the) Glenville State (game) to the Stanford game, and how far he's come from both a vision, and patient standpoint," Harris said. "It's tough to describe, but I always tell people he finds a way not to take the big hit whether it's contorting his body, the moves, or angling himself to not put himself in harm's way."
 
Harris said that one area for McDowell-Moore to keep growing is his role in the passing game. He said McDowell-Moore is already a terrific pass blocker, and he can emerge as more of a receiving threat too.
 
"We're constantly improving in just being more of a factor in the pass game, and with confidence," Harris said. "He can catch and then he's actually really good protector as a freshman. That's a big hurdle for freshman on any level for any program."
 
To keep improving, McDowell-Moore looks to continue focusing on the little things at running back. He said it has already worked out well to start the season and knows it could keep leading to bigger things going forward.
 
"Without the small things, it can lead to a big mistake," McDowell-Moore said. "They will help a ton."