[media-credit name=”Corie Holmes” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Three Weber State University football stars have been given honors to be placed on the College Football Performance Awards 2012 preseason watch list.

WSU senior running back C.J. Tuckett, senior quarterback Mike Hoke and junior wide receiver Shaydon Kehano have received recognition from the CFPA to potentially have successful seasons for the Wildcats this year, statistically speaking.

The CFPA comes from a national awards organization for Division I college football, covering both the FBS (Division I-A teams) and the FCS (Division I-AA teams). According to www.collegefootballperformance.com, the purpose of the awards is to “provide the most scientifically rigorous conferment in college football. Recipients are selected exclusively based upon objective scientific rankings of the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams.”

After a solid season and two strong performances in the final games of the year, Tuckett is one of four running backs in the Big Sky Conference whose names are on the watch list. Tuckett finished the 2011 football season with 84 carries for 662 yards and 10 touchdowns. Eight of the 10 touchdowns and 465 rushing yards came from Tuckett in the final two games of the season as the Wildcats faced Northern Arizona University and Portland State University.

During the spring, Tuckett participated in scrimmage games for the Wildcats. He said he is looking to build upon last year’s successes.

“We had a good session of spring ball,” Tuckett said, “and hope to carry some of that momentum over to the fall.”

Hoke is one of eight Big Sky quarterbacks with recognition by the CFPA for the 2012 preseason. Hoke, a WSU football team captain, will be coming off his first season as a starter for the Wildcats. The quarterback finished the season going 164 for 262 on passing completions/attempts. He threw for 2,080 yards overall and 19 touchdowns, and rushed for 130 yards and six touchdowns. Hoke also held the 12th-highest pass-efficiency rating in the nation at 150.2.

Hoke, who has been rehabilitating his shoulder following offseason surgery, tweeted that he is looking forward to getting back on the field and is trying to use his time effectively in order to recover.

“Another weekend down,” Hoke wrote, “another week about to begin to get better. (O)ne day closer to getting on the field.”

The CFPA recognized Kehano along with five other wide receivers from the Big Sky Conference. During the 2011 football season, Kehano led the team with 43 catches for 883 yards and eight touchdowns. He also holds the record, along with teammate Hoke, for the eighth-longest completed pass in WSU football history.

Kehano caught the 83-yard touchdown pass in a game against Idaho State University on Oct. 15 last season. He also pulled in a career high of 157 receiving yards that game. The Hawaii native started all 11 games for WSU last season and earned Big Sky All-Conference Honorable Mention honors.

Last season, the Wildcats had an overall record of 5-6. The team went 3-2 in its home matches and 2-4 in games away from WSU, and ended its Big Sky Conference play with a conference record of 5-3. WSU will kick off the 2012 season with two away games at Fresno State University, following a match in Provo, Utah, against the Brigham Young University Cougars. Conference play begins on Sept. 22 against Eastern Washington University at Stewart Stadium with the Wildcats battling for their homecoming game.