Bill Knight Trophy

Bill Knight Trophy

Sport	College football
Teams	UMass Minutemen New Hampshire Wildcats

The Bill Knight Trophy is an annual trophy given to the Most Outstanding Player of the Colonial Clash, a college football rivalry game played between the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of New Hampshire. A new trophy is cast each year, therefore allowing the honoree to keep his award permanently.

History

The award is named after the long-time Sports Information Director at New Hampshire. Knight died in November 1985. In addition to his duties at UNH, Knight was a past President of the New England Sports Information Directors Association, a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee at the 1984 Winter Games and a recipient of the Irving T. Marsh ECAC Service Bureau Award. He also served as the Information Officer of the Yankee Conference. Knight was inducted into the University of New Hampshire 100 Club Hall of Fame on October 2, 1987. The trophy was first awarded to Tim Bryant of UMass in 1986, and has been given every year since to the player who gives the best performance in the annual contest.

Recipients

Year	Winner	Position	Team	Result	Location
1986	Tim Bryant	QB	UMass	UMass, 38–31	Amherst, MA
1987	Bob Jean	QB	UNH	UNH, 17–10	Durham, NH
1988	Dave Palazzi	QB	UMass	UMass, 64–42	Durham, NH
1989	Gary Wilkos	QB	UMass	UMass, 34–28	Amherst, MA
1990	Matt Griffin	QB	UNH	UNH, 36–18	Durham, NH
1991	Matt Griffin	QB	UNH	UNH, 35–28	Amherst, MA
1992	Jim Stayer	QB	UNH	UNH, 20–13	Durham, NH
1993	John Johnson	FB	UMass	UMass, 15–13	Amherst, MA
1994	Mike Foley	DE	UNH	UNH, 14–11	Durham, NH
1995	Jerry Azumah	TB	UNH	UNH, 32–29	Amherst, MA
1996	Jerry Azumah	TB	UNH	UNH, 40–7	Durham, NH
1997	Jerry Azumah	TB	UNH	UNH, 28–10	Amherst, MA
1998	Marcel Shipp	TB	UMass	UMass, 27–26	Durham, NH
1999	Adrian Zullo	WR	UMass	UMass, 34–19	Amherst, MA
2000	Stephan Lewis	TB	UNH	UNH, 24–16	Durham, NH
2001	Stephan Lewis	TB	UNH	UNH, 35–24	Amherst, MA
2002	Stephan Lewis	TB	UNH	UNH, 31–14	Durham, NH
2003	Jason Peebler	WR	UMass	UMass, 44–30	Amherst, MA
2004	Steve Baylark	TB	UMass	UMass, 38–21	Durham, NH
2005	David Ball	WR	UNH	UNH, 34–28	Amherst, MA
2006	Jason Hatchell	DE	UMass	UMass, 28–20	Durham, NH
2007	Matt Lawrence	TB	UMass	UMass, 27–7	Amherst, MA
2008	Matt Parent	LB	UNH	UNH, 52–21	Durham, NH
2009	Jon Hernandez	TB	UMass	UMass, 23–17	Amherst, MA
2010	Matt Evans	LB	UNH	UNH, 39–13	Foxboro, MA
2011	Dontra Peters	TB	UNH	UNH, 27–21	Foxboro, MA

Notes

• Quarterbacks won the first seven awards. No quarterback has won since.
• No player from the losing team has been awarded the trophy.
• Four Bill Knight Trophy winners have gone on to play in the NFL: Jerry Azumah, Marcel Shipp, Steve Baylark, and Matt Lawrence.

See also

• Colonial Clash
• UMass Minutemen football
• New Hampshire Wildcats
• List of NCAA college football rivalry games