Indiana Wide Receiver Nick Westbrook Lands on Biletnikoff Award Watch List

Nick Westbrook looks to build off of a superb sophomore season in 2017. Image: Athlon Sports

IU Athletics Release

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana junior wide receiver Nick Westbrook is on the 2017 Biletnikoff Award Watch List, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club (TQC) Foundation, Inc., announced today. The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the outstanding receiver in college football.
 
A 2016 honorable mention All-Big Ten selection, Westbrook caught 54 passes for 995 yards (18.4 average) and six touchdowns. He led the team in yardage, TDs and yards per reception.
 
The Lake Mary, Fla., native ranked second in the Big Ten in yardage (38th nationally), third in average per catch (T-27th nationally), seventh in receptions and tied for seventh in scores. Westbrook's 995 yards rank seventh on IU's single-season list.
 
An Academic All-Big Ten honoree and business operations management major, he led the conference in 40-plus yard receptions (7, T-15th nationally), shared first in 70-yarders (2, T-8th), finished second in 30-yarders (11, T-19th), shared second in 60-yarders (2, T-24th) and 10-yarders (37), and shared third in 50-yarders (3, T-29th) and 20-yarders (16, T-35th). Westbrook posted three 100-yard games, which shared third in the B1G.
 
The award recipient is selected by the highly distinguished Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee, a group of prominent college football journalists, commentators, and former receivers. Foundation trustees do not vote and have never voted.
 
Receivers are periodically added to the watch list as their season performances dictate. Actual, not potential, performance is the basis for inclusion on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List.
 
The transparently detailed and explicit criteria for candidate eligibility, watch list inclusion, and voting appear at: BiletnikoffAward.com/criteria.   
 
The 2017 Biletnikoff Award winner will be presented live on Dec. 7, 2017, on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show to be broadcast 7-9 p.m. (EST) on ESPN. College Football Hall of Famer, Heisman Trophy winner, and Biletnikoff Award voter Desmond Howard will present the 2017 Biletnikoff Award winner on the show.  
 
The 2017 Biletnikoff Award winner will be presented the Biletnikoff Award trophy by college and pro football hall of famers Fred Biletnikoff and keynoter Floyd Little before 550 patrons at the Biletnikoff Award Banquet at the University Center Club at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018. The banquet was hailed by 2014 keynote speaker Dick Vermeil, as well as by 2013 keynoter Larry Csonka, as "the best banquet in college sports."
 
The banquet also recognizes the Foundation's scholarship recipients who will be offered by the Foundation over $800,000 in college and vocational scholarships and related benefits in 2018 alone, as in 2016 and 2017. The Foundation's charitable mission is the provision of college and vocational scholarships to North Florida high school seniors who have overcome significant barriers to achieve at the highest academic and extra-curricular levels.
 
The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc., will announce the ten Biletnikoff Award semifinalists on Nov. 13, 2017, following the vote by the members of the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee. Likewise, the three finalists will be declared, following another vote, on Nov. 21, 2017. For complete details and updates of interest, together with weekly statistics and timely, important news of the Biletnikoff Award candidates, as well as a fan vote and discussion board, please consult the Foundation's highly informative website at BiletnikoffAward.com.
 
The name Biletnikoff is synonymous with the term receiver. Fred Biletnikoff, a member of the pro and college football halls of fame, was an All-America receiver at Florida State University, and an All-Pro receiver for the Oakland Raiders. He caught 589 passes for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns in his 14-year Raiders career from 1965 through 1978. Fred was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XI. The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation (TQC), Inc., created the Biletnikoff Award in 1994.
 
Westbrook and Indiana will host Ohio State to open the 2017 season on Thursday, Aug. 31, at 8 p.m. EDT on ESPN. The teams will kick off a campaign facing each other for the fifth time (1938, 1952-54) and for the first time in Bloomington. IU last started the year against a Big Ten foe in 1982, a 30-0 whitewashing of Northwestern on Sept. 11.
 
The Hoosiers will host the fourth Thursday night game in Memorial Stadium history: Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 3, 2009 (W, 19-13); Towson on Sept. 2, 2010 (W, 51-17) and Indiana State on Aug. 29, 2013 (W, 73-35). IU jumpstarted its 2016 Foster Farms Bowl season with a Thursday evening 34-13 victory at Florida International on Sept. 1.

Tickets for Indiana's six home games are available by clicking here, by phone at 1-866-IUSPORTS or in person at the Assembly Hall Ticket Office. In addition to the Buckeyes, the Hoosiers will welcome Florida International (Sept. 16), Georgia Southern (Sept. 23), Michigan (Oct. 14), Wisconsin (Nov. 4) and Rutgers (Nov. 18).  

Indiana Football Preseason Honors
Biletnikoff Award Watch List - Nick Westbrook
Wuerffel Trophy Watch List - Rashard Fant
Butkus Award Watch List - Tegray Scales
Paul Hornung Award Watch List - Devonte Williams
Jim Thorpe Award Watch List - Rashard Fant
Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List - Rashard Fant, Tegray Scales
Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Watch List - Rashard Fant
Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List - Tegray Scales
Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List - Tegray Scales