UConn’s star wide receiver Skyler Bell was named one of 13 semifinalists for the 2025 Biletnikoff Award, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation announced Monday.
Putting together one of, if not the best season for a pass-catcher in UConn history, Bell leads in two of the three receiving triple crown categories as the FBS leader in receptions (93) and receiving touchdowns (13). He is second in receiving yards, only two yards behind San Jose State’s Danny Scudero, who ranks first in the nation with 1,155 yards and has two games left to play to Bell’s one.
The Biletnikoff Award, won last year by Colorado’s Travis Hunter, is given annually to the nation’s top receiver.
Bell was joined on the list of semifinalists by: Chris Bell (Louisville), Germie Bernard of (Alabama), Chris Brazzell II (Tennessee), Omar Cooper Jr. (Indiana), Mario Carver (Texas A&M), Makai Lemon (USC), Eric McAlister (TCU), Duce Robinson (Florida State), Elijah Sarratt (Indiana), Danny Scudero (San Jose State), and Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate (Ohio State).
A redshirt senior from the Bronx, N.Y., Bell returned to UConn to be a star and has done that and more as the top option for quarterback Joe Fagnano. He has six games this season with at least 100 yards, four games with at least 10 catches and four games with multiple receiving touchdowns. He posted a career-high 158 yards receiving in UConn’s overtime loss at Rice and tied his own school record with three touchdown grabs against UAB.
His 13 touchdowns this season is a new program single-season record, surpassing the previous mark set by Carl Bond, who had 11 in 1998. Bell became the 11th player in school history to hit 1,000 yards receiving in a season and is 201 yards away from setting a new UConn school record, which is currently held at 1,354 by Mark Didio in 1991. His 93 catches are seven away from tying the school mark (Noel Thomas, 2016) and making him just the second Husky all-time to record 100 receptions in a season.
UConn, 8-3, will travel to Florida Atlantic for its regular season finale, a 3 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.