Former Penn State, Pitt stars named to College Hall of Fame ballot

Former Penn State football stars Paul Posluszny, Ki-Jana Carter and D.J. Dozier and ex-Pitt quarterback Matt Cavanaugh and running back Craig “Ironhead” Heyward have joined a group of 218 coaches and players whose names have been placed on the ballot for the National Football Foundation’s College Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023.

Carter, Dozier and Posluszny have a chance to join 20 former Nittany Lions players, including 2022 inductee LaVar Arrington, as members of the Hall of Fame. Five Penn State coaches are also past inductees.

Cavanaugh and Heyward could become the 25th and 26th Pitt players or coach inducted.

Also on the ballot is former Penn State player Glenn Killinger, who is among the candidates for the divisional coach Class of 2023. Killinger was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1966.

Penn State wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield made the ballot as a player after he was a consensus All-American wide receiver at Purdue with an NCAA-record 325 receptions.

Posluszny, a graduate of Hopewell High School, was a first-team All-American outside linebacker at Penn State in 2005 and 2006. He is a two-time winner of the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented to the nation’s top defensive player. In 2005, he won the Butkus Award, presented to the nation’s top linebacker.

Carter, a native of Westerville, Ohio, was a first-team All-American running back in 1994 when he was fourth nationally in rushing (139.9 yards per game), second in scoring (10.8 points) and fifth in all-purpose yardage (158.4). He also averaged 7.8 yards per carry, tops among the nation’s Top 25 rushers.

Dozier came from Virginia Beach, Va., and earned first-team All-America honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation in 1986. Dozier is the only Nittany Lion to lead the team in rushing four consecutive seasons (1983-86). He is fifth on PSU’s all-time rushing yardage list with 3,227 yards.

Pitt’s Matt Cavanaugh is once again on the ballot for the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame voting

» 1977 First Team All-American
» National Champion QB
» MVP of Sugar Bowl, Gator Bowl#H2P » @CFBHall pic.twitter.com/Nx6d5bk1A4

— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) June 6, 2022

Cavanaugh was a first-team All-American in 1977, MVP of the Sugar Bowl and Gator Bowl and led Pitt to its most recent national championship in 1976.

Also named on the ballot are: West Virginia defensive back Aaron Beasley, IUP quarterback Lynn Hieber, Clarion tight end Gary McCauley, Carnegie Mellon linebacker Kenneth Murawski, Westminster running back Brad Tokar and coaches George Mihalik of Slippery Rock and Jim Carlen of West Virginia.

Members of the 2023 class will be revealed early next year.