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ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell sophomore quarterback Jeff Mathews has been named one of two finalists for the 2011 Asa S. Bushnell Cup signifying the Ivy League's Offensive Player of the Year. The honor will be announced on Monday, Dec. 5 in New York City as part of the festivities surrounding the NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
Mathews and Dartmouth senior running back Nick Schwieger, last season's recipient of the Cup, will be the finalists for Offensive Player of the Year, while a pair of candidates will also vie for the Defensive Player of the Year. Defensive tackle Josue Ortiz of Harvard and Penn linebacker Erik Rask will be the two finalists on the other side of the ball.
Each of the finalists and their respective head coaches will be present for the awards' presentation at 11:30 a.m. Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris will unveil the winners' names at the event in front of a packed crowd of media representatives, NFF Board members and notable Ivy League football alumni and dignitaries. George Pyne, a NFF Board Member since 2008, will emcee the Bushnell Cup presentation for the second-straight year. Pyne played offensive tackle at Brown, captaining the 1988 football team and earning All-Ivy League and All-New England honors. The presentation will be streamed live on FootballFoundation.org and IvyLeagueSports.com.
Mathews is more than worthy of becoming a finalist after putting together arguably the finest quarterbacking season in the history of Ivy League football. Just a sophomore, Mathews emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the entire country en route to earning first-team All-Ivy accolades. Mathews set Cornell and Ivy League records for passing yardage in a game (548 yards at Penn) and season (3,412 yards), while also setting Big Red records for touchdown passes (25), total offense (3,274 yards), completion percentage (.679) and passing efficiency (162.60). The first sophomore captain in Cornell football history, he ranked third nationally in passing yards per game and pass efficiency, fourth in total offense and 10th in points responsible for.
A two-time Ivy League and national player of the week, Mathews posted two of the top three passing games in conference history and two of the top four passing totals in the FCS this season and ended the year with three 400-yard games and two 500-yard passing games, both Ivy records. Against the top three pass defenses in the Ivy League (Dartmouth, Penn and Brown), Mathews completed 70 percent of his passes and averaged 405.7 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. His 341.2 yards per game was more than 100 yards per game higher than any other passer in the Ivy League. He became the first Cornell quarterback to earn first-team honors since Ryan Kuhn in 2005.
A unanimous choice as the 2010 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Mathews emerged as the team's starter by halftime of his first collegiate game. A week later in the home and Ivy opener against Yale, Mathews became the first Big Red freshman to earn a varsity start. He joined tailbacks Derrick Harmon (1981) and John McNiff (1989) as Cornellians earning the conference's top honor for a rookie after a record-breaking freshman campaign. Mathews established the school record for passing yards by a first-year player against Yale (248 yards) and ended his season with a record 1,723 yards and seven touchdowns. Mathews stood second among true freshman quarterbacks in passing in the Football Championship Subdivision and threw all seven touchdowns with only four interceptions while averaging 193.4 yards per game in Ivy contests. He was a two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week.
Cornell has had three previous Bushnell Cup Award winners, including Ed Marinaro, who was a two-time winner (1970, 71). Derrick Harmon captured the award in 1983 and Chad Levitt took home the trophy in 1996.
