LOGAN, Utah – Utah State junior defensive end Jacoby Wildman has been named to the 2018 Wuerffel Trophy Watch List, it was announced Thursday by the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA).
The Wuerffel Trophy, known as “College Football’s Premier Award for Community Service,” is presented annually by the All Sports Association in Fort Walton Beach Florida. Named after 1996 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel from the University of Florida, the Wuerffel Trophy is awarded to the FBS player that best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.
Wildman is one of eight Mountain West players named to the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List and one of 106 players from college football’s Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) nominated for the award.
The formal announcement of the 2018 recipient will be made at the National Football Foundation’s press conference in New York City on Dec. 4. The presentation of the 2018 Wuerffel Trophy will occur at the 50th Annual All Sports Association Awards Banquet on Feb. 15, 2019, in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
Wildman, a 6-foot-2, 265-pounder from Logan, Utah (Logan HS) played in all 13 games with four starts last season as a sophomore and finished the year with 45 tackles (14-solo, 31-assist), which included 1.0 sacks and 1.5 tackles for loss, while adding two quarterback hurries and one forced fumble. He concluded the season ranking first on the team for tackles among defensive linemen. During the 2017 season, he recorded a career-high nine tackles against Boise State and had seven tackles and one quarterback hurry against Colorado State. He also had five tackles, which included a career-best 1.0 sacks and a career-high 1.5 tackles for loss, while adding his first-career fumble recovery at San José State, and had five tackles each against UNLV and Air Force. Overall, Wildman recorded at least one tackle in 11 of the 13 games he played in.
For his career, Wildman has appeared in 24 games, making four starts, and has recorded 47 tackles, which includes 1.0 sacks and 1.5 tackles for loss, while adding three quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery.
Off the field, Widlman earned CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII honors, academic all-Mountain West honors and was a Mountain West Scholar-Athlete this past year, along with earning academic all-Mountain West honors as a redshirt freshman during the 2016-17 academic year. He also spends countless hours working with various groups/organizations on campus and in the community.
Utah State, which returns 18 starters (O-9, D-9) and 48 letterwinners (O-19, D-27, S-2) from last year’s NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl team, will open the 2018 season on Friday, Aug. 31, at Michigan State and begins its home season the following weekend against New Mexico State on Saturday, Sept. 8. Mountain West play begins for USU two weekends later as it hosts Air Force on Saturday, Sept. 22.
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