Jacob Savage, second from right, with Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines on a visit with the Hoosiers.
Paul Hornung lettered four years in football, basketball and baseball at Flaget High School in Louisville. He won the Heisman Trophy at Notre Dame and won four NFL titles, including the first Super Bowl, and became the first Heisman Trophy winner ever to also be named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
Hornung was a halfback, quarterback, and kicker who also played basketball at Notre Dame.
Each year the Louisville Quarterback Club honors the state’s top high school football player with the Paul Hornung Award and this year’s winner is Ryle linebacker/running back Jacob Savage, an Indiana commit who will be honored Dec. 10 at Wildwood Country Club in Louisville.
The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Savage has had over 100 tackles the last three years — he led Class 6A in tackles in 2023 as a sophomore — and rushed for over 1,000 yards the last two seasons.
In 33 career games, he has rushed for 2,814 yards and 54 touchdowns and has fumbled only twice in 412 carries. Savage has also caught 26 passes for 749 yards and 11 more scores along with throwing for one touchdown. On defense, 506 tackles, including 242 solo stops, 34 tackles for loss and six sacks.
He’s been a top 10 rusher in the state all season and is second in the state in scoring with 174 points and 24 touchdowns. He’s also in the top 15 tackles state-wide.
Savage helped Ryle reach the Class 6A state championship game in 2024 and Ryle will play South Warren in the Class 6A semifinals Friday in Bowling Green.
Ryle coach Mike Engler has enjoyed watching the progress Savage, who has a 4.0 grade-point average, has made during his high school career.
“Jacob has not only grown as a football player, but also as a leader and student of the game,” the Ryle coach said. “The one thing that stands out is the fire and enthusiasm he has in everything he does. He leads by example and is relentless as a player and student.”
The fire was on display in Ryle’s dramatic 28-27 overtime win over Frederick Douglass when Savage hurt his knee early in the second half.
“He wanted to go back in but it was mine and our team doctor’s and trainer’s call to hold him out because we didn’t know the extent of the injury. He has too big a future to risk,” Engler said. “I think there is a possibility he will play Friday (at South Warren). He will be day to day but we know he will do the things he needs to do to hopefully get back.”
Savage was voted team captain the last two seasons, something Engler said does not happen often at Ryle.
“He is a positive role model for all the community and at Ryle High School. When all is said and done, Jacob will go down as one of the best linebackers and running backs to ever play at Ryle,” Engler said. “Indiana is getting more than a player. They are getting a fantastic citizen and person.”
The Paul Hornung Award was started in 1993 by the Louisville Quarterback Club with the support of Hornung, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Some past winners of the award are Shaun Alexander (1993), Tim Couch (1995), Dennis Johnson (1997), Michael Bush (2001/2002), Brian Brohm (2002/2003), Damien Harris (2014), and Rondale Moore (2017). The past six winners have been Beau Allen (2019), Jager Burton (2020), Dane Key (2021), Ty Bryant (2022), Cutter Boley (2023) and Montavin Quisenberry (2024).
2 Responses
It figures Stoops wouldn't sign this kid. It's the first time in 7 years the winner hasn't signed with Kentucky. We currently have 4 winners of the award on the team. Indianas coach is probably the best coach in college football. He's not like Kiffin who constantly wants news cameras following him around. What makes Indiana's coach so great is they too don't have the budget and money that Ohio State and Michigan and the big boys in the conference have. So what does Indiana's coach do? He wins the state first. Something Stoops did. Then he put a high powered offense on the field. Something that is very important if you don't have the personnel as other teams. He went after speed at receiver. Which you need to get open and went after the most accurate QB he could find. They run a ton of short routes which sets up the longer routes. I would hire Indiana's coach over any the coach in college football. He's better than Georgias coach who literally has 5* guys on first team and second team. Then the lower 4* guys on the third team. We have lower 4* guys starting and backups but it's also blended with 3* players and some 2* guys. They have practice players that are better than our second and third string guys. Another thing
I WANT EVERYONE TO THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A SECOND. IF THE FOOTBALL TEAM HAS 11 MILLION TO SPEND AND THE BASKETBALL HAS 11 MILLION TO SPEND WHICH TEAM SHOULD BE BETTER? IF TEXAS AND GEORGIA SPEND 25 MILLION ON A ROSTER AND WE SPEND 11 MILLION WHO WILL HAVE RHE BETTER TEAM? CAN WE EVEN COMPETE ANYMORE IN THE SEC? TEAMS LIKE GEOEGIA DONT CARE ABOUT BASKETBALL
FOOTBALL IS KING. FOOTBALL MAKES ENOUGH MONEY FOR EVERY TEAM AT THE SCHOOL. FOOTBALL MAKES WAY MORE THAN BASKETBALL AND THIS YEAR PROVES THE MORE YOU SPEND ON UOUR ROSTER THE MORE ENTITLED THE PLAYERS ARE. DO YOU THINK A TEENAGER OR 20-22 YEAR OLD MILLIONAIRE IS AS MOTIVATED AS A 20 YEAR OLD KID TRYING TO MAKE IT TO THE NFL TO GET PAID? NO WAY. THE PORTAL AND NIL HAS RUINED COLLEGE SPORTS.I WOULDNT BE SURPRISED IF A SMALLER TEAM WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN BASKETBALL. MAYBE A GONZAGA OR CREIGHTON TYPE TEAM
THESE KIDS AT THESE BIG 5 SCHOOLS ARE SISSYS.
Indiana got a winner. I would love to have there coach. We need to fire Bush Hamden and get someone who runs a spread offense. We don't have the personnel to go heads up with the big guns in the sec. We need to spread the field out to give our receivers more one on one situations..it's up to them to win the ball. I love Indiana's offense. I love Vanderbilts offense. It doesn't take a ton of money to create a good offense. It takes more money to create a great defense. My football coach used to take the most athletic player and put him at QB. The next best 11 athletes played defense. Then he figured everything out from there.
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