2014: Appeared in three games (N.C. Central, North Carolina and Florida) in a reserve role ... Completed eight-of-10 passes for 58 yards and suffered one interception (N.C. Central) ... Rushed five times for 23 yards (4.6 ypr) and scored two touchdowns ... Reached paydirt on a nine-yard run in the opener against the Eagles and scored from four yards out versus the Tar Heels ... Led three scoring drives in five overall (full) series for the Pirates (two vs. N.C. Central, one vs. North Carolina) ... Three for five (60.0 percent) in red zone opportunities (3 TDs) ... Made collegiate debut against N.C. Central and directed the Pirate offense in the fourth quarter, completing six-of-eight passes for 50 yards ... Engineered a pair of long fourth quarter scoring drives starting inside the ECU 15-yard line vs. the Eagles ... Finished with 63 total yards of offense (50/pass, 13/rush) ... Career-long pass of 22 yards went to Jimmy Williams on second drive of the fourth quarter against N.C. Central ... Registered second personal ground score vs. No. 25 North Carolina in the fourth quarter ... Also completed both pass attempts against the Tar Heels (11-yard gain, three-yard loss) ... Opened collegiate career hitting just one-of-three in the air, but completed campaign completing seven-straight passes for 54 yards (5-5/46 yards vs. N.C. Central, 2-2/8 yards vs. North Carolina) ... Two of eight completions were for 10 or more yards (one for 20-plus) ... Made a brief appearance against the Gators in the Birmingham Bowl ... Picked up six yards on a second-and-goal rush in the second quarter before being hit at the line of scrimmage and having the ball stripped on the next snap to end a scoring opportunity with the Pirates trailing 21-7 at the time (in an eventual 28-20 loss) ... Did not attempt a pass against UF ... Recipient of the Jerry T. Brooks Award (recognizing academic achievement) during the annual team banquet.
2013: Redshirted during true freshman season, but took snaps and reps with top offensive unit on a full-time basis once top backup Cody Keith was lost to a season-ending injury ... Was also a member of the travel unit ... Officially enrolled early at ECU in January of 2013 and participated in spring drills to expedite the learning process of the Pirates' offensive scheme.
High School: Topped all Southwest Florida quarterbacks in passing yards with 2,261 as a senior at Island Coast High School ... Completed 147-of-236 passes (62.3 percent), which included 20 touchdown tosses and just four interceptions to help the Gators to an 8-3 overall record and 5-1 6A District 11 mark (co-champions with South Fort Myers) ... On the ground, rushed for 300 yards on 80 carries ... ICHS advanced to the Florida High School Athletic Association 6A playoffs, but fell to eventual final-four participant Naples in the first round ... Earned Third-Team 6A All-State honors from the Associated Press while also picking up First-Team All-Area recognition from the Fort Myers News-Press ... Transferred into head coach Joe Bowen's program as a senior (from Cape Coral High School) after the Gators changed their offensive scheme from the veer to a pro-style attack, and followed by averaging 34.4 points per game in 2012 ... Selected as the News-Press Player-of-the-Week (Oct. 12) after leading ICHS to a 55-0 victory over Bishop Verot ... Was listed 33rd on the Orlando Sentinel's MidWest Florida Super 60 list heading into his senior campaign ... Helped lead CCHS to a 7-5 record (5-0 in league play) as a junior, completing 189-of-367 passes for 2,771 yards, 25 TDs and seven interceptions ... Additionally, rushed 55 times for 150 yards and three touchdowns for coach Brad Metheny ... Also served as the Seahawks' punter, averaging 37.7 yards per boot with a long of 56 yards and 11 downed inside the 20-yard line ... Named to the News-Press All-Area First Team unit as a punter in 2011 ... An Honor Roll performer in the classroom.
Personal: Full name is Kurt John Benkert ... Born July 17, 1995 at Baltimore, Md. ...Moved to Florida before entering third grade and remained there until the start of eighth grade ... Returned to Maryland and helped lead Perry Hall to the state recreational football title and subsequently earned a scholarship to Loyola Blakefield (Towson) before moving back to Florida after two junior varsity seasons ... Quarterbacked the Fort Myers (Fla.) Firecats to a state championship and third-place finish in the national Pop Warner playoffs while in seventh grade ... A finance major who has earned Dean's List standing for work in the classroom during each semester (spring/2013, fall/2103 and spring/2014) since enrolling at ECU.
ECU '14