IRVING, Texas – Two members of the University of South Alabama football program — Chason Milner and Gavin Patterson — were included on the 2019 Hampshire Honor Society list announced by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
It marks the second time in as many years that multiple Jaguars have been honored by the organization after Dominic Esposito and Harrison Louden were recognized last spring. A total of six members of the program have now accomplished the feat, with Jesse Kelley (2015) and Roman Buchanan (2017) the other honorees.
Qualifications for the NFF Hampshire Honor Society include that individuals must be a starter or a significant contributor in their final year of eligibility (or a senior who has declared for the NFL Draft) at an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III or an NAIA college or university; record a cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 or higher throughout the entire course of undergraduate study; and meet all NCAA/NAIA-mandated progress toward degree requirements.
An all-time high of 1,643 players from a record 424 schools qualified for membership in the society's 13th year.
In his final season at the collegiate level, Milner set career highs with 29 total stops, seven tackles for loss and 4½ sacks, adding a forced fumble, a pass defensed and three quarterback hurries. The Spanish Fort, Ala. native — who was among the top 10 in the Sun Belt Conference in sacks per game in 2018 — posted a career-high-tying six tackles, with three of those behind the line including two sacks, and a forced fumble to help the Jaguars earn a 41-31 league victory over Texas State the opening month of the season, adding four stops against rival Troy in the "Battle For The Belt" and three at Memphis. Milner received his undergraduate degree from South in business management last May and was working toward a sports management master's degree during his senior campaign.
Patterson, who hails from Bourbonnais, Ill., became just the second individual in program history to surpass 200 points scored, ending his career with 204 after making 35-of-48 field goals and a school-record 99-of-104 extra-point attempts. He was second on the team in 2018 with 58 points after leading USA in the category each of the previous two years, including being named first-team all-Sun Belt as a junior after hitting 16-of-19 field goals on the way to posting 74 points. An exercise science major, last fall Patterson was chosen to the Google Cloud Academic All-District® Football Team, a semifinalist for the 2018 William V. Campbell Trophy® and was also one of two members of the program to be named a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award®.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give
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