The NFF announced the finalists for the 2017 William V. Campbell Trophy®, presented by Fidelity Investments®. The trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation.

The 13 finalists will each receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to New York City for the 60th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 5, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. At the event, one member of the class will be declared the winner of the 28th William V. Campbell Trophy® and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000. The event, which will take place at the New York Hilton Midtown, will be live streamed on ESPN3 starting at 8:30 p.m. ET. T he 13 finalists are:

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE	POSITION	SCHOOL	GPA	MAJOR
Sam Benger	RB	Carnegie Mellon (Pa.)	3.67	Business Administration
Braxton Berrios	WR	Miami (Fla.)	3.96	Finance & Entrepreneurship
Mason Hampton	C	Boise State	3.97	Accounting
Justin Jackson	RB	Northwestern	3.23	Economics
Micah Kiser	LB	Virginia	3.42	Foreign Affairs
Justin Lea	OL	Jacksonville State	3.92	Emergency MGMT & Geography
Brad Lundblade	C	Oklahoma State	3.88	Marketing
Marcus Martin	DE	Slippery Rock (Pa.)	3.56	Safety Management
Chandon Sullivan	DB	Georgia State	3.84	Journalism
Blaise Taylor	CB	Arkansas State	3.84	Business Administration
Marlon Walls	S	Stephen F. Austin	4.00	Engineering Physics
Chris Weber	LB	Nebraska	3.96	Nutrition Science
Jake Wieneke	WR	South Dakota State	3.63	Physical/Teacher Education

Pictured above are Berrios, Jackson and Taylor.

2017 College Football Hall of Fame electee Dat Nguyen was honored Nov. 4 with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during Texas A&M's game against Auburn.

The only player in Texas A&M history to lead the team in tackles four consecutive seasons, Nguyen earned unanimous First Team All-America honors in 1998. The winner of both the Bednarik and Lombardi awards in 1998, Nguyen started all 51 games of his illustrious career and still holds Texas A&M records with 517 career tackles and 30 double-digit tackle games. Click here to read more about Nguyen. During the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, each inductee returns to his alma mater or school where they coached to accept a Hall of Fame plaque that will remain on permanent display at the institution. Nguyen will officially be inducted during the 60th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the New York Hilton Midtown on Tuesday, Dec. 5. The event will be streamed live on ESPN3.

The NFF would like to thank Fidelity Investments Vice President Clarence Stallings, Texas A&M Athletics Director Scott Woodward and NFF Development Coordinator McBride Macatee for taking part in the on-field presentation.

The NFF is celebrating its 70 th  anniversary over the next  several weeks  by highlighting the key milestones of each decade in a weekly email with the content also promoted in its social media channels. The campaign takes a year-by-year look at some of the key events that have shaped the organization, distributing seven weekly releases covering each of the NFF's 10-year periods.

Below are highlights from the NFF's third decade: 1967-1976. Click here or on the image below to view as a larger PDF.

As part of its "I'm A Football Player®" initiative, the NFF is producing a series of graphics to be distributed through social media every Tuesday and Thursday this fall, highlighting former college football players that have experienced success off the field. From Fortune 500 CEOs, to lawyers and doctors, to coaches and teachers and all other walks of life, our goal is to showcase everyone who has benefited from the game of football, sharing their stories across the nation. 

Click here to view all of the past  "I'm A Football Player®" profiles. 

If you, or someone you know, would like to take part and share a football story, please email us at: FBMatters@FootballFoundation.com.

The Rose Bowl Game® presented by Northwestern Mutual, in conjunction with the National Football Foundation, will honor coaches with its "Coaches Making a Difference" contest. Now through December 4, individuals can nominate a high school coach that has made a difference in the lives of student-athletes in their community. The grand prize winner will receive a trip to the "Granddaddy of Them All," the Rose Bowl Game, on January 1, 2018. This year's game will play host to a College Football Playoff Semifinal and feature two of the top teams in college football.

Coaches can be nominated for the contest by filling out a nomination form  online . A panel of representatives from the Tournament of Roses and the National Football Foundation will select the six winners which will include one grand prize winner and five finalist winners.

Six finalists and a grand prize winner will be announced at 12 p.m. PT on December 8.

	Rogers Redding

Rogers Redding , the national coordinator of College Football Officiating, provides insights about rules changes and the mindset of college football referees. The CFO is the national professional organization for all football officials who work games at the collegiate level.

As a season progresses, late in a game you might hear more and more about "clock management" - that is, a team trying to make the best use of the game clock by deciding what plays to run and when to take a timeout. In this column, we'll look at some of the more important aspects of the game clock. In particular, we want to understand when the clock stops and, once stopped, when does it start to run again. In the next column, we will look at the "10-second runoff."

 

Starts when the ball is snapped for the next play

There are several times that the clock stops when the ball becomes dead and then starts when the ball is snapped on the next play. This always happens after a kickoff, punt or field goal attempt. It always happens after an incomplete pass. And it always happens after a turnover, such as a pass interception or a fumble recovered by the defense.

 

Starts when the officials make the ball ready for play

The most common play in this category is when the offense makes a first down. The clock stops when the ball is dead beyond the first-down marker, and it starts again when the official steps away after placing the ball on the ground ready for the snap. This also happens when the teams come back to play after a TV timeout. And it happens after a player is injured or when one has to leave the game because his helmet comes off. There is one special case that is different from the others: when a player fumbles and the ball goes out of bounds after going forward, the clock always starts when the ball is ready for play.

 

Last two minutes in the half: special rules

For a few plays, the starting of the clock depends on when the play takes place. When a ball carrier, a fumble, or a lateral goes out of bounds the clock stops. During most of the game, the clock will start back on the ready-for-play. However, inside the last two minutes of each half, the clock doesn't start until the ball is snapped (except for the forward fumble). It is during these critical times late in the half that clock management becomes most important.

 

Clock starting on the snap overrides starting on the ready-for-play

Finally, it is quite common for the clock to stop for more than one reason. One example is when the runner is driven out of bounds after gaining a first down inside the last two minutes of the half: both the first down and the out-of-bounds run are reasons to stop the clock. In such a case, the one causing the clock to start on the snap wins out, and the clock starts on the snap. A simple way to remember this is, "Snap trumps ready-for-play."

Alabama remained No. 1 with 41-of-48 first-place votes in the Week 10 FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll.  Georgia, Notre Dame, Clemson and Wisconsin round out the top five in the poll, in which voters rank the top 16 FBS teams.

 

The results of the poll will be released every Sunday of the 2017 season and the individual votes of all members will also be made public. The final poll will be released Dec. 3. The pollsters consist of FWAA writers and College Football Hall of Famers.

The  NFF Arkansas Chapter/Little Rock Touchdown Club 's  2017 speaker series continued today  with Central Arkansas head coach Steve Campbell. On Monday, Nov. 13, NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell will be the speaker and help present the chapter's James Street Award.

The NFF Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter will hold a luncheon on Nov. 15 at Lombardo's Restaurant (Airport location) featuring KMOV news anchor Steve Savard and 101 ESPN's Randy Karraker, both of whom were part of the St. Louis Rams' radio broadcasts prior to the team's departure.

The Touchdown Club of Atlanta-NFF Chapter hosted a luncheon today featuring former Oklahoma State and LSU head coach and current FOX Sports broadcaster Les Miles. On Nov. 20, the chapter will host a luncheon featuring former Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati head coach and current ESPN broadcaster Tommy Tuberville at 103 West in Atlanta.

NFF Sacramento Valley (Calif.) Chapter Board Member Jay Erhart, who also serves as president of Sacramento Youth Football (SYF), has taken on a leadership role in organizing three local football games: the annual Shrine Bowl game; the Guns 'n Hoses [Pig Bowl] contest; and the Optimists all-star game for local high school senior players. All three of the games will take place at Hornet Stadium on the Sacramento State campus.

Former Minnesota football player George Conzemius passed away Oct. 26. He was 81... Former Harvard football player Dick Clasby passed away Oct. 28. He was 87... Former South Carolina football player Paul Martin passed away Oct. 28. He was  56... Former Southern Illinois football player and Missouri football radio broadcaster  Bill Wilkerson passed away Nov. 2. He was 72... Former Virginia football player Dr. John Risher passed away Nov. 3. He was 107... Bob Minnix, a former Notre Dame football player and athletics administrator at Washington State, Florida State and the NCAA, passed away Nov. 3... Former Washington defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim died. He was 30... Former Montana and North Dakota State football player Jay Baumberger passed away. He was 65...

More News of Interest

The College Football 150th Anniversary has announced it will partner with SME in the design of its logo and branding campaign... Miami-South Florida (2021), Indianapolis (2022), Los Angeles (2023) and Houston (2024) were announced as future sites of the College Football Playoff National Championship ... Washington's Dante Pettis set the FBS record for career punt return touchdowns...

Building on the success of last year's inaugural event, CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week returns this fall to honor athletics communications professionals and their impact on collegiate athletics. The second annual celebration will be held Monday, Nov. 6 through Sunday, Nov. 12. For more, go to www.cosida.com/ThankYourSID.

Dec. 3, 2017 - Release of the Final FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll for the 2017 season - Via Press Release

 

Dec. 4, 2017  - Ivy League's Asa S. Bushnell Cup Announcement, presented by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, at the New York Hilton Midtown - New  York City

 

Dec. 5, 2017  - NFF Annual Awards Press Conference at the New York Hilton Midtown - New York City (Streamed live on ESPN3, starting at 10 a.m. ET)

 

Dec. 5, 2017  - NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon, presented by Under Armour, at the New York Hilton Midtown - New York City

 

Dec. 5, 2017  - 60th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the New York Hilton Midtown - New York City, including the induction of the 2017 College Football Hall of Fame Class and the 28th presentation of The William V. Campbell Trophy®, presented by Fidelity Investments and prominently displayed at the New York Athletic Club.  (Streamed live on ESPN3, starting at 8 p.m. ET)

 

Dec. 6, 2017 - Campbell Trophy® Luncheon at the New York Athletic Club - New York City

 

Jan. 1, 2018 - The 13th Annual NFF National Hall of Fame Salute during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl - Atlanta, Ga.

 

Jan. 8, 2018 - Announcement of the 2018 College Football Hall of Fame Class during festivities prior to College Football Playoff National Championship - Atlanta, Ga.

 

Jan. 8, 2018 - College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium - Atlanta, Ga.