Roethlisberger Named Vern Smith Award Winner
12/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 3, 2003
OXFORD, Ohio - Junior quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (Findlay, OH/Findlay) completed a clean sweep of the Mid-American Conference's most prestigious awards this week, picking up the Vern Smith Award as the league's MVP after taking home first-team all-league honors Monday and MAC Offensive Player of the Year honors yesterday.
Roethlisberger, a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Award, has put together his best season to date, completing 69.1 percent (295-of-427) of his passes for 3,670 yards and 29 touchdowns, all new school single-season records. He is just the third quarterback in MAC history to pass for 3,000 yards in three seasons and, last week, he broke the 10,000-yard plateau for his career, making him just the 30th player in NCAA history and just the fifth MAC quarterback to accomplish the feat.
Roethlisberger enters Thursday's championship game as the MAC career leader in pass completion percentage at 65.2 percent (807-of-1,236), fifth in passing yards (10,013) and fourth in touchdown passes (76). He also ranks eighth nationally in passing efficiency and sixth in total offense (314.7 ypg) this season.
Roethlisberger joins former Miami greats, Terry Morris (1986) and Travis Prentice (1998), as former Vern Smith winners.
Roethlisberger garnered 16 of the 28 votes cast by league head coaches and media. Northern Illinois running back Michael Turner was named on four ballots, while Bowling Green quarterback Josh Harris and Western Michigan defensive lineman Jason Babin garnered two votes each. Earning the nod on one ballot each were Akron quarterback Charlie Frye, Marshall wide receiver Darius Watts, Kent State quarterback Joshua Cribbs and Toledo wide receiver Lance Moore.
After a 56-21 win at UCF last weekend, Roethlisberger and the RedHawks moved up in the national rankings and are currently ranked No. 11 in the Bowl Championship Series, No. 14 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 15 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. Miami heads into tomorrow night's MAC Championship game versus Bowling Green with one of the nation's most potent offenses, ranking fifth in the nation in scoring at 42.0 points per game.
2003 MAC Specialty Award Honorees:
Coach of the Year: Terry Hoeppner, Miami
Vern Smith Award (League MVP): Ben Roethlisberger, Miami
Defensive Player of the Year: Jason Babin, Western Michigan
Offensive Player of the Year: Ben Roethlisberger, Miami
Special Teams Player of the Year: Steve Azar, Northern Illinois
Freshman of the Year: Jerry Seymour, Central Michigan