USF Football’s Jason Vaughn Named to
College Football Comeback Player of the Year Award Watch List
Senior B-Backer returns after missing most of 2023 season with a knee injury
South Florida football continued to see its national award watch list tally grow on Wednesday morning when senior b-backer Jason Vaughn (Miami, Fla.) was named to the College Football Comeback Player of the Year Award Watch List. The award has been presented since 2018 by College Sports Communicators (CSC), Associated Press and the Fiesta Bowl.
Vaughn suffered a knee injury in 2023 and was able to compete in just four games before ending his campaign. He started seven games in 2022 and led the team with 8.5 tackles for loss and five sacks while posting 35 tackles. Vaughn, entering his sixth season at USF, has played in 42 games for the Bulls and brings 89 career tackles, 16 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks into his 2024 campaign.
Michigan’s Blake Corum, Holy Cross’ Jacob Dobbs and Virginia’s Mike Hollins were named the winners of the Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2023.
USF returns 19 starters in 2024 (nine on offense, eight on defense, and two specialists) from a team that set 12 team and 16 individual program records while going 7-6 (a program-best six-game turnaround) and claiming a 45-0 Boca Raton Bowl victory over Syracuse in 2023.
The Bulls return record-setting starting quarterback Byrum Brown, 85 percent of their rushing yards, 84 percent of their receiving yards and four primary starters on the offensive line. On defense, USF returns nine of its top 11 tacklers led by Shuler, who logged a team-best 97 stops to go with 8.5 tackles for loss in 2023.
The Bulls open the season Aug. 31 vs. Bethune-Cookman in Raymond James Stadium before road games at Alabama (Sept. 7) and Southern Mississippi (Sept. 14) and a home clash with Miami (Sept. 21).
BULLS ON PRESEASON NATIONAL AWARD WATCH LISTS (5)
Maxwell Award Byrum Brown, QB
Walter Camp Award Byrum Brown, QB
Comeback Player of the Year Jason Vaughn, B Backer
Doak Walker Award Nay’Quan Wright, RB
Outland Trophy Zane Herring, OG
2024 Season Tickets: www.USFBullsTix.com
Group tickets (10+): Call 1-800-GoBulls
Future schedules can be viewed HERE
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 27th season in 2023 with a program-best six-game turnaround and Boca Raton Bowl victory under first-year head coach Alex Golesh. USF completed construction on a new $22 million Indoor Performance Facility in 2023 and a $340-million on-campus stadium and football operations center is slated for completion by 2027. The Bulls have posted 16 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections (including two consensus selections, the last coming in 2021), as well as 32 first-team all-conference honorees. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft and the Bulls have made 11 bowl game appearances (going 7-4), posting a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010 and making four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18. USF posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016, while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 campaigns and reached as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press rankings during the 2007 season.
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