2015 Football Roster
Jake Elliott
- Position:
- PK
- Ht./Wt.:
- 5-10 / 165
- Class:
- Junior
- Hometown:
- Western Springs, Ill.
- HS:
- Lyons Township HS
- Prev School:
- Lyons Township HS
Career
Four-year starter at kicker … Graduates from the University of Memphis with a bachelor’s degree in marketing management May 6, 2017 … Finished career as one of the top kickers and most-decorated players in school history … His 445 points rank among FBS’ all-time top-10 scoring by a kicker … School’s record-holder for consecutive PAT made with 202 straight ... Also holds school’s all-time scoring record with 445 points (202 PAT/81 FG) … Moved past Stephen Gostkowski (369 points) and DeAngelo Williams (362) to take the program’s all-time scoring mark ... First on career chart for most points by kicking ... Became only second player in program history to lead team in scoring all four seasons, joining former kicker John Butler (1986-89) in that club ... Holds Memphis kicking all-time kicking records for points kicking (445 points), PAT made (202), PAT attempts (202), FG made (81) and FG attempts (104) ... First in school history in FG percentage (77.9; 81-of-104) ... Holds school record for longest FG with his 56-yarder at USF in 2013 ... Has kicked four of the five longest FG in program history, including the top four (56, 54, 53, 53) ... Of his 330 kickoffs, 210 were touchbacks (63.6 percent) ... Career kickoff yardage average is 63.7 yards.
Honors (Academic/Athletic)
Academic: 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-America first team and the program’s first CoSIDA Academic All-America first teamer since 1992 … Named the 2016 American Athletic Conference Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year and received a $2000 scholarship for graduate or professional studies … Earned Senior CLASS Award All-America second team recognition … 2016 selection to the National Football Foundation (NFF) Hampshire Honor Society … Three-time American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team member (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16) ... Seven-time Dean’s List student (2013 fall, 2014 spring, 2014 fall, 2015 spring, 2015 fall, 2016 spring, 2016 fall) ... Registered a 4.0 grade-point average for the 2016 spring semester ... Also a Tiger 3.0 Club member all seven semesters ... Earned Tiger Academic 30 distinction for the 2014 and 2015 spring ... Tiger Academic 30 recognizes the top-30 GPA in the athletics department, including the top GPA from each program … Received the University of Memphis’ top male student-athlete honor, the Zach Curlin Award, at the athletics department’s 2016-17 awards program …
Athletic: A 2016 Athlon Sports magazine preseason All-America third team pick ... Four-time Lou Groza Award nominee (2013-16) ... Award is given annually by Orange Bowl Committee to the nation’s top place-kicker ... A 2015 Groza finalist (one of three) and attended the ESPN/Home Depot 25th annual College Football Awards ceremony in Palm Beach County, Fla. ... Four-time Groza semifinalist (2013-16) ... One of four freshmen named a 2013 Groza semifinalist ... A 2015 USA Today All-America first team selection ... Also earned 2015 All-America second team recognition from the Association Press (AP) and Walter Camp Foundation ... Four-time All-American Athletic Conference first team pick (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) … First player in American Athletic Conference history to earn all-league first team honors all four years ... Two-time American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year (2014, 2015) ... For his career, a nine-time American Athletic Conference Special Team Player of the Week honoree, which is a conference record ... Received weekly recognition from the league twice as a freshman (Houston, USF), junior (Bowling Green, Tulane) and senior (Tulane, SMU) and three times as a sophomore (Tulsa, Temple, Connecticut) ... Three-time Lou Groza Award Star of the Week recipient (twice in 2013, Houston/USF; once in 2014, Tulsa) … Played in the 2017 Senior Bowl.
2016 (Senior)
Led team in scoring for a fourth-consecutive season … Scored a team-high 121 points on 58-of-58 PAT and 21-of-26 FG … Third-straight 100-point campaign, becoming only the second player in school history with three 100-point seasons (Stephen Gostkowski is the other to do so) … Finished career converting on all 202 PAT attempts … Broke school’s all-time scoring record with 445 points (202 PAT/81 FG) … Also set the program’s FG made career record (81) … Ranked among The American’s top kickers in scoring (2nd), FG made (1st), FG percentage (1st) and PAT percentage (1st) … Finished fourth in The American in scoring (all players) … Had eight double-figure scoring games … Netted a season-high 15 points (3-of-3 FG/6-of-6 PAT) in a road win at SMU … The 15 points were one shy of tying his career high (16 vs. Tulsa in 2014) … Connected on a single-game record and career-high 11 PAT in a home win over Bowling Green (11-of-11) … Hit 12-of-15 FG from 40 yards or longer, including 2-of-3 from 50-plus yards … Both 50-yard FG were 50 yards in wins over Kansas and Tulane … Had a career-high 12 kickoffs in a home win over Bowling Green … Tied a career-best with 10 touchbacks vs. the Falcons … Had four games in which he had a season-high 65.0 kickoff yards average (Kansas, Temple, Tulsa, Houston) … Played a big role in Memphis having the nation’s second-best kick-return defense (16.04 ypr) … Kick-return defense also was first in The American … Had no kickoff returned for a TD … Recorded 64 touchbacks on 92 kickoffs (69.6 percent) … His 64 touchbacks led the American Athletic Conference and were third nationally.
2015 (Junior)
Scored a team-best 132 points on 63-of-63 PAT and 23-of-28 FG ... Led Tigers in scoring for a third-consecutive year ... The 132 kick-scoring points bested his own school record of 120 point he set in 2014 ... His 132 points (overall scoring) are the second-most for a season in program history, trailing only DeAngelo Williams’ 138 points in 2004 ... The 63 PAT broke his own season mark of 57 that he set in 2014 ... His 23 FG tied the school season record set by Joe Allison in 1992 ... Led the American Athletic Conference in kick-scoring (132 points), PAT (63), FG (23) and PAT percentage (100.0) ... Second in the league in overall scoring (trailed only Navy’s Keenan Reynolds’ 144 points) and fourth in the conference in FG percentage (82.1) ... Averaged 64.3 yards on 99 kickoffs ... Had 74 touchbacks and only three out-of-bounds kicks ... Part of nation’s second-best kick return defense, allowing only 15.5 yards on 22 returns ... Helped team set school season records for most points (522) and most PAT (63) and tie school season mark for FG (23) ... Memphis had nation’s 11th-best scoring offense (40.1 ppg) ... Scored double figures in seven games ... Tied his season-high for PAT (9-of-9) in a game in victories over Missouri State, Tulsa and SMU ... Connected on a season-high four FG in a road setback at Temple ... Scored a season-best 14 points (5-of-5 PAT/3-of-3 FG) in the thrilling 44-41 victory at Bowling Green ... Converted a key 52-yard FG early in third quarter at Bowling Green ... The Falcons scored just before halftime for a 27-17 lead, but Memphis answered with his FG to cut the lead to 27-20 and set up a second half of offensive fireworks ... Set a career-best for number of touchbacks (10) in a road win at Tulsa (season-high 11 kickoffs) ... The following week vs. Tulane, posted best kickoff yardage game (65.5 yards) ... Had seven touchbacks on nine kickoffs vs. the Bearcats ... Hit a season-long 53-yard FG vs. Auburn in the Birmingham Bowl.
2014 (Sophomore)
Played two seasons Scored 120 points on 21-of-32 FG and 57-of-57 PAT … Became the first player to score 100-plus points in a season since 2005 when both DeAngelo Williams and Stephen Gostkowski each did so … In program history, an individual player has scored 100-plus points in a season eight times … Scored 120 points by kicking, which ranks second on the season chart … Led the American Athletic Conference in per-game scoring (9.2 ppg) ... Also led the league with 1.62 FG/game … His 57 PAT are the second-most for a season in program history ... His 21 FG are the fourth-most in a season and just two FG off the school record of 23 set by Lou Groza Award winner Joe Allison in 1992 … Finished the year by scoring seven points or more in seven-straight games (all Tigers’ wins) … Kicked at least one FG in the season’s final 11 games ... Had multi-FG games seven times ... Of his 87 kickoffs, 51 were touchbacks (58.6 percent) … Opponents starting field position following kickoffs was the 22 yard line … Kickoff prowess helped Memphis’ special teams rank 17th nationally in kickoff return defense (18.2 yards) ... His first FG of 2014 were vs. Middle Tennessee, hitting from 27 and 29 yards out … Converted 4-of-5 FG and scored a career-high 16 points by kicking in a 40-20 win over Tulsa … After missing a 39-yard FG into the wind in the first quarter, hit attempts from 51, 37, 47 and 53 yards out … The 53-yard FG tied for the third-longest in school history … Hit a perfect 4-of-4 PAT vs. the Golden Hurricane ... Accounted for 10 of the team’s 16 points in a 16-13 win at Temple ... The win at Temple made Memphis bowl eligible for the first time since 2008 … Nailed a 31-yard FG as time expired to clinch the victory over the Owls … In addition to kicking two FG, made all seven PAT in the American Athletic Conference title-clinching win over the Huskies … His most-clutch place-kick of the season came in the Miami Beach Bowl … Booted a 54-yard FG at the end of the first overtime to extend the contest to a second extra session ... Memphis won the game 55-48 in the second overtime ... His 54-yard FG was the longest in an overtime period in FBS history … His 54-yarder also tied for the fourth-longest FG in bowl game history and was the longest in a bowl game since 2004 … The 54-yard kick was the second-longest FG in program history and tied for the fifth-longest FG of the 2014 season.
2013 (Freshman)
Connected on 16-of-18 FG (.889) and 24-of-24 PAT for a team-high 72 points scored … Season field goal percentage tied for 16th-best among FBS kickers … Only FBS kicker to attempt three or more FG of 50-plus yards and conver every attempt (50, 52, 56) ... Was 7-for-8 on 40-plus yard FG (.875) … Established a school record and tied a 2013 season-long with a 56-yard FG in a road win at USF … Bested the previous record of 53 yards set by Stephen Gostkowski against Marshall in 2005 … His 16 FG tied for the fifth-most in a season and also tied mark for most in a season by a freshman ... His 72 points scored by kicking ranks sixth on the season charts … Of his 50 kickoffs, 21 were touchbacks and only one was out-of-bounds … Led team with seven tackles on kickoff returns (all solo stops) … Began career by making first 11 FG … Made all five FG at Houston, including his first career 50-yarder (33, 50, 24, 42, 38) … His 15 points kicking vs. the Cougars is fifth-most for a game in school history … The 15 points-kicking performance was the most points since Stephen Gostkowski’s 17 points vs. Arkansas State in 2004 … Also had three tackles vs. Houston … Booted a 52-yard FG against SMU … Converted all three FG vs. USF (19, 56, 34) …. His school-record 56-yarder hit the crossbar and bounced through for a 6-0 lead with :12 left in the first half.
High School
Played for head coach Kurt Weinberg at Lyons Township High School ... Named 2012 Kohl’s Kicking All-America second team after a senior season in which he made 15-of-21 FG … Also connected on 43-of-44 PAT as a senior … Named a 2011 ESPNHS Underclass All-American his junior season … Earned 2011 Chicago Tribune All-State first team recognition ... Drilled a 52-yard FG as time expired to lift the Lions to a 16-14 Homecoming win over Oak Park River Forest … Made all 28-of-28 PAT and 12-of-13 FG as a junior.
Personal
Son of Bruce Elliott and Diane Stoub ... Born in Lagrange, Ill. ... Birthday is January 21 ... Has an older sister, Karen ... A marketing management major.
