Six UB Football Players Named Academic All-MAC
12/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
BUFFALO, NY – Six members of the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York football team were named to the 2015 Academic All-Mid-American Conference Team, the league announced on Tuesday. Tyler Grassman was selected to the team for the third time. Nick Gilbo, Matt Weiser and Ron Willoughby were second time honorees. Tyler O'Henly and Kevin Rogers were named to the team for the first time.
Grassman, a senior punter, is a business administration major with a 3.7 grade point average. He averaged a career-best 41 yards per punt on the season. A two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, Grassman was a semifinalist for the 2015 Campbell Trophy, given to the nation's top football scholar-athlete. He started all 48 games of his career and ranks second in school history in both career punts and career punt yardage.
Gilbo is a business administration major with a 3.2 grade point average. The senior linebacker had a breakout season for the Bulls in 2015, leading the team with a career-high 113 tackles – the most tackles by a UB player since 2010. He added a team-high 12 tackles for loss and ranked second on the team with 3.5 sacks.
Weiser is a communication major with a 3.5 grade point average. He had the finest season by a tight end in school history in 2015. His 63 receptions and 625 receiving yards were the most ever by a UB tight end. He was also named All-MAC First Team. Earlier this year, Weiser became UB's first Academic All-American in the Bulls FBS era.
A senior wide receiver, Willoughby is a social science interdisciplinary major with a 3.3 grade point average. He started all 12 games and led the Bulls with 806 receiving yards on 61 catches. He had a team-best six touchdown catches and averaged 13.2 yards per catch.
O'Henly is a business administration major with a 3.4 grade point average. He appeared in six games on the season and made the first start of his career at right tackle in the season finale against Massachusetts.
Rogers has a 3.2 grade point average and is undecided on his major. A redshirt-freshman, Rogers played in nine games on the season as a reserve tight end and on special teams.
The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.
