KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Vols quarterback Joshua Dobbs is one of 93 student-athletes nominated for the 2015 Wuerffel Trophy, college football’s top community service award. Dobbs is currently a junior pursuing a major in Honors Aerospace Engineering and a minor in Business Administration. He is also a member of the University’s Chancellor’s Honors Program. He was named to the 2013-2014 Southeastern Conference Freshmen Honor Roll and the 2014-2015 Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll. He has also been named a VOLScholar in his first two years at Tennessee which signifies having earned above a 3.0 GPA.In the community, Dobbs has been active in numerous service initiatives including the following: Educators for Excellence – Reach Them to Teach Them, WomEngineers Day, the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon, Prayers for AJ Cucksey, Read Across America, Special Olympics Knoxville, Beads of Courage and Habitat for Humanity.
Dobbs has also been named as a nominee for Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®, the most esteemed off the field honor in college football. For 24 years, the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® has recognized college football players from across the country who exemplifies a superior commitment to community service and volunteerism.
On the field, Dobbs comes off a decorated week in which he earned seven honors including Walter Camp National Player of the Week, Athlon National Player of the Week and Davey O’Brien Quarterback of the Week after leading Tennessee to a dramatic 38-31 comeback win over #19 Georgia with 430 total yards of offense and five total touchdowns.
In that Georgia game, Dobbs had his second game with 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards. He is one of three SEC players over the last 20 years to have 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing a game (with Johnny Manziel & Tim Tebow), accomplishing the feat vs. Georgia in 2015 and South Carolina in 2014.
The Vols are 8-4 in Dobbs’ last 12 starts, dating to 2013 season. He those 12 starts, Vols are averaging 36.3 points per game and 432 yards of total offense. He has thrown at least one touchdown in nine of his last 12 starts with multiple scoring throws in seven times. He has also rushed for at least one touchdown in nine of his last 12 starts with two or more in four of those games.
In six starts in 2015, Dobbs has thrown for 1101 yards on 98-of-169 with eight touchdown passes and rushed for 368 yards (61.3 yards per game) with five rushing scores. He also also caught a 58-yard touchdown at Florida (9/26).
More from the Wuerffel Trophy The Wuerffel Trophy announces its list of nominees with a record number of 93 players from college football’s Football Bowl Subdivision being considered for the 2015 award.
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. Named after 1996 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel, from the University of Florida, the Wuerffel Trophy is awarded to the FBS player who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.
“I’m so encouraged to see how many outstanding nominations we’ve received for the 2015 Wuerffel Trophy,” said Wuerffel. “Our country is filled with high quality, high character young men playing football, and our mission is to shine the spotlight on them and all the great work they do in their communities.”
The Atlantic Coast conference and Southeastern conference led all conferences nominating 13 players each. The Big Ten, Big 12, American Athletic and Sun Belt conferences nominated nine players each, the Pacific-12 nominated eight players, Conference USA, Mountain West and Mid-American had seven nominations each, and all three Independent universities submitted nominations. All FBS conferences are represented on the 2015 Wuerffel Trophy nominee list.
Voting for the Wuerffel Trophy is performed by a National Selection Committee that includes college football television and print media, industry notables, former head coaches and prior Wuerffel Trophy recipients.
Nominations for the Wuerffel Trophy are made by the respective university Sports Information departments and closed on Oct. 15, 2015. Semifinalists for the award will be announced on Nov. 3, 2015, and finalists announced on Nov. 24, 2015. The formal announcement of the 2015 Wuerffel Trophy recipient will be on Dec. 8, 2015, at the National Football Foundation’s press conference in New York City.
The 2015 Wuerffel Trophy winner will be interviewed at “The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show” on ESPNU and ESPN3 onDec. 10, 2015, airing at 6 p.m. EST/5 p.m. CST, featuring interviews with award winners and finalists as they approach the new location for The Home Depot College Football Awards Show, the College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The presentation of the 2015 Wuerffel Trophy will occur at the 47th Annual All Sports Association Awards Banquet on Feb. 12, 2016, in Fort Walton Beach.
Past winners of the Wuerffel Trophy are: 2014 Deterrian Shackelford, University of Mississippi; 2013 Gabe Ikard, University of Oklahoma; 2012 Matt Barkley, University of Southern California; 2011 Barrett Jones, University of Alabama; 2010 Sam Acho, University of Texas; 2009 Tim Hiller, Western Michigan University; 2008 Tim Tebow, University of Florida; 2007 Paul Smith, University of Tulsa; 2006 Joel Penton, Ohio State University; and 2005 Rudy Niswanger, Louisiana State University.
The Wuerffel Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association, which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast more than 700 years of tradition-selection excellence. For more information, go to www.NCFAA.org. For more information on the Wuerffel Trophy, visit www.wuerffeltrophy.org.