DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University football junior punter Matthew Cornelius has been named the Nationwide Insurance NCCU Student-Athlete of the Month for October 2012 in recognition of his outstanding accomplishments on the field and in the classroom.

A native of Charlotte, N.C., Cornelius averaged 34.7 yards per punt, including a long boot of 47 yards during the month of October, while placing seven of his 17 attempts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

On Oct. 13 at Morgan State, Cornelius’s streak of 24 consecutive punts placed inside the 20-yard line without a touchback came to an end. Prior to that, the last time Cornelius had one of his accurately-placed punts trickle into the end zone was during the third game of the 2011 season against Elon.

In 121 punts during his NCCU career, Cornelius has knocked 39 punts inside the 20-yard line with only three touchbacks. He also has blasted seven punts 50 yards or better with a career-long boot of 66 yards.

A criminal justice major at NCCU, Cornelius boasts an overall grade point average of 3.852. A regular on the university’s Honor Roll, he earned ‘A’ Honor Roll status last fall with a perfect 4.0 GPA. The Butler High School graduate has also received the Award of Excellence for undergraduate students with the highest GPA in the criminal justice department, and was presented with the 2011 and 2012 academic awards for having the highest GPA on the football team.

For a complete list of award winners, visit www.NCCUEaglePride.com.