Treadwell Named Biletnikoff Award Semifinalist

Laquon Treadwell catches a pass at the Ole Miss vs. New Mexico State University game in Oxford. Photo by Josh Bonner/Libertine Images

Record-setting Ole Miss junior Laquon Treadwell is one of 10 semifinalists for the 2015 Biletnikoff Award, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc., announced Tuesday.

The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the college football season’s outstanding receiver, regardless of position (any player at any position who catches a legal forward pass is eligible). The secure and confidential electronic voting by the distinguished members of the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee was conducted from November 9-15.

Treadwell has been nothing short of sensational in his third year as a Rebel, especially when considering he missed the last four games of the 2014 season and much of the offseason due to a broken fibula and dislocated ankle on that gruesome ending to last year’s Auburn game.

Through 10 games this season, the Crete, Illinois, native has posted 68 catches for 1,002 yards and seven touchdowns. He leads all Southeastern Conference receivers with 6.8 catches per game and 100.2 yards per outing, ranking top 15 nationally in both. He’s only the second receiver in school history to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season and is on pace to break Shay Hodge’s school record for yards in a season (1,135 in 2009) and Chris Collins’ record for catches in a season (77 in 2003).

Treadwell enters this weekend’s LSU matchup with a school-record five straight 100-yard receiving games, and he’s scored a touchdown in each one. He’s eclipsed 100 yards a school-record six times this year.

Highly respected in the locker room as a team leader, Treadwell is also well known to deliver punishing blocks to opposing defenders and is an integral part of the Rebels’ outside running game. He’s even thrown two passes this year with great success – a 68-yard touchdown to Quincy Adeboyejo at Memphis and a 21-yard strike to Jaylen Walton in the win at Auburn. He’s projected by many experts as a future first-round pick in the NFL Draft.

2015 Biletnikoff Award Semifinalists (in alphabetical order):

Corey Coleman, Baylor

Josh Doctson, TCU

William Fuller, Notre Dame

Roger Lewis, Bowling Green

Gabe Marks, Washington State

Tajae Sharpe, UMass

Sterling Shepard, Oklahoma

JuJu Smith-Schuster, USC

Taywan Taylor, Western Kentucky

Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss

Fans may now help determine which three receivers will advance as finalists by voting as often as once daily at the Biletnikoff Award FanVote. Fan voting for the three semifinalists will be open through Nov. 22. In 2013, Biletnikoff Award winner Brandin Cooks’ one vote margin of victory was the result of his winning the FanVote tally.

The top three aggregate fan votes for receiver will each count as the equivalent of one national selection committee vote for each of those three receivers for finalists. Following the finalists’ selection, the subsequent top single aggregate fan vote for receiver will count as the equivalent of one national selection committee vote in selecting the winner.

To access the Biletnikoff Award FanVote today, go to: http://biletnikoffaward.com/fan-vote.

The composition of the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee, comprised of 320 distinguished voters, appears at http://biletnikoffaward.com/voters.

The Biletnikoff Award Fan Forum is a discussion of fan-created topics, including who should win the Biletnikoff Award, what teams should be in the college playoff, what is the most-overrated college sports team in history, who should win the Heisman Trophy, and many other interesting topics. It is easy to post: simply register and express your opinion.

To access the Biletnikoff Award Forum today, go to: http://biletnikoffaward.com/forum

The Biletnikoff Award candidate eligibility and voting criteria section, transparently explicit and detailed, is available for review at http://biletnikoffaward.com/criteria. Note that any player at any position that receives a legal forward pass (tight end, slot back or slot receiver, inside receiver, wide receiver, split end or running back) is eligible for the Biletnikoff Award.

The 2015 Biletnikoff Award winner will be announced live by 1991 Heisman Trophy winner and former receiver Desmond Howard on Dec. 10, 2015, on ESPN’s The Home Depot College Awards show, at 6 p.m. CT, at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia. Desmond Howard is one of only five ends or receivers who has won the Heisman Trophy, joining Larry Kelley, Leon Hart, Johnny Rodgers and Tim Brown.

The 2015 Biletnikoff Award recipient will be honored and will receive his trophy, winner of national competitions for aesthetic and design excellence, at the Biletnikoff Award banquet, an annual black tie event attended by 600 patrons and broadcast by ESPN3, at the University Center Club, Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida, on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016. The Biletnikoff Award banquet was hailed by 2013 keynote speaker Larry Csonka and 2014 keynoter Dick Vermeil as “the best banquet in college sports.”

Consistent with a long line of outstanding keynote speakers (including Bart Starr, Don Shula, Larry Csonka, Mike Ditka, Archie Manning, Steve Largent and Dick Vermeil), College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Bob Griese will address the Biletnikoff Award banquet audience and, with all-time great college and pro hall of fame receiver Fred Biletnikoff, present the beautiful Biletnikoff Award trophy to the 2015 award winner. The pair will also recognize the Foundation’s 2016 scholarship recipients, who annually receive $900,000 in college and vocational school scholarships and benefits.

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 extra-curricular levels.

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Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics