PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Southern Conference placed two quarterbacks on the 2015 STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year Watch List. Chattanooga senior quarterback Jacob Huesman and Western Carolina senior signal-caller Troy Mitchell were both named to the preseason list.
Returning finalists include 2014 national player of the year John Robertson of Villanova. Also listed were quarterbacks Vad Lee of James Madison, Dakota Prukop of Montana State and Alex Ross of Coastal Carolina.
Also returning to the list from 2014 are running backs Marshaun Coprich of Illinois State, Khairi Dickson of Saint Francis, Chase Edmonds of Fordham, Connor Kacsor of Dayton, Dy'Shawn Mobley of Eastern Kentucky and Herb Walker Jr. of Morgan State, as well as Eastern Washington wide receiver Cooper Kupp.
Huesman is the two-time defending Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year. He is a preseason All-American after totaling a school record 37 touchdowns in 2014. He threw for 23 and ran for 14, while leading the Mocs to its first appearance in the FCS Playoffs since 1984.
Huesman is one of five Mocs named to the Player of the Year Watch List in recent memory, including Chris Sanders (2000), Cos DeMatteo (2001), Alonzo Nix (2004) and B.J. Coleman (2011). He is the first two earn a spot on the list in back-to-back seasons.
A second team All-Southern Conference selection by both the coaches and media a year ago, Mitchell broke WCU’s 14-year old school benchmark for total yards in a season with 3,096 yards of total offense in 2014 including 2,541 yards passing and 555 yards rushing. He was also responsible for 26 touchdowns a year ago – 20 passing and six rushing – setting a school single-season record.
A product of Houston, Texas, Mitchell enters his senior campaign having amassed 6,565 yards of total offense and is just 267 yards behind WCU’s all-time career leader, Lonnie Galloway (1990-93) who finished with 6,832 yards of total offense. Mitchell is also closing in on WCU’s passing records, entering the season just 1,143 passing yards and seven passing TDs shy of WCU’s all-time leader in both categories, Mike Pusey (1977-79).
All told, Mitchell already holds WCU’s record for the most career touchdown responsibilities with 52 – 36 career TD passes and 16 career rushing scores.
The 2015 watch list also featured quarterbacks John Gibbs Jr. of Alcorn State, Tre Roberson of Illinois State, Carson Wentz of North Dakota State and Dalyn Williams of Dartmouth; running backs Tarik Cohen of North Carolina A&T, Johnta Hebert of Prairie View A&M and Darius Victor of Towson; and wide receivers Ed Eagan of Northwestern State and Darrin Peterson of Liberty.
It's a watch list that featured the Most Outstanding Player of the 2014 FCS championship game (Wentz, who led North Dakota State to a record fourth straight title) and the 2014 FCS leaders in rushing yards (Coprich, 2,274), rushing yards per game (Dickson, 155.3), all-purpose yards per game (Hebert, 225.3) and points (Coprich, 162) as well as the top five finishers in passing efficiency, led by Robertson at 181.3.
The STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year Watch List can undergo revision during the 2015 season. A national panel of over 150 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries will vote on the winner following the regular season.