CHARLESTON, S.C. – Portland State's Kasey Closs was named to the 2014 College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) FCS Wide Receiver Award Watch List it was announced on Monday. Closs is the second Vikings player named to the CFPA Watch List, following quarterback Kieran McDonagh.
"Congratulations to Kasey Closs on earning a spot on this year's watch list," said CFPA Executive Director Brad Smith. "Closs will likely play an important role in Portland State's passing game in 2014."
The initial watch list includes 38 returning performers, vying for the top wide receiver award in the Football Championship Subdivision. All players are eligible for awards at their respective positions; players are not preemptively eliminated from consideration.
Closs, a 6-3, 205-pounder from Lake Oswego, was Portland State's leading receiver in 2013. He caught 63 passes for 1,167 yards and eight touchdowns - all team highs. It was the third-most receiving yards for a season in Portland State history. Closs, a senior from Lake Oswego, earned third team All-Big Sky Conference and ranked fourth in the league in receiving yards last season.
Three Portland State players have earned CFPA post-season honors in the past as the top players in the nation at their position: Kyle Loomis (punter, 2013) Ian Sluss (linebacker, 2012) and Zach Brown (placekicker, 2011).
The goal of College Football Performance Awards is to provide the most scientifically rigorous conferments in college football. Recipients are selected exclusively based upon objective scientific rankings of the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams. Twenty-eight CFPA winners have been first-round NFL Draft selections.
CFPA is now in its seventh season of recognition, utilizing objective rankings of player and team performance from its data index since 2008.
Last season, Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston earned the CFPA National Performer of the Year Trophy for the FBS, while Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams earned the CFPA FCS National Performer of the Year Trophy.
CFPA Trophy winner and former South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney was the first overall selection in the 2014 NFL Draft.
The full list of 2014 CFPA winners will be announced January 14, 2015.
