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Washington State’s Peyton Pelluer one of 64 FBS semifinalists for William V. Campbell Trophy

Eastern Washington  quarterback Gage Gubrud, right,  shakes hands with Washington State  linebacker Peyton Pelluer  after the Sept. 15 game  in Pullman. WSU won the game 59-24. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)

PULLMAN – Washington State’s Peyton Pelluer was announced Wednesday morning as a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, an award handed out annually by the National Football Foundation to the nation’s top football scholar-athlete.

Pelluer, a sixth-year senior linebacker for the Cougars, is one of 179 national semifinalists, one of 64 in the Football Subdivision and one of four from the Pac-12 Conference.

To qualify for the William V. Campbell Trophy, one must be a senior/graduate student in his final year of eligibility, carry a grade-point average of at least 3.2 (on a 4.0 scale), have “outstanding football ability” and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.

The 12-14 finalists will be announced by the NFF on Oct. 31. Each will earn a $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, in addition to a trip to New York City for the 61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 4. The winner will have his scholarship increased to $25,000 and win a $5,000 donation to support his school’s academic services department.

Pelluer has been named to the Pac-12 All-Academic second team each of the last four seasons and earned a spot on the CoSIDA District VIII All-Academic first team as a junior. The Sammamish, Washington, native earned an extra season of eligibility after a season-ending injury in 2017 and is currently working toward a postgraduate degree in education.

Past winners of the award include Peyton Manning (Tennessee), Chad Pennington (Marshall), Tim Tebow (Florida), Sam Acho (Texas), and last year’s recipient Micah Kiser from Virginia.

In addition to Pelluer, the other Pac-12 semifinalists are Cal’s Patrick Laird, Stanford’s Jesse Burkett and Utah’s Mitch Wishnowsky.