BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Eight Patriot League football student-athletes and one head coach have been named among the finalists for five annual Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) major awards presented by Stats Perform.
Bucknell senior quarterback Ralph Rucker IV, the Patriot League Football Offensive Player of the Year, and Lafayette junior running back Jamar Curtis are among the 35 finalists for the 2024 Walter Payton Award, which is presented to the national offensive player of the year in Division I FCS college football.
Walter Payton Award Release
Three Patriot League football student-athletes were among the 35 finalists for the 2024 Buck Buchanan Award, which celebrates its 30th anniversary of recognizing the FCS’s national defensive player of the year. Fordham senior defensive lineman Matt Jaworski, the Patriot League Football Defensive Player of the Year, along with Lehigh graduate student linebacker Mike DeNucci and Lafayette senior defensive back Saiku White represent the League among the finalists.
Buck Buchanan Award Release
Bucknell freshman running back Tariq Thomas and Lehigh first-year running back Jaden Green represented the Patriot League among the 25 finalists for the 2024 Jerry Rice Award. The Jerry Rice Award, in its 14th season, honors the FCS’s national freshman player of the year.
Jerry Rice Award Release
Lehigh second-year head coach Kevin Cahill was listed among the 15 finalists for the 2024 Eddie Robinson Award, presented annually to the FCS national coach of the Year. Cahill was named the Patriot League Football Dick Biddle Coach of the Year after leading the Mountain Hawks to a six-win improvement from last season in addition to claiming the program’s 13th League title and a bid to the FCS Playoffs.
Eddie Robinson Award Release
Fordham senior linebacker James Conway is one of 13 finalists for the 2024 Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award. The Doris Robinson Award is in its 10th season, celebrating the FCS’s national scholar-athlete of the year.
Doris Robinson Award Release
The winners will be selected by a national voting panel and announced at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Banquet on Jan. 4 in Frisco, Texas.
ABOUT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
The Patriot League is in its fourth decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League’s athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes who are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.