TEMPE – Sun Devil Football wide receiver N’Keal Harry has been named a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award, presented annually by Texas Roadhouse to the most versatile player in college football.
Harry was tabbed as one of five finalists for the award, joining wide receivers Marcus Green (Louisiana-Monroe), KJ Hamler (Penn State), Rondale Moore (Purdue) and running back Connor Heyward (Michigan State). He joins Marion Grice (2013) as the only other Sun Devil to be named a finalist for the prestigious award, now in its ninth year after being launched by the Louisville Sports Commission in 2010.
“It’s impressive the way our finalists are willing to do whatever it takes to help their teams win football games,” Hornung said. “They perform at a high level on offense, defense and special teams, and are outstanding team leaders.”
The junior out of Chandler, Ariz., has demonstrated his versatility throughout the season, scoring touchdowns receiving, rushing and on punt return this season and being responsible for numerous game-changing plays all across the football field. Harry is averaging 110.7 all-purpose yards per game and has played 606 snaps this season - 10th-most among all Power Five receivers - and has at times handled direct snap-taking duties in the team’s Sparky formation.
Harry posts an 84.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, the fourth-highest grade among Pac-12 offense regardless of position and 8th among all wide receivers nationally. The junior ranks in the Top-20 nationally in receiving touchdowns (9/8th), receiving yards (828/18th), receiving yards per game (92.0/19th) and total touchdowns (11/17th).
He has a reception in all 34 games of his career at Arizona State, tied for the 10th-longest active streak among all current FBS players and is in 3rd place in program history with 195 receptions. He is also 6th in school history with 2,629 career receiving yards, within 100 yards of the top four all-time. At 5.74 receptions per game in his career, Harry is third among the NCAA’s active career leaders in the category. His 77.3 career receiving yards per game are sixth among all active players.
With 22 career receiving touchdowns, Harry is tied for 5th in ASU school history in that category as well and needs just two more to move into fourth. Harry has at least one touchdown reception in 10 of last 14 games. He has 14 touchdown receptions in those 14 games after he had just 8 in the first 20 games of his career.
Harry has a 146.6 NFL QB rating when targeted this season, good for third nationally among receivers that have logged at least 50 percent of their team’s targets. He has forced 14 missed tackles this season, which is good for 13th-most among all FBS receivers.
He is averaging 22.4 yards per punt return this season and 157 total return yards - already 29th nationally despite only returning punts in the second half of the season.
In the past two weeks, Harry has been named both the Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week and the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week. In victories over USC and #16 Utah that have placed ASU in control of its destiny in the Pac-12 South, Harry has posted 364 all-purpose yards (256 receiving, 5 rushing, 103 punt returns) and a combined six touchdowns (5 receiving, 1 punt return).
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 who often go unnoticed.
Each week during the season, a panel of college football experts selects players for the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll based on performance. A national selection committee comprised of 17 sports journalists and former NFL stars votes for the Hornung Award finalists and the winner, with fan voting powered by Texas Roadhouse comprising the 18th vote. Regional accounting firm Dean Dorton independently tabulates all votes.
Nicknamed The Golden Boy, Hornung was a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at Notre Dame in 1956 and the NFL’s Most Valuable Player with the Green Bay Packers whose versatility earned him enshrinement in both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame. At Notre Dame, Hornung played every position in the offensive backfield, handled punting and placekicking duties, returned kickoffs, and started at safety on defense. He set an NFL single-season scoring record for the champion Green Bay Packers in 1961 that stood for 46 years.
For more information, visit www.paulhornungaward.com. Fans can also follow online on Twitter (@hornungaward) and Become a Fan on Facebook.
Previous Paul Hornung Award winners by year:
2017: Saquon Barkley of Penn State won the award as an electrifying All-American running back who lined up at slot and wildcat quarterback, and returned kicks and punts;
2016: Jabrill Peppers of Michigan won the award by playing 15 different positions on defense, offense and special teams, and earning first team All-America at linebacker;
2015: Christian McCaffrey of Stanford won the award after breaking the NCAA record for all-purpose yards, finishing with 3,864;
2014: Shaq Thompson of Washington won the award as a two-way player, earning first team All-American honors at linebacker and finishing as the Husky’s second-leading rusher at tailback;
2013: Odell Beckham Jr. of LSU won the award after finishing the season ranked second in the nation and first in the Southeastern Conference with 2,222 all-purpose yards and 185.2 average yards per game;
2012: Tavon Austin of West Virginia won the award as one of two players in the nation with more than 500 yards in three different categories (rushing, receiving and kick returns);
2011: Brandon Boykin of Georgia won the award after excelling on defense, offense and special teams; and
2010: Owen Marecic of Stanford won the inaugural Paul Hornung Award as a two-way starter and All Pac-10 performer at fullback and linebacker.
Harry was tabbed as one of five finalists for the award, joining wide receivers Marcus Green (Louisiana-Monroe), KJ Hamler (Penn State), Rondale Moore (Purdue) and running back Connor Heyward (Michigan State). He joins Marion Grice (2013) as the only other Sun Devil to be named a finalist for the prestigious award, now in its ninth year after being launched by the Louisville Sports Commission in 2010.
“It’s impressive the way our finalists are willing to do whatever it takes to help their teams win football games,” Hornung said. “They perform at a high level on offense, defense and special teams, and are outstanding team leaders.”
The junior out of Chandler, Ariz., has demonstrated his versatility throughout the season, scoring touchdowns receiving, rushing and on punt return this season and being responsible for numerous game-changing plays all across the football field. Harry is averaging 110.7 all-purpose yards per game and has played 606 snaps this season - 10th-most among all Power Five receivers - and has at times handled direct snap-taking duties in the team’s Sparky formation.
Harry posts an 84.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, the fourth-highest grade among Pac-12 offense regardless of position and 8th among all wide receivers nationally. The junior ranks in the Top-20 nationally in receiving touchdowns (9/8th), receiving yards (828/18th), receiving yards per game (92.0/19th) and total touchdowns (11/17th).
He has a reception in all 34 games of his career at Arizona State, tied for the 10th-longest active streak among all current FBS players and is in 3rd place in program history with 195 receptions. He is also 6th in school history with 2,629 career receiving yards, within 100 yards of the top four all-time. At 5.74 receptions per game in his career, Harry is third among the NCAA’s active career leaders in the category. His 77.3 career receiving yards per game are sixth among all active players.
With 22 career receiving touchdowns, Harry is tied for 5th in ASU school history in that category as well and needs just two more to move into fourth. Harry has at least one touchdown reception in 10 of last 14 games. He has 14 touchdown receptions in those 14 games after he had just 8 in the first 20 games of his career.
Harry has a 146.6 NFL QB rating when targeted this season, good for third nationally among receivers that have logged at least 50 percent of their team’s targets. He has forced 14 missed tackles this season, which is good for 13th-most among all FBS receivers.
He is averaging 22.4 yards per punt return this season and 157 total return yards - already 29th nationally despite only returning punts in the second half of the season.
In the past two weeks, Harry has been named both the Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week and the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week. In victories over USC and #16 Utah that have placed ASU in control of its destiny in the Pac-12 South, Harry has posted 364 all-purpose yards (256 receiving, 5 rushing, 103 punt returns) and a combined six touchdowns (5 receiving, 1 punt return).
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 who often go unnoticed.
Each week during the season, a panel of college football experts selects players for the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll based on performance. A national selection committee comprised of 17 sports journalists and former NFL stars votes for the Hornung Award finalists and the winner, with fan voting powered by Texas Roadhouse comprising the 18th vote. Regional accounting firm Dean Dorton independently tabulates all votes.
Nicknamed The Golden Boy, Hornung was a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at Notre Dame in 1956 and the NFL’s Most Valuable Player with the Green Bay Packers whose versatility earned him enshrinement in both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame. At Notre Dame, Hornung played every position in the offensive backfield, handled punting and placekicking duties, returned kickoffs, and started at safety on defense. He set an NFL single-season scoring record for the champion Green Bay Packers in 1961 that stood for 46 years.
For more information, visit www.paulhornungaward.com. Fans can also follow online on Twitter (@hornungaward) and Become a Fan on Facebook.
Previous Paul Hornung Award winners by year:
2017: Saquon Barkley of Penn State won the award as an electrifying All-American running back who lined up at slot and wildcat quarterback, and returned kicks and punts;
2016: Jabrill Peppers of Michigan won the award by playing 15 different positions on defense, offense and special teams, and earning first team All-America at linebacker;
2015: Christian McCaffrey of Stanford won the award after breaking the NCAA record for all-purpose yards, finishing with 3,864;
2014: Shaq Thompson of Washington won the award as a two-way player, earning first team All-American honors at linebacker and finishing as the Husky’s second-leading rusher at tailback;
2013: Odell Beckham Jr. of LSU won the award after finishing the season ranked second in the nation and first in the Southeastern Conference with 2,222 all-purpose yards and 185.2 average yards per game;
2012: Tavon Austin of West Virginia won the award as one of two players in the nation with more than 500 yards in three different categories (rushing, receiving and kick returns);
2011: Brandon Boykin of Georgia won the award after excelling on defense, offense and special teams; and
2010: Owen Marecic of Stanford won the inaugural Paul Hornung Award as a two-way starter and All Pac-10 performer at fullback and linebacker.
