LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A nation-leading 12 Southeastern Conference representatives are among the 49 multi-talented college football players named to the 2012 Watch List for the Paul Hornung Award, presented by Texas Roadhouse, the Louisville Sports Commission announced Thursday.
The Paul Hornung Award, now in its third season, is given annually to the most versatile player in major college football by the Louisville Sports Commission and football legend Paul Hornung.
The 2012 Watch List was compiled by a panel of college football experts based on a combination of 2011 statistics, career performance and expectations heading into the 2012 season. Profiles of each player and information about the Award can be found on www.paulhornungaward.com.
The SEC is the leading conference with 12 players followed by the Pac-12 with 10 selections. The Big Ten and Big 12 each have six representatives.
“The Paul Hornung Award Watch List for the upcoming season is an impressive group of players who excel at multiple positions to help their teams win, which is how I played the game,” Hornung said. “It will be interesting to see which players excel during the season and emerge as the top choices of our Selection Committee.”
The Louisville Sports Commission successfully launched the Paul Hornung Award in 2010 to honor its namesake and native son and to promote outstanding performances by versatile college football players that often go unnoticed. Owen Marecic of Stanford, a two-way starter and All Pac-10 performer at fullback and linebacker, won the inaugural Paul Hornung Award; Brandon Boykin of Georgia won the award in 2011 after excelling on defense, offense and special teams.
2012 Paul Hornung Award Watch List
Jared Abbrederis, Wisconsin
Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
Keenan Allen, California
Tavon Austin, West Virginia
Kenjon Barner, Oregon
Johnthan Banks, Mississippi State
D.J. Beshears, Kansas
Matt Brown, Temple
Chad Bumphis, Mississippi State
Trey Burton, Florida
Adrian Bushell, Louisville
Jesse Callier, Washington
Michael Campanaro, Wake Forest
Brandon Carter, TCU
Tommy Davis, Illinois
Quandre Diggs, Texas
Jerry “BooBoo” Gates, Bowling Green
Justin Gilbert, Oklahoma State
Jordan Hall, Ohio State
Dustin Harris, Texas A&M
Terry Hawthorne, Illinois
Dennis Johnson, Arkansas
Chandler Jones, San Jose State
Perry Jones, Virginia
Tracy Lampley, Southern Mississippi
Marqise Lee, Southern California
Josh Lenz, Iowa State
Venric Marks, Northwestern
Onterio McCaleb, Auburn
Qunicy McDuffe, Central Florida
Tyrann Mathieu, LSU
Jamal Miles, Arizona State
T.J. Moe, Missouri
Ty Montgomery, Stanford
Warren Norman, Vanderbilt
Jordan Poyer, Oregon State
Theo Riddick, Notre Dame
Nickell Robey, Southern California
Ace Sanders, South Carolina
Jeff Scott, Ole Miss
Branden Smith, Georgia
Orwin Smith, Georgia Tech
Darryl Surgent, Louisiana-Lafayette
De’Anthony Thomas, Oregon
Justin Veltung, Idaho
Sammy Watkins, Clemson
Trey Watts, Tulsa
Kerwynn Williams, Utah State
Robert Woods, Southern California