PHILADELPHIA-Temple junior quarterback Walter Washington was the recipient of the Philadelphia Region College Player of the Year Award at the 43rd annual Bert Bell Memorial Awards Dinner, held Tuesday evening at the Hotel Regency on South Columbus Boulevard. NFL Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen was presented with the Bert Bell Award for Lifetime Achievement at the event that also honored Philadelphia Eagle players Jon Runyan, Dhani Jones and Koy Detmer with Hero Awards.
Washington was the top scorer among Division I-A quarterbacks with 92 points (8.36 avg.) and led the nation in rushing touchdowns by a signal-caller with 15, setting the Big East record for a quarterback and tying the Temple mark for total scores in a season (Paul Palmer; 1986).
Washington led the Big East with 3,096 total yards (281.5 avg.), to become Temple's first 3,000-yard player. He bettered the school's previous mark for total offense (2,577) set by Henry Burris in 1994 by 519 yards. He set a Big East and Temple record for yards rushing by a quarterback in a season with 889 net yards (1,104 total) and was responsible for the Owls' final 16 touchdowns, while accounting for 25 of 29 (86%) overall. Washington led the Big East and ranked 11th nationally in total offense (281.5), 20th in point responsibility (13.82) and 21st in scoring. He set the Big East and Temple record for total plays with 554. His 2,207 passing yards ranks second and 889 rushing yards is 10th in Temple's single season annals.
Washington, who received the Owl Award as Temple's Most Valuable Player in voting conducted among his teammates, was named to the All-Big East Conference Second Team in a vote by the league's head coaches.
