BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana senior wide receiver Ty Fryfogle has been added to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club (TQC) Foundation, Inc., announced Thursday morning. Fryfogle joins teammate Whop Philyor on the list.
The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the college football season’s outstanding FBS receiver. Any player, regardless of position (wide receiver, tight end, slot back, and running back) who catches a pass is eligible for the award. As such, the Biletnikoff Award recognizes college football’s outstanding receiver, not merely college football’s outstanding wide receiver.
Fryfogle leads the Hoosiers with 24 receptions (tied, T-3rd in the Big Ten) for 424 yards (1st), four touchdowns (T-2nd), 17.7 yards per grab and 106.0 yards per game (3rd, T-20th nationally).
He owns 99 catches (T-7th among active Big Ten wideouts), 1,422 yards (5th) and 10 touchdowns, which is tied with Philyor for the team lead, in his career.
The Lucedale, Miss., native has caught at least one TD in three-straight contests and has surpassed the century mark in back-to-back weeks (3 times in his career).
Fryfogle earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors in IU’s win at Michigan State last weekend. He set career-highs with 11 receptions (2nd-most in the Big Ten in 2020) for 200 yards (most), the seventh 200-yard game in program history, and reached the end zone twice, including a career-long 65-yarder.
The semifinalists, finalists and award recipient are selected by the highly distinguished Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee, a group of prominent college football journalists, commentators, announcers, Biletnikoff Award winners, and other former receivers. Foundation trustees do not vote and have never voted. For a list of voters, please see BiletnikoffAward.com/voters.
Receivers are frequently added to the watch list as their season performances dictate. Actual, not potential, performance is the basis for inclusion on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List.
The Biletnikoff Award candidate eligibility and voting criteria, transparently explicit and detailed, are available for review at BiletnikoffAward.com/criteria.
Recently, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation opened the 2020 FanVote. Every fan may vote once daily on the Biletnikoff Award FanVote page. The aggregate fan tally will be counted as one official vote to determine semi-finalists (ten receivers), finalists (three receivers), and the winner. In the closest contest in years, the FanVote tally provided the one-vote margin of victory for 2013 winner Brandin Cooks of Oregon State.
The 2020 Biletnikoff Award winner will be presented the Biletnikoff Award trophy by TQC Foundation Chairman George Avant, Jr., keynoter and college hall of famer Chad Hennings, and college and pro football hall of famer Fred Biletnikoff before 550 patrons at the Biletnikoff Award Banquet at the University Center Club at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Saturday, March 6, 2021. The banquet was hailed by 2014 keynote speaker Dick Vermeil, as well as by 2013 keynoter Larry Csonka, as “the best banquet in college sports.”
The banquet has featured distinguished keynoters of profound character and accomplishments including the late Bart Starr, Dick Vermeil, Floyd Little, Larry Csonka, Steve Largent, Mike Ditka, the late Don Shula, Dan Reeves, Archie Manning, Ron Jaworski, Gene Stallings, Bob Griese, Bill Curry, Bobby Bowden, Jim Kelly, Jerry Kramer, Joe Theismann, Dan Fouts, Lou Holtz, and Aaron Taylor.
The TQC Foundation’s charitable mission is the provision of college and vocational scholarships to North Florida high school seniors who have overcome significant barriers to achieve at the highest academic and extracurricular levels. Participation in sports is not a requirement. The Foundation has provided many millions of dollars for several hundreds of scholarships and related benefits through 2020.
The name Biletnikoff is synonymous with the term receiver. Fred Biletnikoff, a member of the pro and college football halls of fame, was a consensus All-America receiver at Florida State University, and an All-Pro receiver for the Oakland Raiders. He caught 589 passes for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns in his 14-year Raiders career from 1965 through 1978. Fred was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XI.
The TQC Foundation, Inc., is an independent, charitable organization that was founded in 1994. Past Chairman & Founding Trustee Professor Walter W. Manley II, Founding Trustee L. Thomas Cox, Jr., Founding Trustee Rocky Bevis, and Founding Trustee Bob Teel established the award and the TQC Foundation, Inc., that sponsors it. Many more trustees have contributed to its development as one of the most prominent awards in college football. The TQC Foundation, Inc., joined the idea of a college receiver’s award to the organization’s vision and created the outstanding award and dynamic organization.
PHOTO BY CARTER WALDRON, INDIANA ATHLETICS
COURTESY INDIANA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
