National Football Foundation

Running Back
Biology – 3.87 GPA
Head Coach: John Stiegelmeier
Athletics Director: Justin Sell

The all-time leading rusher in the history of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, Zach Zenner is one of only two players in FCS history to rush for 2,000 yards in two separate seasons. The South Dakota State running back becomes the Jackrabbits’ second NFF National Scholar-Athlete.

A native of Eagan, Minn., Zenner is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, earning first team honors in 2013 and second team accolades in 2012. He is also a 2014 CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. In 2013, Zenner received the Joseph F. Nelson Undergraduate Research Award for colon cancer research. He is a two-time member of the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team and a recipient of the MVFC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award. The running back is a two-time member of the MVFC All-Academic team and a four-time MVFC honor roll member. Upon his graduation this December, he plans to pursue a career in medicine.

The two-year team captain is a two-time consensus First-Team All-American and a two-time finalist for the Walter Payton Award. As a sophomore, he led the nation in rushing with 157.7 yards per game, and he ranked second in the nation as a junior. Zenner holds the SDSU single-game rushing record with 295 yards, a mark he hit twice, and the single-season record for carries with 351 in 2013. Zenner is a two-time First-Team All-MVFC selection and has led the Jackrabbits to consecutive playoff berths in 2012 and 2013. The conference’s career leader in all-purpose yards, he currently ranks fourth in FCS history with 5,955 career rushing yards, and he is tied for the MVFC record with 52 career rushing touchdowns. The conference’s career leader in all-purpose yards, he currently ranks fourth in FCS history with 6,087 career rushing yards, and he owns the MVFC record with 54 career rushing touchdowns. Zenner has also caught 90 passes for 781 yards and six touchdowns in his historic career, giving him the conference record with a combined 60 career touchdowns.

A member of the 2014 AFCA Good Works Team, Zenner served multiple terms as president of SDSU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and he was also a student-athlete ambassador, testifying before South Dakota House and State appropriations committees regarding the passage of a bill to authorize the construction of a new on-campus football stadium. Zenner worked for three years with the State-A-Thon event to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Event, and he volunteered with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was signed by the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent after the 2015 NFL Draft.