July 16, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; July 16, 2013 - Penn State junior Allen Robinson (Southfield, Mich.), the 2012 Big Ten Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year, has been named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List, becoming the seventh Nittany Lion selected a candidate for an individual college football award.
The Tallahassee Quarterback Club (TQC) Foundation, Inc. sponsors the Biletnikoff Award, which recognizes the outstanding receiver in college football. Former Nittany Lion first-team All-American Bobby Engram was the recipient of the first Biletnikoff Award in 1994.
With the addition of Robinson, Penn State has pre-season candidates for eight individual awards thus far in 2013: Bednarik (DE Deion Barnes), Biletnikoff (WR Allen Robinson), Butkus (LB Glenn Carson), Mackey (TE Kyle Carter), Maxwell (RB Zack Zwinak), Nagurski (DE Deion Barnes) Outland (DT DaQuan Jones and G John Urschel) and Rotary Lombardi (G John Urschel).
Robinson flourished in Coach Bill O'Brien's dynamic, up-tempo offense in 2012 en route to Big Ten Receiver of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches, media, BTN.com and ESPN.com. Having made three catches for 29 yards in 2011, the vastly talented Robinson broke the Penn State season receptions record with 77 catches last year, shattering the previous mark of 63 held by All-Americans O.J. McDuffie (1992) and Bobby Engram (1995). Robinson's 77 receptions also obliterated the Penn State sophomore season mark of 48 that had been held by Engram (1993) and Deon Butler (2006).
A starter in all 12 games last year, Robinson's 1,013 yards marked just the third 1,000-yard receiving season in Penn State history as he joined Engram (twice) as the only 1,000-yard single season receivers to wear the blue and white. The former Orchard Lake St. Mary's Prep standout also broke Freddie Scott's school sophomore season record of 973 yards in 1994. His 11 touchdown catches were tied for second-highest in a season at Penn State, along with Engram (1995), who holds the record with 13 touchdown grabs in 1993.
The 6-3 Robinson led the Big Ten in catches (77), receptions per game (6.4), receiving yards (1,013, 84.8 avg.) and touchdown catches (11) last year. His 66 points and 1,013 all-purpose yards were second on the team.
The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. will announce the 10 Biletnikoff Award semifinalists on November 18, following the vote by the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee. The three finalists will be announced, following another vote, on November 25. For complete details and updates of interest, together with weekly statistics and news of the Biletnikoff Award candidates, please consult the Foundation website at www.biletnikoffaward.com.
The 2013 Biletnikoff Award winner will be announced December 12 on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show to be broadcast from 7-9 p.m. on ESPN.
O'Brien's squad returns 16 starters and 38 letterwinners for this year. Season tickets are available for the 2013 campaign. The Nittany Lions will host five bowl teams from 2012, including three teams that finished in the BCS Top 25: Michigan (Oct. 12-Homecoming, 5 p.m.), Nebraska (Nov. 23) and Kent State (Sept. 21). Purdue, Illinois, UCF and Eastern Michigan also will visit Beaver Stadium this fall.
Penn State opens its 127th season vs. Syracuse on August 31 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m.
For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and purchasing season tickets and for the Syracuse game, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Penn State Athletics is on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pennstatenittanylions) and Twitter (http://www.gopsusports.com/ot/socialmedia.html).