University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Nelson Named Academic All-American
12/9/2019 11:28:00 AM | Football
Luke Nelson earned second team Academic All-America honors
AUSTIN, Texas – For the first time since 2005 Northern Colorado football has an Academic All-America selection on its roster. Senior linebacker Luke Nelson earned a spot on the second team of the CoSIDA Academic All-America team announced on Monday.
Nelson is a Criminology & Criminal Justice major with a 3.97 GPA. On the field, he led the Bears with 112 tackles adding in 1.5 for a loss, an interception, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Nelson was near the top of the Big Sky in tackles per game with 9.3 to rank seventh. He earned All-Big Sky honorable mention honors from the conference.
To go with his All-Big Sky honor he was also was one of 13 student-athletes named to the Big Sky's Football Community Service Team.
Nelson is one of five Big Sky student-athletes to be named an Academic All-American. He is joined by defensive lineman Kyle Finch of Montana State, offensive lineman Dakota Wilson of Idaho State, linebacker Dante Olsen of Montana and defensive back Tiger Garcia of UC Davis.
The 2019 Academic All-America Division I Football Team selected by CoSIDA features 21 members with a 4.0 GPA and 36 members with at least a 3.90 GPA as either undergraduate or graduate student-athletes. The 25 members on the first team have an average GPA of 3.95.
The last Bear to be named an Academic All-American was Reed Doughty in 2005 when he was on the first team. Nelson is the 14th Bear to ever earn Academic All-America honors.
List of Northern Colorado Academic All-America Honors
To stay up to date on all things UNC football, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Nelson is a Criminology & Criminal Justice major with a 3.97 GPA. On the field, he led the Bears with 112 tackles adding in 1.5 for a loss, an interception, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Nelson was near the top of the Big Sky in tackles per game with 9.3 to rank seventh. He earned All-Big Sky honorable mention honors from the conference.
To go with his All-Big Sky honor he was also was one of 13 student-athletes named to the Big Sky's Football Community Service Team.
Nelson is one of five Big Sky student-athletes to be named an Academic All-American. He is joined by defensive lineman Kyle Finch of Montana State, offensive lineman Dakota Wilson of Idaho State, linebacker Dante Olsen of Montana and defensive back Tiger Garcia of UC Davis.
The 2019 Academic All-America Division I Football Team selected by CoSIDA features 21 members with a 4.0 GPA and 36 members with at least a 3.90 GPA as either undergraduate or graduate student-athletes. The 25 members on the first team have an average GPA of 3.95.
The last Bear to be named an Academic All-American was Reed Doughty in 2005 when he was on the first team. Nelson is the 14th Bear to ever earn Academic All-America honors.
List of Northern Colorado Academic All-America Honors
| Year | Name | Position | Team |
| 1975 | Russel Boone | QB | 2nd |
| 1979 | Ray Sperger | DB | 2nd |
| 1980 | Ray Sperger | DB | 2nd |
| 1981 | Duane Hirsch | DL | 1st |
| 1981 | Ray Sperger | DB | 1st |
| 1981 | Kevin Jelden | K | 2nd |
| 1982 | Jim Bright | RB | 1st |
| 1982 | Randy McCall | DB | 2nd |
| 1983 | Eric Fagrelius | DL | 2nd |
| 1983 | Randy McCall | DB | 2nd |
| 1989 | Tom Langer | LB | 1st |
| 1989 | Mike Yonkovich | DL | 1st |
| 1990 | Tom Langer | LB | 1st |
| 1998 | Corte McGuffey | QB | 1st |
| 1999 | Corte McGuffy | QB | 1st |
| 2003 | Reed Doughty | DB | 2nd |
| 2004 | Reed Doughty | DB | 2nd |
| 2004 | Vincent Jackson | WR | 2nd |
| 2004 | Justin Zaitz | K | 2nd |
| 2005 | Reed Doughty | DB | 1st |
| 2019 | Luke Nelson | LB | 2nd |
To stay up to date on all things UNC football, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
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