EUGENE, Ore. – For the second consecutive year, Oregon senior quarterback Justin Herbert is the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for Division I Football, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Monday. “It’s a huge honor,” Herbert said. “I’d like to thank my parents for giving my brothers and me every opportunity we could ever ask for and instilling good habits with us, and I’d like to thank my brothers for always pushing me to be a better person, and to keep it competitive.” Herbert, who has a 4.01 grade-point average while majoring in general science, is just the third player ever to win the University Division/NCAA Division I football award in back-to-back seasons. Herbert joins former Florida quarterbacks Danny Wuerffel (1995, 1996) and Tim Tebow (2008, 2009) with consecutive honors. Herbert is also the second Oregon student-athlete to win the award twice. Jordan Hasay (women’s track and field) won the award in 2010-11 and 2012-13. Overall, Herbert is just the fifth different Oregon athlete to be a Team Member of the Year (seven awards). “Earning Academic All-America honors for three consecutive years, including distinction as the Academic All-American of the Year twice, is a tremendous and rare accomplishment that exemplifies how hard Justin has worked during his time at Oregon,” UO athletic director Rob Mullens said. “Justin is a humble young man with tremendous talent and a great work ethic who has great respect from his teammates, coaches, academic staff and professors. He has a deep love for the University of Oregon and an appreciation for all who helped him along the way, and our University and football program is a much better place because of Justin’s efforts and contributions.” In addition to the Team Member of the Year award, Herbert also claimed first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America® honors as the team’s quarterback for the third straight season. He is just the first Duck named to the first-team in football three consecutive seasons, one more than offensive lineman Ryan Schmid (2000, 2001) and defensive lineman Nick Reed (2007, 2008). Herbert is one of three Oregon quarterbacks to earn first-team honors joining Bill Musgrave and Joey Harrington (2001). A four-year starter, Herbert led Oregon to a Pac-12 Conference championship, a berth in the Rose Bowl and an 11-2 record. During his senior season, he has 272-of-408 passes for 3,333 yards and 32 touchdowns with just five interceptions. He heads into the Rose Bowl as the nation’s career active leader with 95 touchdown passes. Oregon has had 12 players named first-team academic All-American dating back to 1962. In addition to Herbert, Reed and Schmid, quarterbacks Joey Harrington (2001) and Bill Musgrave (1990), punter Mike Preacher (1986), linebacker Tim Casey (1965), offensive guard Ed Thomas (1962) and offensive tackle Steve Barnett (1962) claimed first-team academic accolades. UO has also had six players named second or third-team All-America, with Herbert’s teammate Calvin Throckmorton joining the list this season. To be eligible for selection to the academic All-America team, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average, appear in at least 50 percent of their team’s games and be named to a CoSIDA All-District Team.
