According to 3downnation.com, University of Illinois Fighting Illini running back Chase Brown of London, Ontario won the 2022 Jon Cornish Trophy on Wednesday. The award is presented to the top Canadian football player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association each year.
Brown was second in College Football in rushing yards in 2021 with 1643. He was only behind University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers running back DeWayne McBride of Starke, Florida, who had 1713 yards.
In 2022, Brown had 1643 yards on 328 attempts and 10 rushing touchdowns. He also had 27 catches for 240 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Brown’s best game in 2022 from a rushing standpoint, actually came in a Fighting Illini loss. It came on September 2, in a 23-20 Fighting Illini loss to the University of Indiana Hoosiers, as Brown had 199 yards.
As a team in 2022, the Fighting Illini had a record of eight wins and four losses. At the beginning of next year, the Fighting Illini will play in the Outback Bowl against the Mississippi State Bulldogs from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Like the Fighting Illini, the Bulldogs had a record of eight wins and four losses this season.
Brown is the second running back to win the Jon Cornish Trophy. The first was Carolina Panthers Chuba Hubbard of Edmonton, Alberta, who won the award while with Oklahoma State in 2019.
