JACKSON, Miss., Nov. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers, who leads the SEC and is second
nationally in passing yards, and Ole
Miss quarterback Matt Corral,
a semi-finalist for Walter Camp
college football player of the year award, top a list of 10
nominees for the 2021 C Spire Conerly Trophy, which annually honors
the top college football player in the Magnolia State.
Rogers, who is coming off a record-setting six touchdown,
415-yard passing performance against Auburn, and Corral join
nominees from eight other schools vying for the coveted award,
which is named after College Football Hall of Famer Charlie Conerly, who also starred for
Ole Miss and the New York Giants.
The other nominees are Southern Miss
defensive back Malik Shorts,
Mississippi Valley State running back
Caleb Johnson, Mississippi College linebacker Jonathan Jones, Alcorn
State defensive back Juwan
Taylor, Millsaps College wide
receiver Moïse Tezzo, Belhaven University running back
Brad Foley, Jackson State quarterback Shedeur Sanders and
Delta State linebacker Marvin Terry.
The 2021 C Spire Conerly Trophy nominees, in alphabetical order
by school, include:
- Alcorn State University –
Senior defensive back Juwan
Taylor, the SWAC defensive player of the year in 2019
and product of Provine High School in Jackson, made 58 tackles and recorded one
interception for the Braves, who are 5-4 overall and 4-2 in SWAC
league play.
- Belhaven University – Senior running back
Brad Foley from Memphis led the Blazers in all-purpose play
with 1,035 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. He completed three of
his four passing attempts on the season, caught 15 passes and
scored two more touchdowns and returned two
punts. The Blazers finished with a 7-3 record, the best
single season win percentage in program history.
- Delta State University –
Redshirt senior linebacker Marvin
Terry made 45 solo and 10 assisted tackles and sacked
opposing quarterbacks 10 times. His 20 tackles for loss led the
Statesmen team. His best game was against Jackson State, when he made 11 tackles. Terry also
had four sacks in a game against Shorter.
- Jackson State University –
Freshman quarterback Shedeur Sanders, son of former NFL
great and Jackson State head coach
Deion Sanders, completed 220 of 322
passes for 2,674 yards and 25 touchdowns. His longest completion
was for 74 yards. Sanders also ran for three touchdowns with a long
run of 30 yards.
- Millsaps College – Junior
wide receiver Moïse Tezzo led the Majors and the conference
in receiving with 36 receptions for 670 yards and seven touchdowns.
Tezzo's longest catch was 63 yards and he rushed for 100 yards and
a touchdown, tallying 1,067 all-purpose yards with 223 kickoff
return yards and 69 punt return
yards, including one for a touchdown.
- Mississippi College –
Linebacker Jonathan Jones, a
graduate transfer from Southern
Mississippi, is a Charleston,
Mississippi native who led the Choctaws defense with 58 solo
tackles and 19 assisted tackles. Jones also recorded three sacks
and 4.5 tackles for loss during the season.
- Mississippi State University
– Sophomore quarterback Will
Rogers, a Brandon High
School product, has led the Bulldogs and Coach Mike Leach's "Air Raid" offense with 407
completions in 538 attempts, accounting for 3,722 yards passing and
29 touchdowns. He was named Walter
Camp offensive player of the week for his weekend
performance against Auburn.
- Mississippi Valley State –
Running back Caleb Johnson, a
Memphis native, led the Delta
Devils in rushing – averaging 4.1 yards per carry and totaling 786
yards and six touchdowns. He also caught eight passes and scored
another touchdown.
- University of Mississippi –
Redshirt junior quarterback Matt
Corral, who has received national attention as a Heisman
Trophy candidate, has led the Rebels to an 8-2 record and completed
206 of 309 passes for 2,774 yards and 17 touchdowns. Corral is the
team's third leading rusher with 523 yards and 10 touchdowns.
- University of Southern
Mississippi – Redshirt sophomore defensive back
Malik Shorts, a Bassfield native, leads the Golden Eagles in
tackles with 81, including 41 solo tackles, two tackles for a loss
and two interceptions on the season.
Past winners of the C Spire Conerly Trophy have included such
former and current prominent NFL standouts as Evan Engram, Dak Prescott, Deuce McAllister,
Eli Manning, Jerious Norwood,
Michael Boley, Patrick Willis, Anthony
Dixon and last year's winner, Elijah
Moore. Prescott and Manning are the only two-time winners of
the award.
The C Spire Conerly Trophy presentation is scheduled for
Tuesday, Nov. 30 at the Country Club
of Jackson, 345 Saint Andrews
Drive, in Jackson. A 5:30 p.m. reception will be followed by the
6:30 p.m. dinner program and trophy
presentation. Coaches and finalists from all the schools are
expected to attend. For ticket availability or more
information, go to msfame.com or call 601.982.8264. CBS
football analyst Charles Davis will
be the master of ceremonies for the awards program.
Now in its 26th year, the C Spire Conerly Trophy is
named after the late Charlie Conerly
– the only football inductee in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame
who was an All-American at a Mississippi university, an NFL rookie of the
year and NFL All-Pro member and quarterbacked a team to a world
championship. C Spire has sponsored the outstanding player awards
program for football in Mississippi since 1998. The trophy is awarded
to the nominee selected as the top player by news media covering
college football in the state.
About C Spire
C Spire is a diversified
telecommunications and technology services company that provides
world-class, customer-inspired wireless communications, 1 Gigabit
consumer Internet access as well as a full suite of dedicated
Internet, wireless, IP Voice, data and cloud services for
businesses. This news release and other announcements are
available at www.cspire.com/news. For more information about C
Spire, visit www.cspire.com or follow us on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/cspire or Twitter at www.twitter.com/cspire.
About The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame
The
Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame exists to promote, preserve and
protect Mississippi's rich sports
heritage for this and generations to come. The Museum serves as a
destination for sports legends to live forever through interactive
displays and exhibits where visitors can play, live and dream. The
501(c)(3) organization recognizes excellence in athletics and
contributions to sports. For more information about the Mississippi
Sports Hall of Fame & Museum, visit msfame.com or follow us on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/mssportshofandmuseum or Twitter at
www.twitter.com/mssportshof.
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