Players Mentioned
S
/ Football
OL
/ Football
Matt Dobson Named First-Team Academic All-American
12/3/2015 11:53:00 AM | Football, Student-Athlete Services
Senior earns national honors for second year in a row
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern student-athlete Matt Dobson was named today to the 2015 Academic All-America Football first team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). It is the second appearance for the Eagle on the national academic All-America team with Dobson earning second-team national honors in 2014.
Individuals must have had a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale and be a starter or key reserve to be nominated and Dobson advanced to the national team after being selected to one of eight all-district teams.The CoSIDA Academic All-America program recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.
"It is a huge honor to be named an Academic All-American," Dobson said. "I'm thankful for all the support and opportunities this university has provided me throughout my years here on the field as well as in the classroom."
From Monticello, Florida, Dobson, a three-year starter at safety, has a 3.71 GPA in history and is on track to graduate in the spring. Dobson was one of 197 football players across all divisions to be up for the 2015 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and was one of 80 FBS players on the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List. Both awards are given for exemplary off-the-field work. He was also one of 30 up for the Senior CLASS Award, and was one of 135 semifinalists for the Campbell Trophy, which awards postgraduate scholarships.
"Matt is exactly what you're looking for in terms of a student-athlete," said Willie Fritz, head football coach. "He takes care of his business 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He's able to manage his time with football, with academics and with doing things right off the field. He's very involved in community service. I'm just really proud of him and proud of our program for having a guy like him representing us."
Dobson finished his junior campaign with 62 tackles and three interceptions to earn second-team All-Sun Belt honors. He helped the Eagles preserve the victory and win the Sun Belt title with a pass break up inside the 1-yard line the final seconds against ULM in last year's finale. This season, despite missing a few games with an injury, he is still fourth on the team in tackles with 42 and has an intercpetion and four pass break ups.
He was named to the Georgia Southern President's List for posting a 4.0 in the 2015 spring semester. A four-year member of Georgia Southern's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Dobson is very active in the community. He volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club and for Special Olympics and has participated in Relay for Life and Walk a Mile in Her Shoes in addition to Real Men Read and Red Ribbon Week at William James Middle School.
Moriah Bellissimo, a volleyball student-athlete, was the most recent Georgia Southern Eagle selected to the Academic All-America first team with her honors coming in 2012. Voncellies Allen, who was a first-team pick in 1999 after landing on the second team in 1998, is the only other Eagle football player to earn the national honor twice.
Below are all of the previous Academic All-Americans from Georgia Southern
1976: Baseball - Benjie Moore (2nd, 2B)
1995: Football - Rob Stockton (1st, DB)
1995: Football - Edward Thomas (2nd, DL)
1996: Softball - Vanessa Fawcett (3rd, P)
1997: Women's At-Large - Rachel Tolliver (3rd, Soccer)
1998: Baseball - Jody Pollock (3rd)
1998: Football - Voncellies Allen (2nd, DL)
1999: Football - Voncellies Allen (1st, DL)
2003: Men's At-Large - Ulrich Ebensperger (2nd, Tennis)
2010: Softball - Nina Iduate (1st, Infield)
2011: Women's At-Large - Caroline Bevillard (3rd, Swimming)
2012: Women's Volleyball - Moriah Bellissimo (1st)
2014: Football - Matt Dobson (2nd, DB)
2014: Football - Garrett Frye (2nd, OL)
2014: Volleyball - Kym Coley (3rd)
2015: Football - Matt Dobson (1st, DB)
Individuals must have had a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale and be a starter or key reserve to be nominated and Dobson advanced to the national team after being selected to one of eight all-district teams.The CoSIDA Academic All-America program recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.
"It is a huge honor to be named an Academic All-American," Dobson said. "I'm thankful for all the support and opportunities this university has provided me throughout my years here on the field as well as in the classroom."
From Monticello, Florida, Dobson, a three-year starter at safety, has a 3.71 GPA in history and is on track to graduate in the spring. Dobson was one of 197 football players across all divisions to be up for the 2015 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and was one of 80 FBS players on the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List. Both awards are given for exemplary off-the-field work. He was also one of 30 up for the Senior CLASS Award, and was one of 135 semifinalists for the Campbell Trophy, which awards postgraduate scholarships.
"Matt is exactly what you're looking for in terms of a student-athlete," said Willie Fritz, head football coach. "He takes care of his business 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He's able to manage his time with football, with academics and with doing things right off the field. He's very involved in community service. I'm just really proud of him and proud of our program for having a guy like him representing us."
Dobson finished his junior campaign with 62 tackles and three interceptions to earn second-team All-Sun Belt honors. He helped the Eagles preserve the victory and win the Sun Belt title with a pass break up inside the 1-yard line the final seconds against ULM in last year's finale. This season, despite missing a few games with an injury, he is still fourth on the team in tackles with 42 and has an intercpetion and four pass break ups.
He was named to the Georgia Southern President's List for posting a 4.0 in the 2015 spring semester. A four-year member of Georgia Southern's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Dobson is very active in the community. He volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club and for Special Olympics and has participated in Relay for Life and Walk a Mile in Her Shoes in addition to Real Men Read and Red Ribbon Week at William James Middle School.
Moriah Bellissimo, a volleyball student-athlete, was the most recent Georgia Southern Eagle selected to the Academic All-America first team with her honors coming in 2012. Voncellies Allen, who was a first-team pick in 1999 after landing on the second team in 1998, is the only other Eagle football player to earn the national honor twice.
Below are all of the previous Academic All-Americans from Georgia Southern
1976: Baseball - Benjie Moore (2nd, 2B)
1995: Football - Rob Stockton (1st, DB)
1995: Football - Edward Thomas (2nd, DL)
1996: Softball - Vanessa Fawcett (3rd, P)
1997: Women's At-Large - Rachel Tolliver (3rd, Soccer)
1998: Baseball - Jody Pollock (3rd)
1998: Football - Voncellies Allen (2nd, DL)
1999: Football - Voncellies Allen (1st, DL)
2003: Men's At-Large - Ulrich Ebensperger (2nd, Tennis)
2010: Softball - Nina Iduate (1st, Infield)
2011: Women's At-Large - Caroline Bevillard (3rd, Swimming)
2012: Women's Volleyball - Moriah Bellissimo (1st)
2014: Football - Matt Dobson (2nd, DB)
2014: Football - Garrett Frye (2nd, OL)
2014: Volleyball - Kym Coley (3rd)
2015: Football - Matt Dobson (1st, DB)
2026 Georgia Southern Football Ticket Video
Wednesday, February 25
The GATA Zone - Air Rifle
Thursday, February 19
Walk and Talk: J.I. Clements Stadium
Friday, February 13
2026 Baseball Pre Season Check in
Thursday, February 12
