Oct. 31, 2001

University of Illinois senior quarterback Kurt Kittner has been named one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Award, given to the top senior collegiate quarterback. Included among the elite list of candidates for the award are: David Carr (Fresno State), Eric Crouch (Nebraska), Joey Harrington (Oregon) and Zak Kustok (Northwestern).

The 2001 recipient will be announced Nov. 27, with the award presentation to be made in Louisville on December 7. NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas will attend the ceremony to make the official presentation at the Grand Ballroom of the Galt House East Hotel in Louisville. Florida State's Chris Wienke was last year's recipient of the award. "This is a great honor," Kittner said. "There are some really talented quarterbacks playing this year and I feel fortunate that our team's play has put me in position to be considered. When you look at the quarterbacks on that list you see athletes who can impact a game."

Kittner has led the 2001 Illinois squad to a 6-1 record and No. 18 national ranking heading into this weekend against No. 15 Purdue. He has passed for 1,839 yards and has thrown 14 touchdown passes. With his four-touchdown performance against Wisconsin, Kittner became the school's all-time touchdown pass leader with 57. He also threw for a career-high 401 yards against the Badgers, being named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

This season, Kittner has connected with seven different receivers for touchdowns and has completed 18 passes over 30 yards. Following his performance on Oct. 20, he broke into the Big Ten top-10 career passing list with 7,305 total yards.

Other past recipients of the Johnny Unitas Award include Don McPherson (Syracuse, 1987), Rodney Peete (USC, 1988), Tony Rice (Notre Dame, 1989), Craig Erickson (Miami, Fla., 1990), Casey Weldon (Florida St., 1991), Gino Torretta (Miami, Fla., 1992), Charlie Ward (Florida St., 1993), Jay Barker (Alabama, 1994), Tommie Frazier (Nebraska, 1995), Danny Wuerffel (Florida, 1996), Payton Manning (Tennessee, 1997), Cade McNown (UCLA, 1998) and Chris Redman (Louisville, 1999).