NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois State senior linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh has earned several awards in the past week for his performance on the field, but on Tuesday he earned recognition for his work in the classroom when he was named to the 2022 Academic All-America® football team selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC).
Vandenburgh earned First-Team Academic All-America honors, after previously being named an Academic All-District selection by CSC. The Freeport, Illinois, native maintains a 4.0 cumulative GPA while pursuing his master's degree in sport management at Illinois State. During his undergraduate career, he also amassed a 4.0 GPA in exercise science at ISU.
Named the 2022 Missouri Valley Football Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league's sports information directors, Vandenburgh was selected as an MVFC All-Academic First-Team selection for the second-straight year and for the fourth time in his career.
The 2022 MVFC Defensive Player of the Year and Buck Buchanan Award top-3 finalist saved some of his best football for last as he posted a career-high 17 tackles, 3.5 sacks and tied a career-best with 4.0 tackles-for-loss in the Redbirds' season finale against Western Illinois. It gave him 100 tackles (51 solos) in a 10-game stat line that also included 21 tackles-for-loss (120 yards) and an FCS-leading 14 sacks.
A four-time MVFC Defensive Player of the Week honoree, Vandenburgh was also credited with one interception, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and four quarterback hurries in 2022. The Freeport, Illinois, native finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the FCS in sacks per game (1.40) and tackles-for-loss per game (2.1).
With his numbers in the season finale, Vandenburgh finished tied for second all-time on the single-season list in sacks with Ray Robinson (2003) and 5th in program history on the single-season list in tackles-for-loss. He also cracked the Top 3 in career sacks with 24.0 (3rd all-time passing Tony Jones) and tackles-for-loss with 43.5 (3rd all-time passing College Football Hall of Famer Boomer Grigsby).
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