Stats Perform Release

LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University football quarterback Cole Doyle was named to the 2023 Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List presented by FedEx Ground, Stats Perform announced Wednesday.
 
The Walter Payton Award is presented annually to the top offensive player in the FCS based on regular season performance. Doyle is one of 35 total players and one of 17 quarterbacks on the list. He is joined by Sacred Heart running back Malik Grant as the only two Northeast Conference players represented.
 
Doyle finished last season as a Walter Payton Award Finalist and became the fourth player in program history honored on the list joining Kamron Lewis, Khairi Dickson and Kyle Harbridge. He became the first quarterback in program history to earn the recognition.
 
In 2022, he finished the season with a 65.3 completion percentage and 1,931 passing yards with 21 passing touchdowns and only three interceptions. He started six of the final seven games after he split time through the first five games.
 
He set a single-season program record with a 169.6 passing efficiency, which ranked fifth in the FCS, and his 21 touchdowns were fourth in program history. Doyle twice tied a single-game program record with five passing touchdowns and threw for the second-most passing yards with 411 in the NEC title game against Merrimack.
 
Saint Francis set a program record with nine total wins and earned its second NEC title in program history with a perfect 7-0 conference record last season. The offense, which consisted of four All-American selections, two major NEC yearly award winners and six All-NEC selections, averaged 41 points per game in conference play.
 
The 2023 season opens with Saint Francis' third FBS opponent in program history, Western Michigan, on Thursday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m.