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Grant Morgan brings home Burlsworth Trophy in ceremony Monday night
Arkansas linebacker Grant Morgan has won the prestigious Burlsworth Trophy, presented annually to the most outstanding college football player who began his career as a walk-on.
Morgan, one of three finalists for this year’s award along with Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett and Troy linebacker Carlton Martial, was honored during a ceremony on Monday evening at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville.
He is the eighth Arkansas student-athlete in program history to win one of college football’s national awards, and the first since Hunter Henry won the John Mackey Award for college football’s most outstanding tight end in 2015.
Morgan is the first Razorback to receive the Burlsworth Trophy, which is named in honor of the late Brandon Burlsworth, a former walk-on who became a three-year starter and an All-American offensive lineman at Arkansas.
Burlsworth was selected by the Indianapolis Colts with the 63rd overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft but was tragically killed in a car accident 11 days later.
Morgan began his career at Arkansas as a walk-on before emerging as a two-time team captain for the Razorbacks as well as one of the top players in all of college football.
The Greenwood native produced one of the greatest seasons in school history in 2020 when he was named a Walter Camp and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) All-American after posting a team-best 111 total tackles with 7.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks.
Morgan has continued to make an impact on the field in 2021, ranking second on the Hogs in total tackles (96) and third in tackles for loss (seven) to go along with 0.5 sacks, three pass breakups and an interception. His eight tackles per game rank fifth among all defenders in the SEC this year.
The redshirt senior is also a finalist for this year’s William V. Campbell Trophy, better known as college football’s Academic Heisman, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.
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Hogs drop to 12th in AP poll, despite staying unbeaten last week
Despite being one of just 12 undefeated teams in the country, Arkansas won two games and still dropped in the Associated Press poll.
The Razorbacks, off to an 8-0 start for the third time under Eric Musselman, beat in-state teams Central Arkansas and Arkansas-Little Rock last week, but it obviously had no impact on voters.
It was a week where Davonte Davis got back on track shooting, hitting 70% of his shots and averaging 16 points a game.
JD Notae leads the Hogs in scoring with 18 points a game, adding 23 steals, averaging four rebounds and nearly four assists each game.
Au’Diese Toney has become one of the most efficient players in the nation. With no plays designed for him, he’s averaging 14 points a game, hitting 69% from the field and grabbing 6.8 rebounds per game.
The Hogs will be back in action Tuesday night in a late start at 8 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena against Charlotte.
The game will be televised on the SEC Network, FuboTV and broadcast on HitThatLine.com and ESPN Arkansas.
Saturday, the Hogs will travel to Tulsa for a matchup with Oklahoma in the BOK Center before taking a week off ahead of playing in North Little Rock.
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Pittman gets Coach of Year honors for Football Coaches’ region
Arkansas’ Sam Pittman, who has engineered one of the most remarkable turnarounds in all of college football, was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 2 Coach of the Year on Monday.
Three coaches with state connections were the winners in their regions.
Under the second-year coach, the Razorbacks have won eight games in 2021, the most regular-season wins for the program since 2011, after winning eight games total in the three seasons prior to Pittman’s tenure at the helm.
The Hogs started the year with an unblemished 4-0 mark and rose to No. 8 in the Associated Press poll, the team’s highest ranking since 2011, as Pittman became one of only 14 SEC coaches in history to take over a team with a losing record and lead it to the top 10 in the AP Poll in their first two seasons.
This year, Pittman’s squad won four non-conference games, going undefeated outside of league play for the first time since 2016, and posted a 4-4 mark in Southeastern Conference action, the most league wins since 2015.
For the first time in history, Arkansas captured all three of the program’s trophy games, beating No. 7 Texas A&M in the Southwest Classic, winning at LSU in the Battle for the Golden Boot and topping Missouri in the Battle Line Rivalry.
Pittman led the Hogs, who are one of an SEC-record 13 bowl eligible programs, to a third-place finish in the SEC West, the team’s best finish since 2015.
He is the fifth Arkansas head coach in history to lead the Razorbacks to a bowl game berth in each of their first two seasons, joining Houston Nutt (199899), Ken Hatfield (1984-85), Lou Holtz (1977-78) and John Barnhill (1946-47).
The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association’s five divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III and NAIA. The winners, who are selected by active members of the AFCA who vote for coaches in their respective regions and divisions, will be honored on Sunday, Jan. 9, during the 2022 AFCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
The AFCA will also announce the 2021 Werner Ladder AFCA FBS National Coach of the Year on Sunday, Jan. 9.
The regional winners, including Pittman, Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell (Region 1), Michigan State’s Mel Tucker (Region 3), UTSA’s Jeff Traylor (Region 4) and Utah State’s Blake Anderson (Region 5), are finalists for National Coach of the Year.
Traylor was an assistant coach on Chad Morris’ staff with the Hogs in 2018-19 and Anderson is the former coach at Arkansas State.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
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