NORTHBROOK, Ill. – Gardner-Webb graduate student Chad Geter
earned a spot on the 2016 Preseason STATS FCS All-America Third Team on Monday,
another in a growing list of summer accolades for the outside linebacker.
It marks the 13th consecutive season that at least one
Gardner-Webb football student-athlete has earned preseason FCS All-America
honors. A total of 28 student-athletes have earned preseason FCS/I-AA
All-America honors since the 2002 season.
Geter (Irmo, S.C. / Dutch Fork HS) earned preseason All-Big
South Conference honors last week and was runner up for the league’s preseason
Defensive Player of the Year award – just eight votes behind Charleston
Southern end Anthony Ellis on a tight ballot.
The 6-foot-2, 253-pounder plays the SPUR outside linebacker
position for the Runnin’ Bulldogs, allowing him to use all the weapons in his
versatile skill set. Geter excels as a pass rusher, but is also adept dropping
into coverage – and sturdy against the run.
Geter is coming off his best season to date, leading
Gardner-Webb with 92 total tackles. He added 13.0 tackles for loss and 5.0
sacks for a defense that ranked No. 13 nationally in total yards allowed, No. 3
in third down conversion percentage and No. 7 against the pass.
A two-time All-Big South selection (2013, 2015), Geter was
twice named Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Week in 2015. He did
not rest on his laurels this offseason, enjoying a tremendous spring – one that
saw him run the 40-yard dash in 4.65 seconds despite carrying more muscle.
In his two full seasons as a starter, Geter has helped the
Gardner-Webb defense rank in the top-15 nationally in total defense. His
emergence in 2013 played a key role in that unit finishing ranked No. 5
nationally.
Geter has compiled 227 career tackles (136 solo), 27.5
tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks in 36 games played with Gardner-Webb. He missed
the final nine games of the 2014 season and was granted a medical redshirt.
Geter graduated from Gardner-Webb in May, 2016, and is
currently pursuing his MBA in Gardner-Webb’s Goldbold School of Business.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs open the 2016 season on the road,
traveling to face Elon at 3:30 pm on September 3.
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