Utah's Smith Snowden named to prominent college football award watch list

Utah cornerback Smith Snowden has been named to the watch list for the 2025 Paul Hornung Award, the Louisville Sports Commission announced Thursday.

Named after the football and basketball star from Notre Dame, the annual honor recognizes the most versatile player in major college football.

Snowden is the only true cornerback among the 46 players considered to be preseason contenders for the Hornung Award, though his role with Utah this upcoming season might expand to include more duties on offense.

While Snowden, who's entering his junior season with the Utes, has spent the majority of his college career in the secondary, the former four-star recruit could log some snaps on the other side of the ball in some situations, according to his coach Kyle Whittingham.

I cant believe Smith Snowden is already a junior, Whittingham said during Big 12 media days .

Hes been playing for us since he got on campus.

Terrific slot corner, can play outside, and hes a terrific kick returner.

You might see him play some offense this year.

Last season, Snowden recorded 48 total tackles, including four for loss, and defended 10 passes (two interceptions, eight pass breakups) while lined up in the nickel.

He also forced a fumble and led the team with 9.0 third-down stops.

He added on kick returning duties down the stretch of the 2024 campaign, logging 187 kick return yards on seven returns, including a long of 36 yards against BYU.

Snowden notably put the cherry on top of the regular season with a 13-yard interception returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of a 28-14 victory over UCF.

The ACC, Big 10 and Big 12 each landed eight players on the Paul Hornung watch list, with the SEC getting seven; followed by the American Conference with six; the MAC with three; and Conference USA, the Mountain West and the Sun Belt with two each.

The winner of the 16th Paul Hornung Award will be honored in March.

Vinny Anthony II, Wisconsin Jacory Barney Jr., Nebraska Jadan Baugh, Florida Hank Beatty, Illinois Marcus Bellon, Nevada Davon Booth, Mississippi St.

Isaac Brown, Louisville Josh Cameron, Baylor Demond Claiborne, Wake Forest KC Concepcion, Texas A&M JaQuez Cross, Arkansas St.

Greg Derosiers Jr., Memphis Jacob De Jesus, Cal Dylan Edwards, Kansas St.

Brylan Green, Liberty Ty Harding, UMass Eli Heidenreich, Navy Martel Hight, Vanderbilt Makai Jackson, Indiana Quinton Jackson, Rice Kenny Johnson, Pitt Peyton Jones, Duke Parker Kingston, BYU Ismail Mahdi, Arizona Keelan Marion, Miami Willie McCoy, UTSA Easton Messer, FAU Mekhi Mews, Houston Jalen Moss, Arizona St.

Jordan Napier, SDSU Jaden Nixon, UCF Trebor Pena, Penn St.

Koi Perich, Minnesota Zylan Perry, Louisiana Trayvon Rudolph, Toledo Kam Shanks, Arkansas DT Sheffield, Rutgers Hollywood Smothers, NC State Victor Snow, Buffalo Smith Snowden, Utah Kam Thomas, UTEP Zavion Thomas, LSU Noah Whittington, Oregon Ryan Williams, Alabama Antonio Williams, Clemson Terrez Worthy, Temple.

This article has been shared from the original article on si, here is the link to the original article.