Northern Illinois University football player Kyle Pugh was named a semifinalist for the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America in association with The Associated Press and the Fiesta Bowl organization December 14.
Pugh, who played in five games season, started four, and has battled injuries throughout his career, but has fought through them to return to the field each time.
After playing in the final 10 games as a redshirt-freshmen, Pugh earned a spot as the Huskies’ starting middle linebacker in 2017. He made an immediate impact, by making a career-high 17 stops and an interception in the season-opener against Boston College. Unfortunately for Pugh and the Huskies, he ruptured a bicep in the fourth game of the season, to end his season.
The Chicago Heights native was dealt another blow in the 2018 season-opener when he dislocated his shoulder. One injury away from ending his season, Pugh stayed healthy the rest of the year, to help Northern Illinois to its seventh Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship with a 30-29 come-from-behind victory against Buffalo.
Pugh, a product of Bloom Township High School, had surgery to repair the dislocated shoulder in the offseason and was ready to go for the 2019 campaign, however, Pugh was hit with another setback when he sustained another shoulder in the second game of the season.
Cleared for Spring ball this year, Pugh has not looked back. The Huskie senior earned third-team all-MAC honors, finished the campaign with 36 tackles, tied for second on the team, and three-and-a-half tackles for loss with a sack-and-a-half to his credit.
One of 14 semifinalists, Pugh is one of two players from the Mid-American Conference named a semifinalist. He is joined by Buffalo punter Evan Finegan. The three winners for the award will be selected by a vote of the Associated Press college football writers and will be announced Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021.
— Northern Illinois University