DAVIDSON, N.C. – Missouri State quarterback Jason Shelley (Sr., Frisco, Texas) was named as the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) FCS National Performer of the Week on Sunday (Sept. 11) for his role in the Bears’ win over No. 14-ranked UT Martin on Thursday.
The MSU quarterback had as many touchdown passes as incompletions in Missouri State’s week two win. He was 19-for-24 for 297 yards and a career-high five touchdowns, which tied a Bears single-game record. Shelley’s 14th straight 200-yard passing game included two clutch fourth-quarter TD passes to Ty Scott, the first of which put the Bears up for good and capped a 63-yard scoring drive. On fourth-and-one at the UTM 7-yard line, Shelley and the Bears went for the go-ahead score, and it paid off with a fade to Scott in the left corner to make it 28-24. Just over five minutes later, he hit Scott again, this time on a 22-yard crossing route, to put things out of reach, 35-24, with 4:37 to go.
A preseason All-American selection and Walter Payton Award Watch List honoree this fall, Shelley was also named as the Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Sunday.
Other finalists for CFPA National Performer of the Week were: Matthew Sluka (QB, Holy Cross), Mike DiLiello (QB, Austin Peay), Lindsey Scott Jr. (QB, UIW), and Demeatric Crenshaw (QB, Youngstown State).
The CFPA was organized in 2010 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.
Shelley is Missouri State’s first CFPA National Player of the Week since Dylan Cole (2014) earned National Defensive Player of the Week in his sophomore season.
The No.5-ranked Missouri State squad will travel to Arkansas this Saturday (6 p.m., SEC+) before returning to Robert W. Plaster Stadium on Sept. 24 to open MVFC play against South Dakota State (2 p.m.) on Family Weekend.
