The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Jamison named to Paul Hornung Award watch list
07.28.2022 | Football
Texas super senior DB/KR D’Shawn Jamison was selected to the watch list for the award honoring college football’s most versatile player.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Texas super senior D'Shawn Jamison was named to the preseason watch list for the Paul Hornung Award presented by Texas Roadhouse, the Louisville Sports Commission announced Thursday. It marks the third-straight year Jamison has been included on the list. The Paul Hornung Award is given annually to the most versatile player in college football.
D'Shawn Jamison been named to the Paul Hornung Award watch list 🤘@D_JAMISON5 @hornungaward pic.twitter.com/envXGL5ujW
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) July 28, 2022
Jamison, a Houston native, is a fifth-year defensive back and returner who has played in 48 career games with 31 starts and is a three-time Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week. He has returned three kicks for touchdowns in his career (2 kickoff/1 punt), which is tied for the second-most in school history. Jordan Shipley (1 kickoff/3 punt) is the only Longhorn with more kick return touchdowns all-time. He is also one of only five Longhorns to return both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown during his career.
Overall, he has averaged 26.6 yards per kickoff return, second in program history behind Ramonce Taylor (27.0), and ranks fourth all-time in UT history in career kick returns (54) and kick return yards (1,435), while returning 42 punts for 358 yards for an average of 8.5 yards per return. On defense, he has posted 114 total tackles (88 solo), four tackles for loss, four interceptions, 10 pass breakups, one forced fumble and two recovered fumbles.
In 2021, Jamison played in and started all 12 games, establishing career highs with 48 tackles and 34 solo tackles, and had one interception, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery. He six games with at least five tackles, the most of his career, including a pair of seven tackle performances against Oklahoma and West Virginia. On special teams, he returned 19 kickoffs for 424 yards (22.3 ypr) and 12 punts for 105 yards (8.8 ypr).
He set a UT single-season record in 2020 with a 31.7 yards-per-return average on kickoffs, while his 564 kickoff return yards rank as the third-most in a season in school history. Against Kansas State, he set a UT single-game record by averaging 50.0 yards per kickoff return on three attempts for a total of 150 yards (98, 37, 15) to break Fozzy Whittaker's nine-year-old school record (252 yds/6 ret, 42.0 avg). He had previously notched his second career kickoff return for a touchdown with a 100-yard effort in a road win at Oklahoma State, which was the fifth 100-yard touchdown return in school history.
Prior to 2020, Jamison returned a kickoff 98 yards late in the fourth quarter of a 48-13 win over Rice in 2019, and a 90-yard punt return against Kansas State in 2018. He joined Raymond Clayborn, Quan Cosby, Jordan Shipley and Selvin Young as the only Longhorns to achieve both feats. He also showed his return skills against Kansas in 2019, when he recovered a blocked PAT and returned it 90-plus yards for a defensive two-point conversion.
In addition to the Hornung Award watch list, Jamison was also named first-team All-Big 12 as a punt returner by Athlon Sports, a second-team All-Big 12 punt returner by Phil Steele, and a second-team All-Big 12 defensive back by both Phil Steele and Athlon Sports.
Now in its 13th season, the Paul Hornung Award is given annually to the most versatile player in major college football by the Louisville Sports Commission in the memory of the late football legend and Louisville native Paul Hornung. The winner and his family will be honored at the annual Paul Hornung Award dinner at the Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville in March 2023.
The 2022 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 2022 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 Honor Roll are eligible to win the Award.
