2024 D3FOOTBALL.COM ALL-REGION 4 TEAM

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology football team played four student-athletes on the D3football.com All-Region IV Team, published on Wednesday morning by the national website.

Punter Andrew Toler followed up his AFCA 1st-Team All-American honors by being the lone 1st-Team All-Region selection for the Fightin' Engineers.

Running back Jay Smith, offensive guard Dylan Page, and special teamer Ryan Schmidt rounded out the all-Region honorees as the second-team selections.

Rose-Hulman's four honorees lead the HCAC this season as Mount St. Joseph earned three selections, the lone other team with multiple players on the teams.

Dylan Page was the top offensive lineman on an impressive Rose-Hulman offensive this season which had Smith break the single-season rushing yards record. The senior offensive guard and offensive tackle started all 10 games for the Fightin' Engineers for an offense that averaged 5.4 yards per play, the 11th most in a single season in school history. The 2023 Academic All-American earns his first-ever All-Region selection in his career.

Ryan Schmidt started all 10 games at safety for the Fightin' Engineers, but he also starred on special teams as a rusher off the edge on field goal attempts. Schmidt blocked two kicks for Rose-Hulman as the star of the special teams unit that held opponents to under 85% success rate on PATs. The sixth-year senior from Katy, Texas finished the season with 33 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 7 pass breakups, and a pair of interceptions to go along with his two blocked kicks.

Jay Smith led the Fightin' Engineers backfield by breaking Rod Schrader's 1983 single-season school record for rushing yards in a season with 1,297, and he also ran for the 3rd-most rushing touchdowns in a season with 16, the most since Carl "Rocky" Herakovich in 1958. He also broke Kyle Kovach's single-game rushing yards record with 252 and became the sixth different player to rush for 5 touchdowns in a game in the 52-10 win over Bluffton. Through his junior season, Smith ranks 13th in career rushing yards and 8th in career rushing touchdowns in Rose-Hulman history. Smith finished the season ranked top 12 in NCAA Division III in five different categories including 5th in rushing yards (1,297), 6th in rushing yards per game (129.7), 8th in rushing touchdowns (16), 10th in total touchdowns (18), and 12th in total points scored (108). The 1st-Team all-HCAC selection earns his first-ever All-Region honors.

Andrew Toler earned HCAC Special Teams Player of the Year for the first time and 1st-Team all-HCAC honors for the third consecutive season. He finished the season ranked 1st in Division III and 4th in all three divisions of the NCAA in yards per punt at 47.8 as he finished just one punt shy of qualifying for the all-time Division III record for yards per punt which currently sits at 46.2. He also hit 12 punts inside the 20-yard line and 17 punts over 50 yards including a 70-yard punt which is just the 8th 70+ yard punt in school history. The 2-time All-American punter broke the school record for yards per punt in a season by over two yards and currently holds three of the top 5 marks in school history, and he also broke the school record for career yards per punt with 41.5 in 175 punt attempts. This is the second consecutive season that Toler has earned a 1st-Team All-Region selection by D3football.com.

Rose-Hulman brought home a third-place finish in the HCAC with a 4-2 conference record and a 5-5 record overall. The Fightin' Engineers also had a 14th consecutive season at .500 or above under the leadership of head coach Jeff Sokol, who has a career record of 89-48 (79-24 HCAC). His 89 wins rank 38th in all of Division III for wins among active head coaches. The 2025 season begins at Cook Stadium on Saturday, September 6 as the Fightin' Engineers host the DePauw University Tigers at 7 PM for their home opener.