LOUISVILLE, Ky. – San Diego State junior Jordan Byrd has been named to the Paul Hornung Award Watch List presented by Texas Roadhouse, the Louisville Sports Commission announced Thursday. The award is presented to the most versatile player in college football.
An Albuquerque, N.M., native, Byrd is coming off a solid 2019 season when he led the Aztecs in all-purpose yards (831), all-purpose yards per game (69.2), punt return yards (93), punt return average (7.8) and kick return yards (319). Byrd also rushed 78 times for 355 yards (4.6 avg.) and three touchdowns, including a career-high 139 yards against Central Michigan in the 2019 New Mexico Bowl en route to sharing most valuable offensive player honors of the game with Jesse Matthews. Byrd, who also had 16 catches a year ago for 64 yards (4.0 avg.), has also been named a preseason third-team all-Mountain West pick as a kick returner by both Athlon Sports and Phil Steele Magazine.
For his career, Byrd has appeared in 23 games since arriving to campus as a true freshman in 2018, amassing 1,128 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns.
An Aztec has now made the Paul Hornung Award Watch List each of the last five years, including Rashaad Penny in 2016-17, Juwan Washington in 2018-19, and Byrd this year.
San Diego State is coming off a 10-3 season in 2019, the program's fourth double-digit win campaign over the last five years.
The Paul Hornung award is named after 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 and placekicker for the Green Bay Packers of the early 1960s. Hornung earned NFL MVP honors for the Packers in 1961 by setting a single-season NFL scoring record that stood 46 years and is a member of the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
The finalists for the award will be announced Nov. 14, followed by the winner on Dec. 7. The Paul Hornung Award dinner will be held in Louisville, Ky., in March 2021.
Jordan Byrd Lands on Paul Hornung Award Watch List
