Five student-athletes in the MVFC have earned Academic All-America honors as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).   Western Illinois center Jacob Judd headlines the group as the league's lone first-team selection.

Nominees must be a starter or important reserve with a minimum 3.30 cumulative grade point average. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore academic and athletic standing at their institution (freshmen are not eligible), and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.

FIRST TEAM
OL Jacob Judd, Western Illinois, Gr., 4.00 Law Enforcement & Justice Administration

SECOND TEAM
RB Marcus Weymiller, Northern Iowa, Jr., 3.96 Political Science
OL Wes Genant, South Dakota State, So., 3.97 Biochemistry
LB Dalton Cox, South Dakota State, Jr., 4.00 Economics / Entrepreneurial Studies
LB Brett Taylor, Western Illinois, Gr., 3.90 Sports Management


WESTERN ILLINOIS
Judd, who was selected to the Second Team last year and is a First Team honoree this season, is the second Leatherneck all-time (Perry Cox; 2004, 2005) to be named to two CoSIDA Academic All-American teams. Taylor is just the 12th Western Illinois football player to ever earn CoSIDA Academic All-American honors. The pair makes up two of five representatives from the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

Western Illinois' first CoSIDA Academic All-American First Team honoree since Kyle Glazier in 2010, Judd graduated in May 2016 with a 3.89 cumulative GPA in Law Enforcement Justice Administration. The Clinton, Iowa native currently holds a 4.00 GPA in that program's graduate program.
 
A First Team All-MVFC and Academic All-MVFC member this season and three-time all-conference and academic all-conference honoree, Judd helped the Leatherneck offense finish among the nation's top 30 in team passing efficiency (10th, 154.36), red zone offense (15th, 87.8), turnovers lost (18th, 13), scoring offense (19th, 34.2), time of possession (20th, 31:43), first downs (23rd, 241), third down conversions (24th, 42.2) and passing offense (29th, 241.3).
 
Invited to the STATS FCS Awards Banquet as a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the FCS' top defensive player, Taylor graduated in December 2016 with a bachelor's degree in Recreation Park and Tourism Administration. He currently owns a 3.90 GPA in the Sports Management graduate program at Western Illinois.
 
The MVFC Defensive Player of the Year, three-time All-MVFC and three-time Academic All-MVFC honoree, Taylor led the nation in tackles (162), stops per game (13.5) and assisted tackles (96). He won MVFC Player of the Week honors four times and also added 13.0 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, four breakups, two forced fumbles and one quarterback hurry on the season.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
A junior linebacker from Aberdeen, Cox earned a spot on the second team with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average as an economics and entrepreneurial studies major. On the field, Cox has started eight games and ranks fourth on the team with 56 tackles.
 
Genant, a sophomore offensive lineman from Parkston, also received second-team recognition by compiling a 3.97 GPA in biochemistry. Genant has started all 13 games this season at right guard as part of an offensive unit that is averaging 38.8 points and 444.2 yards of total offense per contest.
 
A total of 50 players — 25 on each the first and second teams — from Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision teams were selected by position for the honor squad.
 
SDSU has had at least two players honored on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team five seasons in a row and 10 of the last 12 seasons. Jackrabbit football student-athletes have been recognized as Academic All-Americans 24 times in the Division I era (since 2004) and 38 times in the program's history.

NORTHERN IOWA
Weymiller, who is majoring in political science and public administration at UNI, owns the highest GPA among CoSIDA All-Americans at the running back position after earning a 3.96. Weymiller is also minoring in law and politics at UNI and plans to attend law school upon graduation. 
 
The Waukon, Iowa native had a breakout performance against South Dakota State on Oct. 14, earning his first carry in over year as the junior gained 170 yards on 42 attempts (FCS season-high) against the Jackrabbits.
 
Before the addition of Weymiller to the Panther rushing attack, UNI averaged just 72 yards per game on the ground and had scored only one rushing touchdown. After the junior was inserted into the lineup, the Panthers doubled that rushing total to 148 yards per game, while earning 13 rushing touchdowns to close out the season.
 
Overall, Weymiller finished the season with 809 yards rushing on 200 carries and eight touchdowns. For the year, the junior eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark four times, while earning three multi-touchdown games on the ground.  After coming on strong to finish the season, Weymiller was honored with All-MVFC Honorable Mention.