Tavon Austin Wins Paul Hornung Award and Nobody Is Surprised

December 1, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers running back Tavon Austin (1) rushes the ball against the Kansas Jayhawks during the first quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. The West Virginia Mountaineers won 59-10. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

I mean seroiusly, did you really doubt that Tavon Austin would not win the Paul Hornung award?

The man was far and away the most dynamic player at the FBS level. It was not a clean sweep though, as Austin was in competition with Dri Archer of Kent State, Antonio Andrews of Kentucky, and Marqise Lee of USC. While both Archer and Lee did great things for their teams this season, they were not able to dominate the game in as many ways as Austin was able to.

Both Archer and Lee were primarily receivers and return specialists while Austin excelledin return duties, receiving, and rushing as well. Andrews excelled in a host of versatile applications for the Wildcats, but undoubtly, Kentucky’s atrocious record sunk his candidacy.

The marquee game for Austin this season, and the one that likely earned him this honor, was his 572 all-purpose yards against Oklahoma. In that game, Austin set the WVU single game rushing record at 344 yards.

The Mountaineers have rich tradition of top end rushers but Austin, a wide receiver (let that sink in), set the single game rushing record. That one performance and record are more than enough to win Tavon Austin the coveted Paul Hornung Award.

It also helps that the Paul Hornung Award factors in fan balloting, which assuredly was heavily in favor of Tavon Austin given the passion of West Virginia fans for their stars.

For more on Austin’s award, and comments from Paul Hornung himself, please see the official press release.