Oregon’s Herbert Named Pac-12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year
OREGON’s Justin Herbert was named the 2019 Pac-12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Conference office announced Thursday. The award, which is presented in each of the 24 sports sponsored by the Pac-12, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their respective sports disciplines.
Herbert becomes the first Duck to earn the Pac-12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. The senior from Eugene, Ore., is a general science major and holds a 4.01 cumulative undergraduate grade-point average. He has compiled nine terms with a GPA over 4.0 and is a three-time Dean’s List honoree at Oregon. Herbert is also a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic First Team honoree and a two-time CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American. He is a finalist for the 2019 William V. Campbell Trophy, the award presented annually to the best football scholar-athlete in the nation for combined academic success, football performance, and exemplary leadership.
Herbert’s academic prowess has been matched by his on-field performance throughout his collegiate career. He has 31 passing touchdowns this year and 3,140 yards through the air, becoming one of just seven players to throw for over 3,000 yards in each of the last two seasons. He ranks second in Oregon history in career passing yards (10,210) and touchdown passes (94), with his touchdown total good for the NCAA active lead and tied for the sixth-most in Pac-12 history. He has led Oregon to an average of 37.5 points per game across his 40 starts and has thrown a touchdown to 24 different players in his career. Herbert is a 2019 finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and a 2019 semifinalist for the Walter Camp Award, Maxwell Award, and Davey O’Brien Award.
In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.
A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12’s 24 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, women’s volleyball, and wrestling. The award was first established during the 2008-09 academic year.
ALSO NOMINATED: Kyle Williams, ASU; Greg Thomas, CAL; Tim Lynott Jr., COLO; Daniel Rodriguez, OSU; Casey Toohill, STAN; Josh Woods, UCLA; Terrell Burgess, UTAH; A.J. Carty, WASH; Brandon Arconado, WSU.