Caudill to Receive Award at Hall of Fame Banquet:
Freshman defensive tackle Jeremy Caudill will receive the National High School Scholar-Athlete Award as given by The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame on Tues., December 12, at the annual National Football Foundation Awards Luncheon in New York City.
Caudill is one of four student-athletes from across the country who will receive the award, which is based on achievements during the 1999-2000 academic year. The award is given to those who exemplify the term scholar-athlete, successfully combining the right mix of academics, athletics, and citizenship during their high school careers. Representing thousands of high schools across the nation, more than 3,000 scholar-athletes are honored each year by chapters of The National Football Foundation. From these, the NFF selects one scholar-athlete from each of its four regions to receive this prestigious recognition.
Caudill represents the NFF’s Midwest Region. He was nominated by the Jerry Claiborne Chapter of the National Football Foundation, which covers Central and Eastern Kentucky. The awards luncheon will be held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, and Caudill has been selected to give the acceptance speech on behalf of the four high school honorees.
“To be selected as one of only four scholar-athletes in the entire nation is quite a tribute to these young men,” said Jon Hanson,NFF Chairman. “Each year, we are amazed by the achievements of the honorees, and this year’s group is particularly extraordinary,with each recording a remarkable 4.0 grade-point average.”
Caudill, whose home is in Martin, Ky., graduated with a 4.0 grade-point average and ranked first in his class at PrestonsburgHigh School. Among his numerous awards, he received the State of Kentucky Scholastic Achievement Honor, the prestigiousRutherford Salyers Award as the outstanding senior student-athlete, the Presidential Award for Educational Excellence, and wasinvited to participate in the prestigious Merit Scholar Program at the University of Kentucky. He was a member of the NationalHonor Society, Who’s Who Among American High School Students, and Who’s Who Among American High School Athletes.
On the field, Caudill utilized a remarkable combination of size, speed, and strength to play as a defensive lineman and fullback. In addition to earning all-conference honors four years and all-state recognition twice, he gained national attention when being namedParade All-America, Street and Smith’s All-America, Prep Seniorand SuperPrep All-America and to the All-Southeast RegionDream Team. He also starred in weightlifting and track and still holds three state records in bench press, dead lift, and totalcombined weights.
Adding to a full slate of activities, Jeremy presided over the Science and Spanish Clubs as their president and was recognized asa Kentucky Scholar. He also tutored physically and mentally challenged students in high school, participated in the Walk for LifeCancer Drive, and was chairman of the Feed the Animals Drive at the local shelter, raised funds for the UNICEF and organized theschool’s annual blood drive.
Currently a freshman at the University of Kentucky, Caudill plans to major in biology as a pre-medical school curriculum. Onthe field, he started all 11 games at defensive tackle during the 2000 season. He made 20 tackles. He was credited with 6.5 tacklesfor loss (-27 yards), including two quarterback sacks (-18). He had one fumble recovery.
Jeremy is the son of John and Karen Caudill. In addition to Jeremy, the other three national winners include Timothy Kirby ofSan Mateo, Calif.; Wesley McConnell of Ruston, La.; and Joe Weiss of Linwood, N. J.
Wildcats in the Final NCAA Stats: Once again, Kentucky ranked among the national leaders in passing and total offense infinal statistics released by the NCAA for the 2000 season. The Wildcats were second nationally in passing offense with 335.4 yardsper game and 11th in total offense with 445.5 yards per game.
Individually, quarterback Jared Lorenzen was second in the nation in total offense (347.9 yards per game), pass completions(321), pass attempts (559), and passing yardage (335.2 yards per game). Kicker Seth Hanson made 15 of 17 field goals during theseason and was seventh nationally in field goal percentage (88.2 percent) and tied for 15th in field goals per game (1.36).
UK, Lorenzen Win SEC Statistical Championships: For the fourth consecutive season, Kentucky led the SoutheasternConference in passing offense and for the second time in four years under Coach Hal Mumme, UK has led the SEC in total offensiveyardage. In addition, quarterback Jared Lorenzen led the league in passing and total offense.
Here are UK’s rankings in the top three in the final SEC statistics:
Team
Passing Offense: 1st, 335.4 yards per game
Total Offense: 1st, 445.5 yards per game
First Downs: 2nd, 257 first downs (note: UK led the SEC in first downs per game with 23.4 per game)
Time of Possession: 3rd, 31:34 per game
Individual
Total Offense: Jared Lorenzen 1st, 347.9 yards per game
Passing Offense: Jared Lorenzen 1st, 335.2 yards per game
Field Goals Per Game: Seth Hanson 3rd, 1.36 per game
Field Goal Percentage: Seth Hanson 3rd, 88.2 percent
2000 Strength of Schedule: Here are some notes regarding UK’s strength of schedule for the 2000 season:
Nine of Kentucky’s opponents finished the season with winning records.
Eight of Kentucky’s opponents will play in bowl games; that is the second-highest number in the nation, as only Alabama who played nine opponents who are going to bowls played more bowl-bound opponents.
UK played six opponents in final top 30 computer rankings by Jeff Sagarin in USA Today; nationally, only Florida (seven)played more opponents in Sagarin’s final top-30 computer rankings.
Eight of Kentucky’s opponents were listed in the national AP or USA Today/CNNSI top 25 rankings at some point during the season.
UK played the second-toughest schedule in the SEC and 26th most difficult nationally, according to the Sagarin computer rankings.
