Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
2023 Gagliardi Trophy Press Release
SALEM, Va. (Dec. 15, 2023) - The nation's highest honor for an NCAA Division III football player, the Gagliardi Trophy, remains with the North Central College football team as junior quarterback
Luke Lehnen has been named the 2023 recipient. The annual award, presented by Stearns Bank and the J-Club of Saint John's University (Minnesota), was announced Friday before the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl by D3football.com.
The Gagliardi Trophy was first presented in 1993. Since that time, the award has become one of the leading collegiate football awards and is widely recognized as the premier individual award in Division III football, honoring excellence in athletics, academics, and community service.
Heading into Friday's national championship game, Lehnen (an exercise science major) has completed 162 of 215 passes (75.3 percent) for 3,228 yards and 46 touchdowns with just two interceptions. The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year and D3football.com Region 5 Offensive Player of the Year this season, Lehnen has also rushed for 735 yards (7.4 per carry) and 11 scores.
Lehnen's passer efficiency rating of 270.2 is the highest among any quarterback in college football and is on pace to break the Division III and all-divisions single-season record of 230.4, set by the University of Mount Union's De'Angelo Fulford in 2019.
Lehnen is also on pace to establish new Division III single-season records for yards per completed pass (19.93), yards per pass attempt (15.01), and percentage of passes completed for touchdowns (21.4). The current record of 19.7 yards per completion was set by David Parker of Bishop College (Texas) in 1981, while the record for yards per attempt (12.9) was set by Willie Seller of Saint John's University (Minnesota) in 1993. Mount Union's Bill Borchert set the current national record for percentage of passes completed for touchdowns (17.3) in 1997.
Lehnen ranks second in North Central's history and 21st all-time in Division III in touchdown passes (117) while ranking third at North Central in passing yards (9,221) and completions (547). Lehnen is also the Cardinals' all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks, ranking sixth in program history in rushing touchdowns (34) and ninth in rushing yards (2,233).
The two-sport athlete earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors in both football and baseball in the 2022-23 season. Lehnen is also a three-time Academic All-CCIW honoree between both sports.
Beyond the classroom and football field, Lehnen serves as a volunteer coach for his high school football team and youth football camps over the summer. He has also volunteered with the Special Olympics, Feed My Starving Children and the Northern Illinois Food Bank.
This marks the third Gagliardi Trophy winner from North Central as Broc Rutter (2019) and Ethan Greenfield (2022) earned the award while leading the Cardinals to Stagg Bowl victories. North Central sits behind the University of Mount Union (seven winners) and Saint John's (four winners) for most Gagliardi Trophy winners.
North Central looks to capture their third national championship tonight as the top-seeded Cardinals (14-0) take on No. 11/13-ranked State University of New York at Cortland (13-1) in the 50th Stagg Bowl, played at Salem Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET) and will be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN+.
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