CHARLESTON, S.C. – Nicholls State University junior quarterback Tuskani Figaro has been named to the 2014 CFPA Quarterback Award Watch List, as announced Monday by College Football Performance Awards (CFPA).
 
"Congratulations to Tuskani Figaro on earning a spot on this year's watch list," said CFPA Executive Director Brad Smith. "Figaro was a dynamic playmaker for Nicholls, which averaged 418.4 total offensive yards per game in 2013."
 
Figaro had a breakout season in his first year as a starter, setting the Colonels' single-season rushing record with 1,103 yards. He accounted for 15 touchdowns in 2013, ranked second in the Southland in rushing with 100.3 yards per game and tied a program single-season mark with five 100-yard rushing efforts which included a 281-yard game.
 
In addition to his running abilities, Figaro, who was named All-Southland honorable mention, passed for 1,135 yards with eight touchdowns, becoming the first Colonel to pass and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.
 
The initial watch list includes 36 returning performers, vying for the top quarterback award in the Football Championship Subdivision. All players are eligible for awards at their respective positions; players are not preemptively eliminated from consideration.
 
The goal of College Football Performance Awards is to provide the most scientifically rigorous conferments in college football. Recipients are selected exclusively based upon objective scientific rankings of the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams. Twenty-eight CFPA winners have been first-round NFL Draft selections.
 
The CFPA is now entering its seventh season analyzing player and team performance, utilizing objective rankings from its data index since 2008.
 
Last season, Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams earned the CFPA FCS National Performer of the Year Trophy. CFPA Trophy winner and former South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney was the first overall selection in the 2014 NFL Draft.
 
The full list of 2014 CFPA winners will be announced January 14, 2015.