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TCU Football’s Trevon Moehrig is the 2020 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award winner!

The junior safety is the first ever Horned Frog to win the prestigious award, recognizing the nation’s best defensive back.

By Melissa B. Triebwasser
Trevon Moehrig is the best safety in college football. And that’s FACTS.
Melissa Triebwasser

TCU Football safety Trevon Moehrig was named the 2020 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award winner Thursday night in a ceremony broadcast on ESPN as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show. The award recognizes the nation’s top defensive back.

Moehrig, who has been named to seven All-America teams, is the first TCU player to win the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award and the seventh Horned Frog to capture a national award.

Moehrig was selected First-Team All-Big 12 by the conference head coaches for the second straight season. He had the game-saving interception with a one-handed snag in the end zone in the final minutes of a 29-22 win over No. 15 Oklahoma State on Dec. 5. The Spring Branch, Texas, native ranked among the national leaders with 1.1 passes defended per game (two interceptions, nine pass breakups). His 11 passes defended trailed only teammate Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson (13) in the Big 12. He placed third on the Horned Frogs with 47 tackles, including 2.0 for loss.

Pro Football Focus ranked Moehrig as the nation’s No. 1 safety in 2019 with the third-most valuable season in the PFF College era. Moehrig recently announced that he would forgo his final season of eligibility at TCU to enter the 2021 NFL Draft. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. rated Moehrig the No. 1 safety prospect this year.

A fan favorite and beloved Horned Frog, Moehrig is a worthy recipient of this national award and the many accolades he has received this offseason. The best is yet to come for this future Pro Frog. “I want to thank all of my coaches and teammates. I did it all for them,” Moehrig said to ESPN’s Holly Rowe during the broadcast. “It just means the world to me.”

TCU Football National Award Winners

1938 – Davey O’Brien, Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award

1995 – Michael Reeder, Lou Groza Award

2000 – LaDainian Tomlinson, Doak Walker Award

2009 – Jerry Hughes, Lott IMPACT Trophy and Ted Hendricks Award

2010 – Jake Kirkpatrick, Rimington Trophy

2014 – Trevone Boykin, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award

2020 – Trevon Moehrig, Paycom Jim Thorpe Award

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