Northwest Notes: Dec. 7, 2023
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 2 years, 3 months AGO
Montana's Gillman wins
Jerry Rice Award
Montana running back Eli Gillman, a redshirt freshman, was named the 2023 Jerry Rice Award recipient by Stats Perform on Wednesday. The award honors the top national freshman player of the year in the FCS.
Gillman's win on Wednesday marks the Big Sky's fifth Jerry Rice Award winner since it first began in 2011. Gillman joins Idaho's Gevani McCoy (2022), Weber State's Josh Davis (2018), Northern Arizona's Case Cookus (2015) and Eastern Washington's Cooper Kupp (2013) as the league's all-time winners for the national freshman player of the year award.
Gillman, a redshirt freshman from Dassel, Minn., has rushed for 926 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season and helped lead Montana to its first Big Sky championship since 2009. Gillman was also named the Big Sky Freshman of the Year following his outstanding season in 2023, becoming the first-ever winner for Montana in the award's history that began in 2013.