Football | 11/22/2022 4:59:00 PM

Utah Tech sophomore wide receiver Joey Hobert was announced as one of the 30 national finalists for the 2022 Walter Payton Award by Stats Perform on Tuesday. 
 
The annual Walter Payton Award, which is known as the Heisman of the NCAA Division I FCS level, is presented annually to the top offensive player of the year at the FCS subdivision. Tuesday's announcement marked the first time in Utah Tech's NCAA D-I transition that a football student-athlete has been named as a Payton Award finalist.   
 
Hobert, who on Tuesday earned First Team all-Western Athletic Conference honors, closed the 2022 season as the FCS national leader in receiving yards (1,258) and touchdown receptions (16), and is currently second in the country overall in receiving yards (114.4 ypg) and receptions (8.2 rpg) per game, all of which are new UT school single season records. 

The sophomore also broke school records and finished second in the WAC and 17^th-nationally in both all-purpose yards (1,474) and all-purpose yards/game (134.00 ypg). 
 
Hobert posted a school-record eight 100-yard receiving games, three of which came in WAC play, highlighted by a school-record tying three touchdowns and 109 yards in the Trailblazers' road win at eventual WAC champion Stephen F. Austin (10/29). The sophomore announced his presence with authority in his UT debut when he caught 11 passes for 183 yards and one TD in the season opener at current No. 2 Sacramento State (9/3). 
 
He also had 10 catches for 140 yards and two scores in Utah Tech's home finale vs. Tarleton State (11/12), and closed the year with a pair of touchdowns and 100 receiving yards last Saturday at BYU. In all, Hobert posted double digit catches in four games overall and caught at least one TD pass in 10 of Utah Tech's 11 games this season.
 
The Payton Award, which was first presented in 1987 and in its 36th season, is named for legendary running back Walter Payton, who starred at Jackson State as part of his Hall of Fame career.
 
Past Payton Award recipients include Steve McNair, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Jimmy Garoppolo, Cooper Kupp and Trey Lance, along with former Weber State quarterback Jamie Martin, who became the first and only Utah college football player to win the award in 1991. 
   
Utah Tech won three of its final four games of the season to close with a 4-7 overall record in its third D-I FCS campaign, which included a 2-2 mark and a third place WAC finish.