Southern Arkansas senior wide receiver is one of 37 student-athletes from across the nation who have been nominated for the 2018 Harlon Hill Trophy as the Division II College Football Player of the Year.
Higgins was one of three unanimous All-GAC first team selections this season and rightfully so.
He caught 66 passes for 1,083 yards and nine touchdowns in a season that saw the Searcy native rewrite the SAU record books.
Higgins’ first reception against Ouachita gave him the school record for most receptions in a career, passing a record set last year by Jonathan Weisheit.
His 76 yards in the Muleriders game at Arkansas-Monticello saw him pass SAU Hall of Famer Nik Lewis for most receiving yards in a career.
Higgins’ biggest game of the season came against Southwestern Oklahoma, where he hauled in 13 receptions for 237 yards and a pair of touchdowns on his way to earning GAC Offensive Player of the Week honors as well as D2Football.com National Offensive Player of the Week.
The receiver ranks second in the conference in receptions, and is first in receiving yards, besting second place on the list by 314 yards, as well as top of the leaderboard in all-purpose yards, averaging 116.1 yards per game.
Entering the final game of his collegiate career, he is just the second Mulerider to ever record a 1,000 yard receiving campaign and currently has 2,920 yards receiving on 191 receptions with 30 touchdowns.
He ranks fifth all-time in program history with 3,607 all-purpose yards. Renner’s favorite target in 2018, Higgins hauled in 22 catches of 25 or more yards with seven of those going for six points. He added three 25-plus yard plays on kickoff return.
Regarding the Harlon HIll Trophy, the sports information directors at the 166 NCAA Division II football-playing institutions nominate and vote on the award.
The 37 initial candidates will be placed on regional ballots and the top two players from each of the four NCAA regions will advance to the national ballot when regional voting concludes on Monday.
The winner of the 2018 award will be announced on Friday, Dec. 14 and the winner will be honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club awards banquet on January 10, 2019.
The sports information directors at their respective schools initially nominate candidates.
The SIDs in those Super Regions vote for their top five candidates. The winner is then determined in a nation-wide vote of the Division II sports information directors.
The group of 37 candidates includes 13 quarterbacks, nine running backs, eight wide receivers, three defensive ends, three linebackers and one defensive back.
There list features 21 seniors, 10 juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen. One nominee - Bowie State’s Amir Hall, in 2017 - previously advanced to the finalist stage.
The Hill Trophy is named for the late Harlon Hill - the former University of North Alabama standout - who excelled with the Lions from 1950-53 before going on to fame in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears.