Chambana Sun

Illinois senior Lane Hansen has been named to the preseason watch list for the Patrick Mannelly Award, which honors the top long snapper in NCAA Division I FBS. Hansen is entering his fourth season as the starting long snapper for the Fighting Illini and is one of 30 players recognized on this year’s list.

The Patrick Mannelly Long Snapper Award was established in 2019 to recognize the contributions of long snappers, a position that often receives little attention despite its importance. The award also supports Bernie's Book Bank, a non-profit organization based in Lake Bluff, Illinois.

Recent recipients of the award include Rocco Underwood from Florida (2024), Joe Shimko from NC State (2023), and Chris Stoll from Penn State (2022).

Hansen’s career at Illinois includes being named an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention in 2024 and earning Academic All-Big Ten honors three times from 2022 through 2024. He has started 35 consecutive games at long snapper since Week 5 of the 2022 season. During that time, he has contributed to Illinois converting over 95 percent of point-after-touchdown attempts and more than 83 percent of field goals, with only one blocked punt out of a total of 97 attempts across three seasons.

Other Illinois football players have also appeared on various national award watch lists as of August 4: Luke Altmyer for both the Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year; Hank Beatty for the Paul Hornung Award; J.C. Davis for the Outland Trophy; Gabe Jacas for both the Lott IMPACT Trophy and Bronko Nagurski Trophy; Kenenna Odeluga for the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy; and Xavier Scott for both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Paycom Jim Thorpe Award.