Star sophomore Barion Brown is making waves a month before the kickoff of the 2023 football season. If the award sounds familiar, Kentucky Wildcat legend Lynn Bowden Jr. won the award in 2019. The annual award is received by the most versatile player in all of college football, something you can say about both Bowden and Brown.
The leading receiver in 2022 recorded 50 catches and 628 receiving yards and returned a kickoff back to the house as well as returned punts. The Nashville native was ranked 4th in America in kick return yardage on average (27.5) and continually put Kentucky in position to win football games solely with his kickoff returns. As big of an impact as Brown had, this is not the only preseason award Brown has earned. Before camp, Athlon Sports named the true sophomore a fourth-team All-American as a kick returner.
The finalists of the Hornung Award will be announced on November 15th and a champion will be crowned on December 6th. The annual dinner held to present the trophy will be in March of 2024.