COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Junior William Likely has been named one of 44 college football players to the 2015 Watch List for the Paul Hornung Award presented by Texas Roadhouse.
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.
A 2014 First Team All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and media, Likely displayed his versatility with a tremendous sophomore season as a defensive back and punt/kick returner.
Likely tied for the Big Ten lead in interceptions (6), while also setting a single-season Maryland record and leading the conference with 170 interception yards. Two of his interceptions were returned for touchdowns, which tied for the most in FBS and matched a Maryland record.
The Belle Glade, Fla., native also led the Big Ten and ranked fourth in the nation in kickoff return average (31.0), including a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Stanford in the Foster Farms Bowl. Likely was also third in the Big Ten with 11.1 yards per punt return.
Defensively, Likely tied for the Big Ten lead with 15 passes defensed and ranked fourth on Maryland with 83 tackles (66 solo).
Likely has appeared in 26 career games for Maryland, averaging 70.2 all-purpose yards throughout his career.
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.
The Paul Hornung Award Watch List contains 18 of the top 100 all-purpose players from 2014 according to yards-per-game average from ncaa.com.
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.
