Wednesday, November 28, 2018
by Cody Bush, PFL Media Relations

ST. LOUIS, Mo.– Dayton redshirt senior running back Tucker Yinger was named the 2018 Pioneer Football League Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Wednesday, leading a group of 50 student-athletes named to the 26th Academic All-PFL Teams, as selected by the league’s athletic communications directors.

Yinger, of Columbus, Ohio, is finishing his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Dayton and has posted a 3.81 grade-point average during his academic career. In addition, to being named the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, he joins a select few to be a four-time First-Team Academic All-PFL honoree.

The College Sports Information Director of America has twice recognized Yinger as an Academic All-American®, as a second-team selection in 2016 and a first-team honoree in 2017. He is a nominee for the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America Teams®, which will be announced this week.

On the field, Yinger is a two-time First-Team All-PFL honoree after becoming the first Dayton running back to post back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns. This season, he became the primary target of opposing defenses and posted career bests in receptions and receiving yards before closing the 2018 campaign with three consecutive 200-yard outings. Yinger finished this season with 1,340 rushing yards (8th among FCS runners) and 1,730 all-purpose yards (7th among FCS all-purpose runners). He finished his Dayton career with a program-record 3,757 rushing yards and 4,468 all-purpose yards.

Yinger highlights a group of 10 PFL student-athletes to earn their second, third or fourth First-Team Academic All-PFL honor this season. The trio of three-time first-team honorees includes San Diego redshirt senior Anthony Lawrence, Drake senior defensive lineman Nathan Clayberg and Dayton senior defensive back David Leisring.

The seven first-team honorees earning their second Academic-All-PFL honor this season are Drake junior defensive lineman Jacob Bacon, San Diego redshirt junior offensive lineman Jake Michaels, Dayton senior defensive lineman Isaac Sexton, Dayton redshirt sophomore defensive back Tim Simon, San Diego redshirt senior defensive lineman Connor Spencer, and Stetson redshirt sophomore kicker Jonny Messina.

The Academic All-PFL teams are a complement to the Academic All-America™ program presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Eight PFL student-athletes were named to their respective Academic All-District Teams® this fall.

Pioneer Football League athletic directors established the Academic All-PFL squads in 1993 as a way to recognize the league’s outstanding student-athletes. To be eligible for Academic All-PFL consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00 and reached their second season both athletically and academically at his current institution.