Lindsay Named CCNFF's Offensive Player of the Year

University of Colorado senior tailback Phillip Lindsay has been named the state’s offensive player of the year by the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation.

Largely unrecruited after tearing his ACL as a senior at Denver South high school, he proceeded to play in all 51 of CU’s games in his career (including the Alamo Bowl with 30 starts), and in the process became Colorado’s all-time leader in all-purpose yards (5,760) and yards from scrimmage (4,683). He finished as the Buffs’ second all-time leading rusher with 3,707 yards and is the first player in CU history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons (and just the second to have two).

He also finished fourth on the scoring chart (234 points, second to only Eric Bieniemy by non-kickers), and with 110 receptions for 976 yards, he also set school records for the most in each by a running back; he became the 14th player to join CU’s 500/500 Club (rushing and receiving yards), narrowly missing becoming the first to hit 1,000 in both (which he did counting the bowl game, but CU does not include those numbers—for any player). Overall, he set 24 records and tied two others in his CU career.

“It’s an honor to be able to win this award, especially coming out of Denver South (High School), the University of Colorado and the state of Colorado,” Lindsay said. “It’s been a fun ride, and it’s really a privilege to represent the state with this kind of honor – but also coming out of and representing the DPS (Denver Public Schools) is a privilege in itself to receive this recognition.”

As a senior this season, he earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors from the Associated Press at the all-purpose position, and honorable mention accolades at running back by the league coaches. He emerged as one of the top running backs in the nation and was named one of 11 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award while being named CU’s Zack Jordan Award as the team’s most valuable player. He rushed for 1,474 yards, the fifth-most in a single-season at Colorado, which was the 10th-most in the NCAA for the regular season (fifth in the Pac-12) … His 301 attempts set a school single-season mark and also led the nation. He led the Buffs in scoring with 90 points on the strength of 15 touchdowns (14 rushing), and earned 93 first downs in averaging 144.3 all-purpose yards per game, which was good for second in the Pac-12 and 11th nationally.

Lindsay is the first Buffalo to win the offensive honor since the award was conceived by the chapter’s board in 2003. Linebacker Jordan Dizon won the defensive nod in 2007, with Jeremy Bloom (2002) and placekicker Mason Crosby (2004, 2005, 2006) claiming special team player of the year accolades.

Lindsay, along with offensive tackle Jeromy Irwin and cornerback Isaiah Oliver garnered first-team All-Colorado honors, with receiver Bryce Bobo, guard Gerrad Kough, linebackers Rick Gamboa and Drew Lewis and placekicker James Stefanou earning second-team mention.