CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Junior kicker Maddux Trujillo added to Austin Peay State University's postseason awards haul Monday, earning United Athletic Conference's Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award and unanimous selection to the Academic All-UAC team as selected by the league's football athletics communications directors and academic coordinators.
In addition, graduate defensive back Michael Ruttlen Jr., and graduate offensive lineman Brady Odom joined Trujillo on the Academic All-UAC squad. The Academic All-UAC team recognizes the top 11 student-athletes across the UAC based on academic and athletic achievement.
Trujillo, a Flowery Branch, Georgia product, is on track to complete his bachelor's degree in finance in three years and had a 4.00 grade-point average entering this season. He also was a 2022 CSC Academic All-District Selection and has been on the Austin Peay Dean's List in all four semesters he has been at Austin Peay. Trujillo also earned the OVC Academic Medal of Honor during his freshman year in 2021-22.
Trujillo, who was named to the 2023 Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place-Kicker Award Watch List, ranked 17th in the FCS and third in the UAC with 87 total points scored during the 2023 season. He also ranked eighth in the FCS and second in the league among just kickers in total scoring. Trujillo also ranked 21st in the FCS and sixth in the UAC with 7.3 points per game; that mark was good for ninth in the FCS among only kickers and fourth in the conference. Trujillo also led the UAC with 48 made PATs.
Trujillo ranked 22nd in the FCS and fifth in the UAC with 13 total field goals made during the 2023 season while ranking second in the conference and seventh in the FCS with an 86.7 field goal percentage. Trujillo also ranked 22nd in the FCS and fourth in the conference with 1.18 field goals per game last season.
Trujillo's 86.7 field-goal percentage set the Austin Peay single-season record. He also broke the APSU career field goal record in just three seasons with 38 career field goals. Trujillo's 87 points scored are the seventh-best season in Austin Peay history and he now ranks second in program history with 242 career points.
Brady Odom, a Reno, Nevada native, graduated from Northern Colorado in May 2021 with a bachelor's in human services and is pursuing a master's in health and human performance with a concentration in performance enhancement and coaching at Austin Peay.
Odom started in 11 games for Austin Peay in 2023 with his first start coming at right guard in Week 2 against Tennessee before starting at left guard for the season's final 10 games. He helped Austin Peay's offense rank 10th in the FCS and led the UAC in scoring offense (34.1 ppg) while ranking 13th in the FCS in passing offense (274.1) and 16th in total offense (426.8) – the Govs ranked second in the UAC in both of those categories while setting the APSU record in both. Odom also helped block for the UAC's leading rusher and Austin Peay's first 1,000-yard rusher since 2011.
Michael Ruttlen Jr., of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, graduated from Princeton in May 2023 with a bachelor's in molecular biology and is pursuing a master's in public health at Austin Peay.
Ruttlen Jr. recorded 65 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, an interception, and a pass breakup in his lone season at Austin Peay. Ruttlen Jr. ranked fifth on the team in tackles but ranked second on APSU with 42 solo tackles in 2023. Ruttlen Jr. had an interception with a 19-yard return against Lindenwood and totaled a career-best 12 tackles against Eastern Kentucky.
Be sure to keep up with all the postseason awards and offseason news by following Austin Peay football on X and Instagram or checking back at LetsGoPeay.com.
