LOGAN, Utah – Utah State outside linebacker
Nick Heninger has been announced as one of 67 nominees for the 2020 Burlsworth Trophy.
The Burlsworth Trophy is given to the most outstanding football player in America who began his career as a walk-on and has shown outstanding performance on the field. Each nominee must have begun his first season of participation with a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) program without financial aid of any kind from his university's athletic department.
The 6-foot-2, 230-pound grad student from South Jordan, Utah, recorded his first-career double-digit tackle outing with a career-high 14 stops last Thursday night against Air Force.
In his previous outing against New Mexico, Heninger was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week as he tied his career high with eight tackles, which included a career-high-tying 2.0 sacks and a career-high-tying 3.0 tackles for loss, to go along with a career-high two forced fumbles. His second forced fumble was returned for a touchdown by the Aggies.
For his career at Utah State, Heninger has recorded 74 tackles, including 16.5 tackled for loss and 8.0 sacks, to go along with four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two pass breakups.
The son of Mark and Donna Heninger began his career as a walk-on at Utah in 2016 and earned a scholarship two years later. He played in 10 games and had two tackles, including 1.0 sacks, and two pass breakups as a sophomore in 2018. As a redshirt freshman in 2017, Heninger appeared in 13 games for the Utes, seeing time at special teams and defensive end, recording 11 tackles, including 1.0 tackles for loss, and two fumble recoveries, which tied for fourth in the Pac-12.
In the award's 11th year, the Burlsworth Trophy is named in honor of Brandon Burlsworth, a former walk-on and All-American offensive lineman at Arkansas. The 2019 winner was Michigan State defensive end Kenny Willekes. After receiving no Division I scholarship offers, Willekes walked-on at Michigan State, where he became an All-American, the Big 10 Defensive Lineman of the Year, and the Spartans' all-time leader in tackles for loss (51).
The Burlsworth Trophy will host an awards ceremony virtually on Jan. 4, 2021, to honor the three finalists and announce the 2020 winner.
Heninger and the Aggies return to action on Saturday, Dec. 12, when they conclude the regular season by traveling to Fort Collins, Colo., to take on Colorado State at Canvas Stadium. The game, which will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network, is slated to kick off at 7:30 p.m.
Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.
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