Irving, Texas – Elon University senior quarterback Davis Cheek has been named a semifinalist for the 2021 William V. Campbell Trophy, college football's premier scholar-athlete award. Cheek is one of 36 student-athletes from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to be named among the 176 semifinalists.
 
For Cheek, it is the second time in which he had earned semifinalist honors, doing so for the 2020 season as well. The list of candidates boasts an impressive 3.66 average grade point average, with more than two-thirds of the semifinalists having already earned their bachelor's degree.
 
Cheek graduated Cum Laude from Elon with a degree in strategic communications and is currently working towards his MBA. He was the 2020 CAA Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a two-time member of Elon's Dean's List.
 
On the field, Cheek has been lighting up the stat sheet. He ranks 10^th in the nation in passing yardage and is one of only six quarterbacks with at least 225 yards passing in four contests through the first four weeks of the season. Most recently, he set a career-high with 384 yards passing Saturday against William & Mary and moved into second place in career passing yards at Elon. He has 33 career starts at Elon and helped the Phoenix to FCS Playoff appearances in both 2017 and 2018. Cheek ranks among the top four in Elon history in career touchdown passes, career completions and attempts, career completion percentage and career passing efficiency.
 
The National Football Foundation will announce 12-14 finalists on Oct. 27 and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. One member of the class will be declared as the winner at the 63^rd NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 7.