Chuba runs off with Jon Cornish Trophy
Running back Chuba Hubbard of the Oklahoma State Cowboys captured the Jon Cornish Trophy on Tuesday as top Canadian in the NCAA football ranks.
The six-foot-one, 207-pound native of Sherwood Park, Alta., received 19 of 20 available votes. Chase Claypool of Abbotsford, B.C., a receiver with Notre Dame, earned the other ballot to finish second.
The honour is named after Jon Cornish of New Westminster, B.C., a former Calgary Stampeders running back who played collegiately at the University of Kansas.
The award was supposed to be presented at the Canadian Football Hall of Fame at Tim Hortons Field last month, but the pandemic postponed it until it was announced online Wednesday.
The Jon Cornish Trophy stays permanently at the hall of fame.
The other finalists in the strong class included Oklahoma defensive lineman Neville Gallimore of Ottawa, Ohio quarterback Nathan Rourke of Oakville, who won the award the previous two years, and Oklahoma State linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga of Calgary.
Claypool and Gallimore were both selected in last month’s National Football League draft. Claypool went in the second round to the Pittsburgh Steelers while Gallimore was a third-round selection of the Dallas Cowboys.
Rourke was a second-round selection of the British Columbia Lions in the Canadian Football League draft April 30.
Hubbard, a redshirt freshman, was the NCAA’s rushing leader last season with 2,094 yards and 21 touchdowns, averaging a whopping 161.1 yards per game. He added 23 catches for 198 yards.
He was named a unanimous allAmerican selection and the Big 12’s offensive player of the year.
Hubbard was a finalist for both the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and Doak Walker Award (the NCAA’s top running back). He was eighth in voting for the Heisman Trophy, presented annually to American university football’s top player.
He was the only Big 12 player to average over 100 rushing yards per game this season. And his 2,094 rushing yards were the secondmost in school history behind Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, who galloped for 2,850 yards for the Cowboys in winning the 1988 Heisman.
“I think everyone’s dream in Canada who plays football is to go to the NCAA and play football or some type of sport,” Hubbard said. “It shows that Canadians are just as talented, they work just as hard.
“Nathan, Neville, all of those guys are completely talented, crazy hard-working guys. Claypool is an MVP. Just to see what those guys are doing for Canada is awesome. It’s special to see Canadians doing great things. A lot of people say, ‘Canadians can’t do this, Canadians can’t do this, it’s only Americans.’ So just to see the Canadians play at the highest level and do great things is special. What we’re all doing, I think, is trying to open up a gateway from Canada to the States to show that Canadians kids, whether it’s football, track, really whatever in life, you can achieve it with hard work.”
Hubbard will return to Oklahoma State this fall for his junior season. However, questions remain regarding when — or if — the campaign will begin due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That’s the hardest thing for everyone right now,” he said. “When is it going to start? It would be nice to have a schedule, but you just have to stay ready.”