OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Nate Leonard was one of 30 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) student-athletes selected as candidates for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award on Thursday.
Leonard, a senior center for the Roadrunners, is the only player to start all 37 games in program history. The McKinney native has helped lead UTSA to 20 wins in the last three-plus seasons, as it has made a successful transition from Football Championship Subdivision independent in 2011 into the Western Athletic Conference the following year and now as a member of Conference USA for the second consecutive campaign.
The Dave Rimington Trophy candidate (FBS' top center) has racked up a team-leading 16 knockdown blocks in the opening three games of the fall while grading out at 77 percent.
The 6-foot, 280-pounder is coming off a junior season that saw him record a squad-best 70 pancakes and he also graded out at 82 percent. Leonard was a key part of an offensive line that did not commit a holding penalty during the year while helping the offense average 25.6 points, 417.8 total yards (175.4 rush/242.4 pass), 21.9 first downs and 32:24 possession time per contest.
A leader on and off the field, he was instrumental in the team's success last fall, as UTSA won its last five games en route to a 7-5 overall record and 6-2 mark in its first campaign in C-USA.
Leonard has been just as impressive away from the playing field. The 2013 second-team Academic All-American and 2013-14 C-USA Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year maintains a near-perfect GPA of 3.99 in physical education and is on track to graduate in May 2015. He also writes a weekly blog for goUTSA.com.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I FBS senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence —community, classroom, character and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists in November. Ballots then will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. This year's winner will be announced during the football bowl season in early January.
Click here for more information on all of this year's candidates.
2014 Senior CLASS Award candidates
· Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
· Michael Bennett, Ohio State
· Shane Carden, East Carolina
· Sam Carter, TCU
· Cameron Clemmons, Western Kentucky
· La’el Collins, LSU
· Chris Conley, Georgia
· Reese Dismukes, Auburn
· Jamil Douglas, Arizona State
· Dominic Espinosa, Texas
· Cody Fajardo, Nevada
· Trey Flowers, Arkansas
· Garrett Frye, Georgia Southern
· Devin Gardner, Michigan
· Leighton Gasque, Middle Tennessee
· Charles Harris, Memphis
· Taylor Kelly, Arizona State
· Eric Kendricks, UCLA
· Nate Leonard, UTSA
· Tyler Lockett, Kansas State
· Sean Mannion, Oregon State
· Bradley Marquez, Texas Tech
· Karl Mickelsen, Fresno State
· Mitch Morse, Missouri
· Mark Murphy, Indiana
· Andy Phillips, Central Michigan
· Terrance Plummer, UCF
· Jordan Richards, Stanford
· Deterrian Shackelford, Mississippi
· JaCorey Shepherd, Kansas