Football’s Muhammad, Taaffe land on Jim Thorpe Award watch record

By: Grace Tafolla

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Football junior Malik Muhammad and senior Michael Taaffe have been acknowledged on the preseason watch record for the 2025 Jim Thorpe Award, the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame (OSHOF) and Jim Thorpe Association introduced Wednesday. The award is given yearly to one of the best defensive again in school soccer primarily based on efficiency on the sphere, athletic potential and character.

It marks the primary time for both incomes a spot on the Thorpe Award watch record. Former Longhorn DB Jahdae Barron was the 2024 winner of the Jim Thorpe Award, changing into the third Texas soccer participant in program historical past to win the award. He joined Michael Huff (2005) and Aaron Ross (2006), who gained the award in back-to-back years. Texas is tied with LSU and Oklahoma for essentially the most all-time Thorpe Award winners with three apiece.

Muhammad, a preseason Second-Team All-SEC choice, is a third-year defensive again who has performed in 30 video games with 18 begins, together with 16 begins in 2024. The DeSoto, Texas, product recorded 36 whole stops (32 solo), eight move break-ups and a deal with for loss throughout his sophomore season. In Texas’ SEC opener in opposition to Mississippi State on Sept. 28, he notched three solo tackles and a deal with for a loss. He tallied a career-high 5 solo stops within the CFP First Round vs. Clemson on Dec. 21 adopted by a stellar efficiency in opposition to Arizona State within the CFP Quarterfinal on the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 1, gathering three tackles (two solo) and two move break-ups. His eight move break-ups ranked third on the group behind Barron’s 11 and Taaffe’s 10.

Taaffe, a preseason First-Team All-SEC honoree, has additionally been positioned on preseason watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Lott IMPACT Trophy. He returns to the UT protection after garnering second-team All-America recognition from the Associated Press in 2024. An Austin, Texas native and former walk-on, Taaffe began all 16 video games final season, rating second on the group in whole tackles (78), interceptions (2) and move break-ups (10). He was the one Longhorn to file an interception and a pressured fumble in the identical sport final season after doing so in Texas’ win at No. 25/25 Vanderbilt on Oct. 26, incomes the Burlsworth’s Trophy National Player of the Week and the SEC’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week. Taaffe pressured two turnovers to go together with six tackles and a move break-up in opposition to the Commodores. In the CFP Quarterfinal on the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl vs. Arizona State, Taaffe logged a career-high 10 tackles (six solo) and two move break-ups to assist ship Texas to its second-consecutive CFP semifinal. Taaffe is a fifth-year defensive again who has performed in 43 video games with 26 begins.

Semifinalists for the award shall be introduced on Tuesday, Oct. 28, and finalists shall be unveiled on Nov. 25. The winner shall be introduced on The Home Depot College Football Awards present on Dec. 12 on ESPN.

Texas opens the season on the street at Ohio State at 11 a.m. CT Saturday, Aug. 30, inside Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The sport will broadcast as a part of FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff, and ESPN’s College GameDay will broadcast reside from the Ohio State University campus. College GameDay will air for 3 hours from 8-11 a.m. CT, hosted by Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard, Pat McAffee, Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit and different ESPN personalities. It would be the remaining present for longtime ESPN character Lee Corso as he’s set to retire following Week 1 of the 2025 season.