Villanova University

Dec. 17, 2012

Official Sports Network Release

PHILADELPHIA--Redshirt freshman quarterback John Robertson was named the 2012 winner of the Jerry Rice Award as the top freshman in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Robertson earned 56 of a possible 145 first place votes and 412 total points. Sawyer Kollmorgen of Northern Iowa finished second in the voting with 361 points.

The Hall of Famer Rice will personally present Robertson the award at the annual FCS Awards Banquet held on Monday evening at the Sheraton Society Hill in Philadelphia.

Robertson becomes the fourth Wildcat in history to earn a major FCS award. In 1997, wide receiver Brian Finneran won the Walter Payton Award given to the top player in FCS football, and that same year Wildcat head coach Andy Talley garnered the Eddie Robinson Award as the top coach in FCS football. Former Villanova running back Brian Westbrook earned the Payton Award in 2001. Finneran is still the only wide receiver to ever win the award.

"Winning such a prestigious award is a great honor," Robertson said. "Jerry Rice is an all-time great, so just to have my name put on the award is really special. I am so grateful to be a part of this special night. I want to thank all of my Villanova teammates for helping me win this award. Without them this honor would not have been possible."

After beginning the season as the backup, Robertson took over as Villanova's starting signal caller in week two and led the Wildcats to the CAA regular season championship and a berth in the FCS playoffs.

In 12 games during the 2012 season, Robertson completed 152-of-253 passes (60.1%) for 1,965 yards to go with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also became the first quarterback in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, when he ran for 1,021 yards on 189 carries (5.4 avg.) and a team-high 14 rushing scores. Robertson also led the Wildcats in scoring with 84 points and total offense with 2,986 yards.

For his efforts, Robertson was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Offensive Rookie of the Year, in addition to being a third team All-CAA selection. During the season, he was named the CAA Rookie of the Week on five occasions.

"There is nobody more deserving of the Jerry Rice Award than John Robertson," said Talley. "It is a testament to his hard work, beginning with the offseason and training camp and continuing through our entire season, that John was able to rise to prominence as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. With this award John joins the prestigious group of Villanova players who have received a National Player of the Year award and I am certain that he will only get better as his career progresses."

Robertson isn't the only Villanovan to be a part of the FCS Awards Banquet. Finneran will be on hand to present the Walter Payton award, while Talley will present the Eddie Robinson Award.

There were 145 ballots cast in voting for the Jerry Rice Award. The full results are below.

2012 Jerry Rice Award Voting

Name                      School           1st    2nd    3rd    4th    5th    Total
1. John Robertson         Villanova        56     17     10     12     10     412
2. Sawyer Kollmorgen      UNI              25     34     18     19     8      361
3. Sean Price             Appalachian St   18     25     21     20     19     312
4. Jacob Huesman          Chattanooga      10     16     10     17     15     193
5. Zak Browning           Southern Utah    8      8      22     13     11     175
6. Vernon Adams           Eastern Wash     12     12     12     8      13     173
7. T.J. Lally             South Dakota St  1      5      15     9      8      96
8. Kieran McDonagh        Portland St      3      7      6      10     8      89
9. Terrick Colston        Delaware St      5      2      3      5      4      56
10. James Cowser          Southern Utah    1      3      6      4      9      52
11. Elandon Roberts       Morgan St        1      4      5      2      6      46
12. Jeff Williams         Delaware         0      3      4      5      12     46
13. Josh Woodrum          Liberty          0      4      3      7      0      39
14. Scott Lathrop         SE Missouri St   2      2      2      0      3      27
15. J.J. Raffelson        Western Ill      1      1      1      5      4      26
16. Jameer Jackson        North Dakota     1      1      3      1      1      21
17. Jake Hutson           Valparaiso       0      1      1      1      10     19
18. Reese Hannon          Furman           1      0      1      1      2      12
19. Luke Hagy             Cornell          0      0      1      3      1      10
20. Luke Rhodes           William & Mary   0      0      1      3      1      10