University of Tennessee at Chattanooga running back Ailym Ford finished fifth in the voting for the Jerry Rice Award today. The Rice Award goes to the National Freshman of the Year at the FCS level.
North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance won the award with a total of 116 first place votes and 691 points overall. Ford garnered five first place nods and 132 points. The rest of the top five included Albany quarterback Jeff Undercuffler (395), Southern Illinois running back Javon Williams (243) and Richmond linebacker Tristan Wheeler (143).
Ford led all freshmen at the FCS level with 108.1 rushing yards per game and tied for the team lead with nine rushing touchdowns. He posted 1,081 rushing yards in 10 games, just nine yards shy of the UTC freshman mark set by Mike Smith in 1977. It was also the seventh highest total by a freshman in the SoCon record books.
Ford was also the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and on the SoCon coaches first team. His season was cut short due to an injury early in the Samford game, but he still managed to finish among the nation’s top rushing leaders.
Ford is the fourth Moc to earn a spot on the list. Terrell Robinson placed 21st in the voting in 2011, Jacob Huesman was fourth in 2012 and Lucas Webb was 16th in 2014.
A national panel of over 150 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries voted for the Rice Award, which is based on performance in the regular season.
1.
Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State: 116-20-9-2-0-691
2. Jeff Undercuffler, QB, UAlbany: 14-52-27-14-8-395
3. Javon Williams Jr., RB, Southern Illinois: 6-19-28-20-13-243
4. Tristan Wheeler, LB, Richmond: 0-8-14-29-11-143
5. Ailym Ford, RB, Chattanooga: 5-9-12-13-9-132
6. Omar Brown, CB, Northern Iowa: 1-8-13-11-10-108
7. Nick Eaton, DE, UC Davis: 3-9-11-3-15-105
8. Tyler Hudson, WR, Central Arkansas: 1-3-7-17-18-90
9. John Bachus III, QB, UT Martin: 3-6-5-8-12-82
10. Hajj-Malik Williams, QB, Campbell: 1-7-7-7-13-81
11. Keegan Shoemaker, QB, Lafayette: 1-3-8-5-10-61
12. Jacob Dobbs, LB, Holy Cross: 1-4-0-6-13-46
13. Xavier Gipson, WR, Stephen F. Austin: 1-0-5-5-8-38
14. Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, WR, Alabama A&M: 0-2-4-5-7-37
15. Ian Corwin, QB, Drake: 2-2-3-1-1-30
16. Tyrese Chambers, WR, Sacred Heart: 0-3-1-3-1-22
17. Jacob Roberts, LB, North Carolina A&T: 0-1-1-3-2-15
18. Jake Stebbins, LB, Cornell: 1-0-1-3-0-14
19. Jalen Leary, RB, Stetson: 0-0-0-1-5-7
20. Tra Fluellen, S, Houston Baptist: 0-0-0-0-0-0
A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place vote four points, a third-place vote three points, a fourth-place vote two points and a fifth-place vote one point.