Temple University Athletics
Jahad Thomas Makes 2015 Paul Hornung Award Watch List
7.6.15 | Football
Louisville, KY. — The Louisville Sports Commission today named 44 multi-talented college football players to the 2015 Watch List for the Paul Hornung Award presented by Texas Roadhouse, including Temple's junior RB Jahad Thomas.
The Paul Hornung Award, now in its sixth season, is given annually to the most versatile player in major college football by the Louisville Sports Commission and football legend and Louisville native Paul Hornung, the Golden Boy. The winner and his family will be honored at the annual Paul Hornung Award Banquet presented by KentuckyOne Health, to be held at the Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville in February 2016.
Thomas was one of the most explosive players in college football in 2014 despite moving to his current position just weeks prior to the season. The former defensive back was moved to running back after summer workouts began in August. In just four starts however, he led the team in rushing and was second in receiving yards. He finished the year with 1,080 all-purpose yards – 384 rushing, 364 receiving, and 332 on kickoff returns – including 11 plays of 30-or-more yards.
The 2015 Watch List was compiled by a panel of college football experts based on a combination of 2014 statistics, career performance, SID recommendations and expectations heading into the 2015 season. Profiles of each player and information about the Award can be found at www.paulhornungaward.com. Players may be added to the Watch List during the 2015 regular season based on performance.
"I'm ecstatic that the Paul Hornung Award has gained national prominence in such a short time," said Paul Hornung, the 1956 Heisman Trophy winner who played every position in the offensive backfield during his Notre Dame career and was a triple threat halfback for the title town Green Bay Packers of the early 1960s. "The quality of our winners, finalists and weekly honorees has been impressive, and I'm pleased that we are able to acknowledge outstanding players who contribute any way possible to help their teams win, the way I did with Notre Dame and the Green Bay Packers."
The Watch List is comprised of 11 seniors, 22 juniors and 11 sophomores who start at a total of eight different positions and represent 40 universities and all 10 conferences that are part of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The Pac-12 leads the conferences with eight players followed by the ACC and Big Ten with seven players and the SEC with six players.
Players on this year's Paul Hornung Award Watch List accounted for 9,606 rushing yards, 16,565 receiving yards, 17,941 kickoff return yards, 4,088 punt return yards and 588 total tackles in 2014. Reminiscent of Hornung during his playing days, members of the Watch List demonstrated a knack for scoring numerous ways. Last season the Watch List players combined for 211 total touchdowns in seven different ways – passing, rushing, receiving, punt return, kickoff return, interception and fumble recovery/fumble return.
