Two Ole Miss football players who are taking their talents to the next level received awards on Monday. Wide receiver Elijah Moore won the C Spire Conerly Trophy, and offensive lineman Royce Newman took the Hull Trophy.
Moore’s recognition was as the state’s most outstanding college football player, while Newman was honored as Mississippi’s best offensive lineman.
The C Spire Conerly Trophy is named after the late Charlie Conerly — the only football inductee in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame who was an All-American at a Mississippi university, an NFL rookie of the year and NFL All-Pro member and quarterbacked a team to a world championship.
Moore, a second round New York Jets pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, hauled in a school record 86 receptions for 1,193 yards and eight touchdowns during his last season in a Rebel uniform. Moore led the country in receiving yards per game (149.1) and receptions per game (10.8).
Moore finished No. 18 nationally with eight receiving touchdowns and No. 12 in all-purpose yards (158.3 ypg). He ranks No. 3 on Ole Miss’ single season record books with 1,193 receiving yards, just 127 yards shy of A.J. Brown’s 1,320 yards in 2018.
The Biletnikoff finalist concluded the 2020 season just 13 catches short of Treadwell’s career mark of 202 receptions and recorded 10-or-more receptions in seven of the eight games this season.
In the Ole Miss career season record book, Moore finished tied for third in receptions (189), No. 4 in receiving yardage (2,441) and No. 6 in receiving touchdowns (16). He’s the only Rebel in school history to surpass the 200-yard receiving mark three times in a career, all of which came in 2020 for the junior.
After garnering first team honors from Walter Camp, AFCA, the Associated Press and Sporting News, Moore became the 13th consensus All-American in Ole Miss football history and the first since Senquez Golson in 2014.
In total, the Conerly Trophy has now been awarded to an Ole Miss player nine times: Stewart Patridge (1997), Deuce McAllister (1999), Eli Manning (2001, 2003), Patrick Willis (2006), Bo Wallace (2012), Evan Engram (2016), Brown (2017) and Moore (2021).
Newman is the third Rebel to win the Hull Trophy, joining Laremy Tunsil (2014) and Fahn Cooper (2015). He started all 10 games in 2020 at right tackle for the Rebels. The redshirt senior appeared in 43 career contests for Ole Miss, including 22 consecutive starts. Newman allowed just three sacks in 847 pass blocks over the last two seasons.
The native of Nashville was part of an Ole Miss offense that ranked top 20 in the FBS in nine separate offensive categories last season, including No. 3 in total offense per game (555.5). In April, Newman was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round with the 142nd overall pick.
The awards were announced during a Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame virtual program. Ole Miss dominated the show by claiming four of the five honors up for grabs. Along with the two football awards, Devontae Shuler earned the Howell Trophy (best men’s basketball player in Mississippi) and Shakira Austin was the Gillom Trophy winner (best women’s basketball player in Mississippi).
Staff Report
