EASTERN 2016 FOOTBALL CELEBRATING 30 YEARS IN THE BIG SKY & 50 AT ROOS (WOODWARD) FIELD!
COOPER KUPP edged a pair of running backs – Marshaun Coprich from Illinois State and Kade Harrington from Lamar – to win the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Offensive Player of the Year on Jan. 8 in Frisco, Texas, at the inaugural STATS FCS Awards Banquet and Presentations. The trophy was presented to Kupp by former NFL quarterback Doug Williams. As a freshman in the 2013 season, Kupp won the Jerry Rice Award presented by The Sports Network to the top freshman in FCS. Because Kupp was in Cheney preparing for a playoff game, his father, Craig, accepted the award on his behalf. Craig was even able to wear the Super Bowl ring of Rice, who placed a congratulatory phone call to Cooper. • • • • • • • • • • • • •
First Team All-America (College Sporting News “Fabulous 50”) First Team All-America (College Sports Madness) First Team All-America (Beyond Sports Network) First Team All-Big Sky Conference (selected by league head coaches) Third Team All-Big Sky Conference/Return Specialist (selected by league head coaches) First Team All-Big Sky Conference (College Sports Madness) Second Team All-Big Sky Conference/Punt Returner (College Sports Madness) CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII Team (Economics - 3.51 GPA) Big Sky Conference All-Academic Team (Economics) CFB Performance Awards Punt Returns Performer of the Week (2 ret., 90 yds, 67-yard TD vs. UM 11/8) CFB Performance Awards Hon. Mention WR Performer of the Week (8 rec., 132 yds, 3 TD vs. ISU 10/4) CFB Performance Awards Hon. Mention WR Performer of the Week (9 rec., 152 yds, 2 TD vs. MSU 9/20) CFB Performance Awards WR Performer of the Week (8 receptions, 145 yards, 3 TD vs. UW 9/6)
2013 Season • Winner of Jerry Rice Award Given to Top Freshman in FCS • FCS Wide Receiver Award (College Football Performance Awards) • FCS Freshman of the Year on “Fabulous 50” (College Sporting News) • FCS Freshman of the Year (College Sports Journal) • FCS Freshman of the Year (College Sports Madness) • FCS Freshman of the Year (Phil Steele Publications) • First Team All-America (American Football Coaches Association) • First Team All-America (The Sports Network) • First Team All-America (Associated Press) • First Team All-America (College Sporting News “Fabulous 50”) • First Team All-America (College Sports Journal) • First Team All-America (Walter Camp Football Foundation) • First Team All-America (College Sports Madness) • First Team All-America (Beyond Sports Network) • First Team All-America (Phil Steele Publications) • First Team Freshman All-America (College Sports Journal) • First Team Freshman All-America (Phil Steele Publications) • Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year • First Team All-Big Sky Conf. (unanimous, first-team vote on all 12 ballots) 2012 Season • Eastern’s Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year. • Was selected as the team’s offensive scout team player of the week once, and twice for special teams.
Head Coach Beau Baldwin on Cooper Kupp . . . On Kupp Returning in 2016 for His Senior Season: “We’re excited to not only get such an outstanding student-athlete like Cooper back for another year, but we are grateful to have such an amazing leader and presence in our locker room return for his senior season. I’m excited just as much for what he brings to our program as a person. His play on the field speaks for itself, but all the little things and intangibles he provides are what makes it exciting to be have him here for another 365 days. He is one of the smartest and most mature student-athletes I’ve been around, and the best football player I’ve ever coached. And that’s saying a lot. But it’s true. He’s hands-down the best all-around football player I’ve been lucky enough to be around.” On Kupp’s Record-Breaking Day at UNC: “I just haven’t seen anything like this to see him perform like that for three years game-in and game-out. You become so numb to it that you don’t realize how special it is. In the game you know he is getting a lot of touches, but the next thing you know you see 20 for 275. It’s a number you just never expect to see next to a receiver. To him it’s not about how many catches, but it’s what he can do on the next play. He was frustrated about the one he lost in the sun and wasn’t able to come up inside the 10 yard line on our last drive. That’s how he rolls and how he operates, but it’s fun to be around. He means so much in how he leads, how he handles things and treats teammates. More than just the receiver he is, he’s just incredible in how he carries himself and the person and teammate he is. That’s Cooper Kupp in a nutshell. He has all the tools as not just a football player, but as a human. We’re just lucky and enjoying every day we get to spend with him. It’s something special.” On Kupp Breaking the Big Sky TD Receptions Record: “The record he broke was by a student-athlete who had an amazing career here at Eastern, and it was a pleasure to coach Eric Kimble. It was an incredible record that was going to be very hard to break. But Eric would be the first to say he would like no other person to break a record like that because Cooper works for everything he achieves. He has amazing ability, but to break a record like that is because of what he does every day to make himself a better player. But no matter how good a football player Cooper is, he’s an even better person and teammate.” On Kupp’s Receiving Ability: “I’d be shocked if you could show me a better receiver at any level in the country. Usually I don’t talk like that, but that’s how I feel right now and think that we have here at Eastern. We are very fortunate to have him as a leader and player on this football team. It’s just a will and an amazing mindset that he has. He is talented – he is talented in every aspect of what it is to be a wide receiver. People want to knock him for his speed, but he still runs behind people over and over again. He took a bubble screen 73 yards against Oregon and a Pac-12 team with a lot of speed. So Cooper is plenty fast. The thing that takes him over the top in comparing him to other receivers in the country is his will. You marvel when you see him out there doing what he is doing. Somebody asked him how he breaks so many tackles, and it’s very simple to him, ‘I don’t like to be tackled so I refuse to be tackled.’ That’s a mindset. It’s kind of like the mental toughness you need to be tired and still play through it. The guys who can do that have grit, and Cooper has another type of grit. When the ball is in the air, ‘it’s mine. Period.’ That’s the way he thinks. Eventually he gets tackled, but there are times three or four players hit him and he’s still standing when they knock him out of bounds. But he still hasn’t gone to the ground. We’re blessed to have him because not only is he an incredible football receiver, but he’s an incredible football player. He’s a punt returner, he’s blocking in the run game, he holds on kicks and he’s leading. He leads not only by his words, but by his actions and what he is doing on the field.”
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