ST. LOUIS — QB Trey Lance of North Dakota State has been named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Year and the league's Freshman of the Year.  He heads a list of 24 student-athletes named to the 2019 Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer Team.  League coaches, sports information directors and a media panel selected the team.

2019 MVFC All-Newcomer Team (PDF)

Nine of the league's 10 schools had at least one honoree, while Illinois State and South Dakota State tied for the most selections with five apiece.  Of the 24 total honorees, 14 are freshmen or redshirt freshmen.

Lance, a Walter Payton Award and Jerry Rice Award nominee, is the first freshman to earn the MVFC's top offensive honor (Lance was named the MVFC's Offensive Player of the Year on Monday).  He's the fourth freshman to win both the league's Freshman and Newcomer of the Year honors.  Previous first-year players to sweep those two awards include QB Sawyer Kollmorgen (UNI) in 2012, RB Martin Ruiz (YSU) in 2013, and LB Jabril Cox (NDSU) in 2017.

A native of Marshall, Minn., Lance is the FCS leader in passing efficiency (187.5) and yards per passing attempt (9.99) and ranks second in completion percentage (.689).  He led NDSU to 12-0 record and No. 1 national ranking, while throwing 220 passes with 23 TDs and zero interceptions.  His 2,187 passing yards this year are sixth in MVFC history by a freshman QB, while Lance is the top rushing QB in the MVFC and second leading rusher at NDSU with 741 yards, 7.0 yards per carry and 10 TDs.  Lance had 301 total yards and six TDs in the season-opener against Butler to earn Offensive Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week. He was also Newcomer of the Week with 232 total yards and three TDs at Illinois State.