Entering his first season with Arizona, running back Ismhail Mahdi was named to the Paul Hornung Watch List. Mahdi played his previous two seasons at Texas State, where he was an All-American as an all-purpose player in 2023. Mahdi was also on the 2024 Hornung Watch list.
The Paul Hornung Award honors the best all-around player in college football. In two seasons at Texas State, Mahdi ran for 2,322 yards and 14 touchdowns and 44 receptions for 470 yards and another three scores.
As a true freshman In his only season playing for Football Championship Subdivision Houston Christian in 2022, Mahdi ran for 568 yards and two TDs and had 32 receptions for 333 yards and another three scores.
Mahdi was named the Hornung Award National Player of the Week during the 2023 season when he had 316 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns as Texas State won 50-36 at Southern Mississippi. Against Southern Mississippi, Madhi recorded career-highs of 89 receiving yards and 138 kick return yards.
Mahdi in motion 🏃♂️💨
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) July 31, 2025
National recognition rolling in for @ismailmahdi pic.twitter.com/QjsHS6Wn7I
Mahdi was first nationally in 2023, finishing with 2,169 all-purpose yards and one of two players to finish with over 2,000 that season. In 2024 Mahdi finished 27th nationally with 1,393 all-purpose yards. Mahdi enters his senior season with 4,405 all-purpose yards.
The Hornung Award named 46 players to their preseason watch list. Mahdi is one of eight Big XII players on the Hornung Award watch list. Weekly winners of the Hornung Award will be announced throughout the 2026 season.
Travis Hunter of Colorado won the last two Hornung Awards. NFL stars Odell Beckham Jr. at LSU and Christian McCaffrey at Stanford are among the past winners. Mahdi is projected to be the starting RB for Arizona in 2025 and should have a major role in the Arizona offense under new coordinator Seth Doege.