Football

Four TCU football players on national award watch lists

Published Jul 8, 2013

TCU Horned Frogs Jason Verrett, Devonte Fields, Brandon Carter, and Casey Pachall hope to add to TCU's trophy case, as all four players are all on various watch lists for major college football awards.

Verrett and Fields are both on the watchlist for the Chuck Bednarik award, which is given to the nation’s best defensive player. With the listing, TCU is one of 15 schools to have two players named to the list.

Verrett is coming off a breakout season where he lead the Big 12 in interceptions (six) and passes defended (22). His 63 tackles last season were the most by any cornerback in the Gary Patterson era at TCU.

Fields, named the Associated Press Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2012 as a true freshman, led the league in tackles for loss (18.5) and was third in sacks (10). Fields was also honored with Defensive Freshman of the Year in a unanimous selection by the Big 12 coaches. He was also named as a consensus Freshman All-American and the National Defensive Freshman of the Year.

Brandon Carter appears on the watch list for the Paul Hornung Award, which is given to the nation’s most versatile player. The junior returns as TCU's top receiver this season, after placing second on last year's team with 36 receptions for 590 yards and six touchdowns. Listed as a returner for kickoffs, Carter also averaged 25.1 yards on kickoff returns last year.

Carter is the first Frog to be on the list in three years. Former return specialist and receiver Jeremy Kerley, now playing in the NFL with the New York Jets, was listed for the award in 2010.

Casey Pachall is the final Frog to be listed on a 2013 award watch list as of Monday morning, as he is watch listed for the Maxwell Award, which is given to the best player in college football.

Pachall is one of six Big 12 players to be listed on the watch list and one of three Big 12 quarterbacks. Blake Bell (Oklahoma) and David Ash (Texas) are the other two Big 12 quarterbacks on the list.

Pachall played four games for TCU last season before withdrawing from the university for the semester. In those four games, Pachall threw for 948 yards and 10 touchdowns while completing 66 percent of his pass attempts.