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JACKSONVILLE — Centre native Coty Blanchard was named the 2010 Freshman of the Year in the Ohio Valley Conference. The former Cherokee County Warriors star is a freshman quarterback/punter at Jacksonville State University. The Gamecocks open the NCAA playoffs Dec. 4 at home against Wofford.

Blanchard made an immediate impact for the Gamecocks, helping secure a victory over Ole Miss in his first game. Splitting time at quarterback, Blanchard completed 9-of-13 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

After the team trailed 31-13 entering the fourth quarter, Blanchard's touchdown pass with 6:17 left cut the margin to 31-26. But his two biggest plays would come in the second overtime, where he completed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Kevyn Cooper on fourth-and-long to tie the game. The Gamecocks then went for the two-point conversion, which saw Blanchard complete a shovel pass to win the game.

The two plays were named the Capitol One Impact Performance of the week on a national vote at ESPN.com and his play earned him National Offensive Player of the Week honors.

The win snapped a 50-game losing streak to FBS opponents for OVC teams and marked the first win for an OVC team over an SEC school since the league was formed in 1948 (OVC teams had previously been 0-22 against SEC teams). It also marked the first loss by an SEC squad to a FCS foe since 2004.

The rest of the season Blanchard filled the backup quarterback role, throwing touchdown passes in six games. For the season he completed 27-of-40 passes for 296 yards and eight TDs and rushed the ball 54 times for 282 yards and two scores.

As the team's starting punter, Blanchard averaged 39.5 yards/punt on 40 punts, with a long of 57 yards.