University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Henderson, Whitehead Selected to Hornung Award Watch List
7/17/2017 9:00:00 AM | Football
Preseason Award Candidacies Continue to Add Up for Pair of Pitt Juniors
PITTSBURGH—Pitt junior safety Jordan Whitehead received his fourth preseason watch-list selection and Panthers junior wide receiver and return man Quadree Henderson garnered his second award candidacy of the summer when the Paul Hornung Award announced its watch list Monday morning.
Whitehead (Aliquippa, Pa./Central Valley) was previously named to the watch list for the Bednarik Award, Nagurski Trophy and Jim Thorpe Award, while Henderson (Wilmington, Del./Alexis I. du Pont) had already landed on the watch list for the Maxwell Award.
Now both of the Pitt standout juniors are preseason candidates for the Paul Hornung Award presented by Texas Roadhouse, which is annually presented to college football's most versatile player by the Louisville Sports Commission. Recent winners of the Hornung Award include Jabrill Peppers of Michigan (2016), Christian McCaffrey of Stanford (2015) and Odell Beckham Jr. of LSU (2013).
In his first two seasons at Pitt, Whitehead's defensive stats include 174 total tackles, 10 passes defended, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries as a stalwart in the Panthers' secondary.
Twice an All-ACC selection at safety, Whitehead's playmaking ability has resulted in defensive touchdowns on two occasions—first with a 22-yard fumble return against Navy in the 2015 Military Bowl and also on a 59-yard interception return in Pitt's win at Virginia last fall.
Whitehead has also displayed his versatility by rushing for 220 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns and an average of 10.5 yards per rush when utilized on offense by the Panthers.
A returning consensus All-American return man, Henderson enters his junior season at Pitt after making a massive impact on special teams and offense for the Panthers in 2016.
Last fall, Henderson became the first Pitt player since Tony Dorsett in his Heisman Trophy-winning 1976 season to top 2,000 all-purpose yards, tallying a total of 2,083 via a Pitt-record 914 kickoff return yards, 631 rushing yards, 286 receiving yards and 252 punt return yards.
Henderson scored a total of 10 touchdowns last season, entering the end zone in four different ways: rush (5), kickoff return (3), reception (1) and punt return (1).
Season tickets and mini-packages for the 2017 Pitt football season are now on sale.
Call the Pitt Ticket Office at (800) 643-PITT (7488) or log on to PittsburghPanthers.com.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Whitehead (Aliquippa, Pa./Central Valley) was previously named to the watch list for the Bednarik Award, Nagurski Trophy and Jim Thorpe Award, while Henderson (Wilmington, Del./Alexis I. du Pont) had already landed on the watch list for the Maxwell Award.
Now both of the Pitt standout juniors are preseason candidates for the Paul Hornung Award presented by Texas Roadhouse, which is annually presented to college football's most versatile player by the Louisville Sports Commission. Recent winners of the Hornung Award include Jabrill Peppers of Michigan (2016), Christian McCaffrey of Stanford (2015) and Odell Beckham Jr. of LSU (2013).
In his first two seasons at Pitt, Whitehead's defensive stats include 174 total tackles, 10 passes defended, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries as a stalwart in the Panthers' secondary.
Twice an All-ACC selection at safety, Whitehead's playmaking ability has resulted in defensive touchdowns on two occasions—first with a 22-yard fumble return against Navy in the 2015 Military Bowl and also on a 59-yard interception return in Pitt's win at Virginia last fall.
Whitehead has also displayed his versatility by rushing for 220 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns and an average of 10.5 yards per rush when utilized on offense by the Panthers.
A returning consensus All-American return man, Henderson enters his junior season at Pitt after making a massive impact on special teams and offense for the Panthers in 2016.
Last fall, Henderson became the first Pitt player since Tony Dorsett in his Heisman Trophy-winning 1976 season to top 2,000 all-purpose yards, tallying a total of 2,083 via a Pitt-record 914 kickoff return yards, 631 rushing yards, 286 receiving yards and 252 punt return yards.
Henderson scored a total of 10 touchdowns last season, entering the end zone in four different ways: rush (5), kickoff return (3), reception (1) and punt return (1).
Season tickets and mini-packages for the 2017 Pitt football season are now on sale.
Call the Pitt Ticket Office at (800) 643-PITT (7488) or log on to PittsburghPanthers.com.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
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