Per GoBearcats:
University of Cincinnati safety James Wiggins (Miami, Florida/South Dade) was named to the watch list for the 2020 Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) in association with The Associated Press (AP) and the Fiesta Bowl Organization announced Tuesday.
He has helped lead UC defense which currently leads the American in total defense, passing defense, rushing defense and scoring defense. The Bearcats rank fifth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 15.0 ppg. UC is second in pass efficiency defense (94.74) and 11th in total defense (308.1 ypg).
Individually, Wiggins has 31 tackles, a sack and TFL along with seven passes defended and an interception. He has accepted an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl, is also on the watch lists for the Nagurski Trophy and Thorpe Award and was named to Bruce Feldman’s College Football Freaks list for the third straight year.
Wiggins missed the 2019 season after suffering an injury two days before the Bearcats’ opening game against UCLA. The three-time nominee to Bruce Feldman’s College Football Freaks list was a Second-Team All-AAC honoree in 2018 after tallying 54 tackles and four game-changing interceptions while showing a big-play flair in the secondary. His first career interception was in the second quarter of the opener at UCLA, which led to a Warren TD, giving UC a lead it would not relinquish. Interception No. 2 came in the waning minutes against Ohio when he jumped a route on the goal line to end the Bobcats scoring threat and seal the win for UC. Wiggins’ third interception came in overtime at SMU, an 86-yard interception return for a TD which gave UC its first extra-period win since 2008. The 86-yard run back was the fourth longest in school history and longest since current UC CB coach Mike Mickens had a 79-yard INT return for a TD against USF in 2007. His final interception of the year came late in the fourth quarter of the Military Bowl when he tracked down and hauled in a Hokies pass to seal UC’s first bowl win since 2012.
Since 2018, a panel of writers, editors and sports information directors from CoSIDA, AP and Touchdown Illustrated have recognized 30 college football student-athletes each season from all divisions of college football for overcoming injury or illness, by sharing their remarkable comeback stories. At the conclusion of each season, three college football student-athletes were honored as Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award winners during an on-field presentation at the PlayStation® Fiesta Bowl.
This season, two watch lists of Division 1 football student-athletes playing in the fall are being issued before the award semi-finalists are announced in mid-December. The three winners will be announced timed with the 2020-21 PlayStation® Fiesta Bowl, held on January 2, 2021.
For more information, visit www.Comeback-Player.com.
No. 7 Cincinnati (8-0, 5-0 AAC) has clinched a spot in the 2020 American Football Championship on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and will close out the regular season on Saturday, Dec. 12 at Tulsa.
