TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — WKU Football wide receiver Jerreth Sterns has been voted a Semifinalist for the 2021 Biletnikoff Award, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club (TQC) Foundation, Inc. announced Monday. The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the season’s outstanding FBS receiver in college football, regardless of position.
Sterns is the first Hilltopper to be recognized as a Biletnikoff Award Semifinalist since Taywan Taylor in both 2015 and 2016.
The Waxahachie, Texas, native is 1-of-10 semifinalists, and the only Conference USA player on the list. He is only 1-of-2 Group of 5 receivers, along with Utah State’s Deven Thompkins. He was previously added to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List on October 6.
Over ten games, the wideout has accounted for 111 receptions for 1,368 yards and 11 touchdowns, leading the Hilltoppers in all three categories. Sterns’ 111 catches lead the next-closest FBS receiver by 23 (USC’s Drake London has 88), his 1,368 receiving yards rank second in FBS to Thompkins (1,441) and his 11 touchdowns are tied for the FBS lead with four other receivers.
Sterns has at least seven catches in all 10 games, and double-digit receptions in six contests. He has at least 82 receiving yards in all 10 games, and seven 100-yard performances. His six double-digit reception games leads FBS, while his seven 100-yard efforts are tied for second.
Sterns’ 136.8-yard average extrapolates to 1,778 over a 13-game season and 1,915 over a 14-game season, which would rank as the 16th or fourth-best campaign ever by an FBS receiver. Meanwhile, his 11.1-catch average extrapolates to 144 over a 13-game season and 155 over a 14-game season; either would rank as the third-best season ever by an FBS receiver.
With 331 career catches in 37 games played, Sterns is college football’s active leader with 8.95 receptions per game. He also has 3,329 career receiving yards and 29 touchdowns, including seven multi-score games. In those 37 contests, he has 15 100-yard receiving efforts and 16 double-digit reception performances.
Five previous WKU players have received Biletnikoff Award recognition; Taylor and Jared Dangerfield were named to the Preseason Watch List in 2015, then during the season tight end Tyler Higbee was added. Then in 2016, Taylor and Nicholas Norris were named to the Preseason Watch List in 2016. In 2019, Lucky Jackson was added to the Watch List during the season on November 11 of that year.
Votes from over 600 members of the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee were tallied over the past week. The other nine semifinalists for 2021 are: Thompkins, Pitt’s Jordan Allison, Purdue’s David Bell, Penn State’s Jahan Dotson, North Carolina’s Josh Downs, USC’s Drake London, Ohio State’s Chris Olave, Wake Forest’s A.T. Perry and Alabama’s Jameson Williams.
The name Biletnikoff is synonymous with the term receiver. Fred Biletnikoff, a member of the pro and college football halls of fame, was a consensus All-America receiver at Florida State University, and an All-Pro receiver for the Oakland Raiders. He caught 589 passes for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns in his 14-year Raiders career from 1965 through 1978. Fred was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XI.
The correlation between Biletnikoff Award winners and stardom in the National Football League is nearly uniformly consistent. Past Biletnikoff Award winners include Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss, Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper, the late Terry Glenn and Larry Fitzgerald.
The 2021 Biletnikoff Award winner will be presented the Biletnikoff Award trophy at the Biletnikoff Award Banquet & Celebration at the University Center Club at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Saturday, March 5, 2022.
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