Football

Three Football Student-Athletes Selected to Paul Hornung Trophy Watch List

LOUISVILLE -- Central Michigan's Marion Lukes, Northern Illinois' Trayvon Rudolph and Toledo's Jacquez Stuart represented the Mid-American Conference on the 2024 Paul Hornung Award Watch List, as announced by the Louisville Sports Commission. The award is presented annually to the most versatile player in the nation.

The 2024 Watch List was compiled by a panel of college football experts based on a combination of statistics, career performance, SID recommendations and expectations heading into the 2024 season. In addition to the Watch List, the Paul Hornung Award Weekly Honor Roll will recognize players whose performances during the regular season meet the Award’s criteria. Players from both the Watch List and the Weekly Honor Roll are eligible to win the Award.

A First Team All-MAC selection as a return specialist in 2023 and two-time All-MAC honoree, Lukes is a consensus preseason All-MAC selection as both a kickoff returner and running back. He was named a preseason Fourth Team All-America selection as a kickoff returner by Phil Steele Magazine, the MAC's special teams demon by Lindy's Magazine and to the East-West Shrine Bowl Top-1000 Watch List.

He concluded last season ranked nationally in four statistics: No. 9 in all-purpose yards per game (134.83), No. 6 in kickoff return touchdowns (1), No. 16 in combined kick returns (581), and No. 25 in kickoff return average (23.2). Despite teams kicking away from him, Lukes led the MAC in three of those four statistics and ranked No. 2 in kickoff returns. Lukes proved to be the league's most dangerous return man and top all-purpose player. He accumulated a conference-best 1,618 all-purpose yards (737 rushing, 300 receiving, 581 on kickoff returns). He led CMU and ranked No. 7 in the MAC in rushing with 737 yards and five touchdowns on 144 carries (5.1 average per carry), caught 29 passes for 300 yards, and returned 25 kickoffs for 581 yards, including an 86-yard touchdown. He registered six games with 100 or more all-purpose yards and two 100-yard rushing games with his top performance coming against Northern Illinois, where he topped career-highs for rushing yards (202) and all-purpose yards (254). Lukes also earned two MAC weekly awards, including Offensive Player of the Week (Nov. 3) and Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 11) honors.

Rudolph earned his third All-MAC selection in 2023, getting a spot on the third team. He led the Huskies with 51 receptions and 531 receiving yards last year while also averaging 20 yards per kick return. Rudolph enters the 2024 season tied for 10th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in career kick return yardage with 1,388 yards.

Stuart was selected to the watch list for the second consecutive season. Stuart is coming off a 2023 season where he ranked third in the nation with a 29.1 kickoff return average and led the MAC with 582 kick return yards. He also totaled 574 rushing yards (47.8/game), averaging 5.2 per carry and six touchdowns. Stuart's 5.2 yards per carry ranked seventh in the MAC.
 
The Miami, Fla. native produced several key highlights in 2023, including returning the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown against Buffalo, and a 59-yard catch-and-run for the game-winning touchdown at Bowling Green. He also broke an 80-yard touchdown run against Wyoming in the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl.

Stuart finished with a First-Team All-MAC selection in 2023 and was twice named the MAC Special Teams Player of the Week. He was also named to the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll after producing 119 yards on four kickoff returns, along with 79 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries in Week 5 against Northern Illinois.