93 Players Considered for College Football’s Top Community Service Award
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. — Oct. 21, 2015 — The Wuerffel Trophy announces its list of nominees with a record number of 93 players from college football’s Football Bowl Subdivision being considered for the 2015 award.
The Wuerffel Trophy, known as “College Football’s Premier Award for Community Service,” is presented annually by the All Sports Association in Fort Walton Beach. Named after 1996 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel, from the University of Florida, the Wuerffel Trophy is awarded to the FBS player who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.
“I’m so encouraged to see how many outstanding nominations we’ve received for the 2015 Wuerffel Trophy,” said Wuerffel. “Our country is filled with high quality, high character young men playing football, and our mission is to shine the spotlight on them and all the great work they do in their communities.”
The Atlantic Coast conference and Southeastern conference led all conferences nominating 13 players each. The Big Ten, Big 12, American Athletic and Sun Belt conferences nominated nine players each, the Pacific-12 nominated eight players, Conference USA, Mountain West and Mid-American had seven nominations each, and all three Independent universities submitted nominations. All FBS conferences are represented on the 2015 Wuerffel Trophy nominee list.
Voting for the Wuerffel Trophy is performed by a National Selection Committee that includes college football television and print media, industry notables, former head coaches and prior Wuerffel Trophy recipients.
The 2015 Wuerffel Trophy Nominees, listed alphabetically by university:
Doug Middleton, Appalachian State University, senior, defensive back
Michael Bercovici, Arizona State University, senior, quarterback
Fredi Knighten, Arkansas State University, senior, quarterback
Jonathan Wallace, Auburn University, senior, wide receiver
Jacob Richard, Ball State University, senior, center
Spencer Drango, Baylor University, senior, offensive line
Shane Williams-Rhodes, Boise State University, senior, wide receiver
Justin Simmons, Boston College, senior, defensive back
Christian Piazza, Bowling Green State University, senior, offensive line
Bronson Kaufusi, Brigham Young University, senior, defensive line
Deshaun Watson, Clemson University, sophomore, quarterback
Trent Matthews, Colorado State University, senior, defensive back
Ross Martin, Duke University, senior, kicker
Dylan Mulder, Eastern Michigan University, senior, kicker
Jaquez Johnson, Florida Atlantic University, senior, quarterback
Jonnu Smith, Florida International University, junior, tight end
Cason Beatty, Florida State University, senior, punter
Justin Northern, Fresno State University, senior, offensive line
Matt Dobson, Georgia Southern University, senior, safety
Wil Lutz, Georgia State University, senior, kicker
KeShun Freeman, Georgia Tech University, sophomore, defensive end
Nate Sudfeld, Indiana University, senior, quarterback
Levi Peters, Iowa State University, junior, linebacker
Dante Barnett, Kansas State University, senior, defensive back
Jordan Italiano, Kent State University, senior, defensive back
Jamie Keehn, Louisiana State University, senior, punter
Tyler Williams, Marshall University, senior, punter
Jordan Parker, Middle Tennessee State University, senior, running back
Dak Prescott, Mississippi State University, senior, quarterback
Andy Cunningham, New Mexico State University, senior, offensive line
Tony Adams, North Carolina State University, sophomore, offensive line
Joshua Perry, Ohio State University, senior, linebacker
J.W. Walsh, Oklahoma State University, senior, quarterback
Tyler Compton, Old Dominion University, junior, offensive line
Ben Kline, Pennsylvania State University, senior, linebacker
David Blough, Purdue University, freshman, quarterback
James Farrimond, Rice University, senior, punter
Quentin Gause, Rutgers University, senior, linebacker
Cameron Smith, Southern Methodist University, senior, defensive line
Dallas Lloyd, Stanford University, senior, defensive back
Riley Dixon, Syracuse University, senior, punter
Hershey Walton, Temple University, senior, defensive line
Conner McQueen, Texas A&M University, junior, special teams/quarterback
Joey Hunt, Texas Christian University, senior, center
Justis Nelson, Texas Tech University, junior, defensive back
Tommy Blevins, Troy University, senior, tight end
Marshall Wadleigh, Tulane University, junior, running back
Kyle Ricciardi, United States Military Academy, senior, linebacker
Myer Krah, United States Naval Academy, senior, linebacker
Reggie Ragland, University of Alabama, senior, linebacker
Casey Skowron, University of Arizona, senior, kicker
Brooks Ellis, University of Arkansas, junior, linebacker
Stefan McClure, University of California, senior, defensive back
Jake Brendel, University of California Los Angeles, senior, center
Joey Grant, University of Central Florida, senior, center
Andras Knappe, University of Connecticut, junior, offensive line
Mark Herndon, University of Florida, senior, running back
Malcolm Mitchell, University of Georgia, senior, wide receiver
Lance Williams, University of Hawaii, senior, linebacker
Adrian McDonald, University of Houston, senior, defensive back
Joe Spencer, University of Illinois, junior, center
Jordan Lomax, University of Iowa, senior, defensive back
Jordan Shelley-Smith, University of Kansas, junior, offensive line
Landon Foster, University of Kentucky, senior, punter
Evan Tatford, University of Louisiana-Lafayette, senior, tight end
James Burgess, University of Louisville, senior, linebacker
Andrew Zeller, University of Maryland, senior, offensive line
Blake Frohnapfel, University of Massachusetts, senior, quarterback
Wynton McManis, University of Memphis, senior, linebacker
Dallas Crawford, University of Miami, senior, defensive back
Peter Mortell, University of Minnesota, senior, punter
Evan Engram, University of Mississippi, junior, tight end
Evan Boehm, University of Missouri, senior, offensive line
Don Jackson, University of Nevada, senior, running back
Garrett Adcock, University of New Mexico, junior, offensive line
Shakeel Rashad, University of North Carolina, senior, linebacker
Corey Robinson, University of Notre Dame, junior, wide receiver
Ty Darlington, University of Oklahoma, senior, offensive line
Adam Bisnowaty, University of Pittsburgh, junior, offensive line
Aleem Sunanon, University of South Alabama, junior, kicker
Cody Kessler, University of Southern California, senior, quarterback
Joshua Dobbs, University of Tennessee, junior, quarterback
Alex Zmolik, University of Toledo, senior, tight end
Michael Mudoh, University of Tulsa, senior, defensive back
Kenneth Scott, University of Utah, senior, wide receiver
Demetrious Nicholson, University of Virginia, senior, defensive back
Chuckie Keeton, Utah State University, senior, quarterback
Steven Scheu, Vanderbilt University, senior, tight end
Ryan Janvion, Wake Forest University, senior, defensive back
Jeremiah Allison, Washington State University, senior, linebacker
Terrell Chestnut, West Virginia University, senior, defensive back
Brandon Doughty, Western Kentucky University, senior, quarterback
Zach Terrell, Western Michigan University, junior, quarterback
Nominations for the Wuerffel Trophy are made by the respective university Sports Information departments and closed on Oct. 15, 2015. Semifinalists for the award will be announced on Nov. 3, 2015, and finalists announced on Nov. 24, 2015. The formal announcement of the 2015 Wuerffel Trophy recipient will be on Dec. 8, 2015, at the National Football Foundation’s press conference in New York City.
The 2015 Wuerffel Trophy winner will be interviewed at “The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show” on ESPNU and ESPN3 on Dec. 10, 2015, airing at 6 p.m. EST/5 p.m. CST, featuring interviews with award winners and finalists as they approach the new location for The Home Depot College Football Awards Show, the College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The presentation of the 2015 Wuerffel Trophy will occur at the 47th Annual All Sports Association Awards Banquet on Feb. 12, 2016, in Fort Walton Beach.
Past winners of the Wuerffel Trophy are: 2014 Deterrian Shackelford, University of Mississippi; 2013 Gabe Ikard, University of Oklahoma; 2012 Matt Barkley, University of Southern California; 2011 Barrett Jones, University of Alabama; 2010 Sam Acho, University of Texas; 2009 Tim Hiller, Western Michigan University; 2008 Tim Tebow, University of Florida; 2007 Paul Smith, University of Tulsa; 2006 Joel Penton, Ohio State University; and 2005 Rudy Niswanger, Louisiana State University.
The Wuerffel Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association, which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast more than 700 years of tradition-selection excellence. For more information, go to www.NCFAA.org. For more information on the Wuerffel Trophy, visit www.wuerffeltrophy.org.
Contact: Tom Brassell, tombrassell@wuerffeltrophy.org, 850-585-5512
