USD Football 1996

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national playoffs. He was set to graduate and go to medical school. Getting into medical school, however, proved prob– lematic, so he returned to Washington and Jefferson this fall to use up his last season of athletic eligibility. Baer-who missed his freshman season because of an injury-is the only returning player who received a first-place vote in last year's balloting. In '95, he passed for 1,536 yards and 19 touchdowns in just eight regular-season games. Bill Borchert arrived at Ohio's Mount Union College in 1994 with the improba– ble task of filling the shoes left by Jim Ballard, who had won the inaugural Gagliardi Trophy and is widely consid– ered the best Division Ill quarterback ever. Borchert doesn't have Mount Union fans asking "Jim who?" just yet, but with another season like '95, who knows? In addition to leading Division Ill in passing efficiency (Baer was second), Borchert threw for 30 touchdowns and nearly 2,300 yards last season. NCAA Division II: Hill Trophy should get offensive again A Heisman-like award to a defensive player? Never happen ...at least not until last year, when Ronald McKinnon, a line– backer on North Alabama's top-rated "Purple Swarm" defense, won the Har– Ion Hill Trophy as the best player in Divi– sion II. Don't expect more of the same this year. The Hill Trophy will undoubtedly return to a more predictable resting place-in the hands of either a quarter– back or a running back. (The tally since the Hill Trophy was first awarded in 1986 is five running backs, three quarter– backs, a wide receiver and a linebacker.) Randy Martin is the only returning player who finished among the top eight in the 1995 balloting. A 5-8, 190-pound senior running back for St. Cloud (Minn.) State, Martin averaged 158.4 rushing yards per game last year, third in Divi– sion II. In the process, the Wisconsin native scored 10 touchdowns and had his second consecutive season of over 1,000 yards rushing . Against Nebraska-

With Randy Martin (20) returning to St. Cloud State, the Harlon Hill Trophy appears to have an excellent chance to return to an offensive player in 1996.

Omaha, he ran for nearly 10 yards per carry (23 carries, 229 yards), roughly equaling what he did against Augustana in 1994 (238 yards, 27 carries). Two other running backs will be in the hunt for the award named after the small-college receiver who went on to become a three-time All-Pro with the Chicago Bears during the 1950s. Fred Lane, a senior at Lane College in Tennessee, was second in Division II in rushing last year with 183.3 yards per game. "Fred has outstanding balance and power to go along with his 4.4 speed, " Lane head coach John Gore said. "He has set a goal for '96 of 2,000 yards (after rushing for 1,833 yards last season)." Jarrett Anderson of Truman State (formerly Northeast Missouri State) was eighth in the Hill Trophy balloting as a sophomore in 1994, but dropped out of the race last season after a poor start statistically. However, he finished strong with two 200-plus-yard games to boost his rushing total for the season to 1,502 yards. Another solid candidate is Lance Fun-

derburk, a quarterback from Valdosta (Ga.) State. Funderburk understudied 1994 Hill Trophy winner Chris Hatcher for three seasons before coming into his own last year. Funderburk was second in Division II in total offense with 322.6 yards per game in '95, breaking the national records for attempts (544), com– pletions (356) and completions per game (32.4). hopes to grab Payton Award Division 1-AA's best football player receives the Walter Payton Award, which, ironically, running backs have rarely won. Since the award 's inception in 1987, it's been six quarterbacks (including the NFL's Steve McNair, Jamie Martin, Doug Nussmeier and John Friesz) and only three running backs (including Dave Meggett, currently of the New England Patriots), none since 1990. One of this year's top prospects is flanker-sorry, Walter- Dedric Ward, a senior at Northern Iowa who was NCAA Division I-AA: Northern Iowa's Ward

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