Browning Fifth, Cowser 10th In Rice Balloting
CEDAR CITY, Utah, Dec. 17 - Zak Browning finished fifth
and James Cowser 10th in the balloting for the 2012 Jerry Rice
Award, it was announced by The Sports Network today. Villanova quarterback John
Robertson captured the award, which is bestowed upon the nation's top freshman
each year by TSN.
Browning received eight first-place votes and 175 points to
finish fifth while Cowser had one first-place vote and 52 points to finish 10th
in the 20-player field. Robertson garnered 56 first place votes and finished
with 412 points to finish 51 points ahead of Northern Iowa quarterback Sawyer
Kollmorgan, who finished second. Browning was the highest-finishing defensive
player in the balloting.
Browning, a linebacker from Camas, Wash. (Union HS) who was
named the Newcomer of the Year in the Big Sky Conference, was the top freshman
tackler in the nation this past season with 11.6 per game. He led the
Thunderbirds and the Big Sky Conference with 116 total tackles. His per-game
average ranked second in the Big Sky and seventh in the nation, overall. He had
seven games with 10 or more tackles, including an 18-tackle performance at
Montana and 15-tackle tallies against Montana State and Eastern Washington. The
18 tackles are the second-most in a game by an SUU freshman during its NCAA
era.
Cowser, a defensive end from (Davis HS) led the nation's
freshmen with 0.68 sacks per game this season, and he was second among freshmen
with 1.23 tackles for loss per game. He paced the Thunderbirds and was fifth in
the Big Sky in sacks with 7.5 and he was tied for third in the BSC (and second
on the team) in tackles for loss with 13.5, numbers which ranked 25th and 27th
in the nation. His 7.5 total sacks this year are the most ever by a freshman in
SUU history. Cowser, an honorable mention all-Big Sky honoree, finished the
season with 61 total tackles, which was fifth on the squad and tops among
defensive linemen.
Southern Utah, which was the only school in the country to
have two finalists, has had three Rice Award finalists in the past two seasons,
as wide receiver Brady Measom was among the finalists last year.
The Big Sky Conference had five finalists, including
Browning and Cowser, Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams (sixth, 173
points), Portland State quarterback Kieran McDonagh (eighth, 89 points) and
North Dakota wide receiver Jameer Jackson (16th place, 21 points).
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
|
