Football | 12/9/2024 9:15:00 AM
CORTLAND, NY - SUNY Cortland senior quarterback Zac Boyes (Buffalo/Kenmore West) has been announced as one of 18 semifinalists for the 31st Gagliardi Trophy. The award (pronounced Gah-LAR-dee) is presented by Stearns Bank and the J-Club of Saint John's University (Minn.) to the most outstanding football player in NCAA Division III. Boyes is one of five semifinalists returning from last season.
The Gagliardi Trophy, given annually since 1993 (except for 2020), recognizes excellence in athletics, academics and community service. The award is named after John Gagliardi, legendary Hall of Fame head football coach at Saint John's who passed away in 2018 at age 91. He retired in 2012 with 489 career victories, the most in college football history.
Boyes is among a group of eight quarterbacks, four running backs, two wide receivers, two linebackers, one defensive back and one defensive lineman on the list of semifinalists, with 14 of the semifinalists from schools that qualified for the NCAA Division III playoffs. The list will be narrowed to a group of finalists who will be announced during a live show on Thursday, Dec. 19, on D3football.com, and the 2024 Gagliardi Trophy winner will be revealed on D3football.com during the week of the NCAA Division III football national championship, which is scheduled for Jan. 5.
The award is voted on by the 42-member Gagliardi Trophy national selection committee that includes Division III coaches, administrators, notable regional voters, and national voters with Division III backgrounds. Fan balloting, which is available at
https://d3football.com/notables/2024/12/gagliardi-voting, accounts for one collective "43rd" ballot. Fans may cast one ballot per device through Dec. 13.
Boyes earned Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year honors for the second straight year. and was named an American Football Coaches Association First Team All-American. In 10 regular-season contests he completed 176-of-249 passes (70.7 percent) for 2,529 yards and 25 touchdowns with just one interception, and he ran for 512 yards and six scores. His school-record streak of 291 straight pass attempts without an interception, dating back to last season, ended with his lone interception of the season in the ninth game of the year at Brockport. He finished that game passing for 414 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran for 132 yards and a TD in win over Ithaca and had 373 passing yards in a win over St. John Fisher. Boyes threw four TD passes in three separate games and three TD passes in three others.
Overall, Boyes enjoyed a tremendous season for Empire 8 Champion Cortland, having completed 204-of-305 passes this season, a 66.9 percent completion percentage, 2,957 yards, 28 passing touchdowns and just three interceptions in 12 games. In addition, he rushed 105 times for 509 yards and seven rushing touchdowns. Boyes recorded four 300-yard passing games and had eight games with at least three touchdowns (passing or rushing) this season.
Boyes reached 100 career passing touchdowns and 10,000 yards passing in his final collegiate game against Springfield College on Dec. 7. He finished his career with 101 passing touchdowns to just 19 interceptions with the Red Dragons and added 1,785 career yards on the ground with 20 rushing touchdowns. Boyes led Cortland to a 34-4 record in three seasons as a starting quarterback.
Last season, Boyes, a native of Buffalo, NY, led Cortland to the Stagg Bowl Championship, was Stagg Bowl 50 MVP and earned 2023 Associated Press First Team All-American honors. He is a three-time All-Empire 8 first team selection.
Boyes is a physical education major at Cortland with a 3.27 cumulative grade point average entering the 2024 fall semester. A three-year team captain, Boyes has volunteered this fall working with at-risk middle school students at Cortland Junior High School. He's a four-year member of Cortland's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, has served as a volunteer coach at youth football camps in his hometown, and has led various community service projects for the football program at Cortland.
Boyes is Cortland's third Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist in four years; in addition to his honor last year, quarterback Brees Segala was a 2021 semifinalist. Cortland also has had two previous Gagliardi Trophy finalists - quarterback (and current Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator) Dan Pitcher in 2011 and defensive lineman Adam Haas in 2006 - under a previous format where 10 players were recognized with that title.
The 18 semifinalists for the 2024 Gagliardi Trophy are:
Dante Aviles-Santos, Sr., QB, UMass Dartmouth
Brody Bantolina, Jr., RB, Pacific
# Zac Boyes, Sr., QB, Cortland
# Destin Chance, Sr., QB, Illinois College
# Robert Coury, Sr., LB, Carnegie Mellon
Josh Ehrlich, Jr., QB, Susquehanna
A.J. Jackson, Sr., RB/WR/KR, Lake Forest
Matt Jung, So., S, Bethel
*# Luke Lehnen, Sr., QB, North Central
Jacquez Mabin, Sr., DL, Delaware Valley
Nathan McCahill, Sr., QB, DePauw
Charlie Patterson, Sr., LB, Hardin-Simmons
Jacob Pugh, Sr., QB, Washington & Jefferson
Montie Quinn, Jr., RB, Curry
Arsen Shtefan, Sr., RB, Springfield
Brandt Stare, Sr., WR, Wisconsin-Platteville
Jack Studer, Sr., WR, Wisconsin-La Crosse
# Aaron Syverson, Sr., QB, St. John's (Minn.)
# 2023 Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist
* 2023 Gagliardi Trophy winner