Tag: Chuck Bednarik Award

Joey Porter Jr. receives national weekly honor after Week 1

Joey Porter Jr. received a national weekly honor for his performance against Purdue in Week 1.

Penn State cornerback [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] had an active season debut against Purdue, and he is being recognized for his performance against the Boilermakers. Porter Jr. was named the National Player of the Week by the Bednarik Award on Tuesday.

Porter Jr. had eight tackles, recovered a fumble, and broke up six passes during Penn State’s Week 1 win at Purdue. He also came close to hauling in his first interception of the year and returning it for a touchdown, but he couldn’t quite finish making the play.

Penn State is home to the most Bednarik Award winners in the history of the award. [autotag]Paul Posluszny[/autotag] is a two-time winner. Other Nittany Lions to win the award include [autotag]Dan Connor[/autotag] and [autotag]LaVar Arrington[/autotag].

Last year’s recipient of the Bednarik Award was Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis. The last Big Ten player to win the award was Chase Young of Ohio State in 2019.

Porter Jr. and Penn State safety [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag] are the two Nittany Lions on the watch list for this year’s Bednarik Award.

Penn State quarterback [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag] was named the Big Ten’s co-offensive player of the week.

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Bednarik Award watch list includes key pair of Nittany Lions

Penn State has more Chuck Bednarik Awards than any other school. Will either of these two players add another to the list?

As Penn State opened training camp to prepare for the 2022 college football season, a handful of players were recognized on watch lists for some individual honors in 2022. The Maxwell Football Club unveiled its watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, and two players from Penn State appeared on the watch list.

Senior safety [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag] and redshirt junior cornerback [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] were recognized on the Bednarik Award watch list.

[autotag]Dan Connor[/autotag] is the most recent Penn State player to take home the Bednarik Award. He did so in 2007 to make it three consecutive seasons a Penn State player won the award. [autotag]Paul Posluszny[/autotag] won the award in 2005 and 2006 and is one of two all-time winners to win the award multiple times. Current Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald is the only other player to win multiple Bednarik Awards. He did so in 1995 and 1996, the first two seasons the award was presented.

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In addition to Posluszny and Connor, Penn State also saw [autotag]LaVar Arrington[/autotag] win the award in 1999 to boost Penn State’s total to four Bednarik Awards. No other school has more than two Bednarik Award winners (Northwestern, Georgia, LSU, and Alabama each have two Bednarik award winners).

Last year’s recipient of the Bednarik Award was Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis. The last Big Ten player to win the award was Chase Young of Ohio State in 2019.

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This Gator named to Chuck Bednarik Award watch list

Florida Gators OLB Brenton Cox Jr. was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch list and is looking to become the first Florida Gator to win.

Veteran outside linebacker and holder of the coveted No. 1 jersey [autotag]Brenton Cox Jr[/autotag]. was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list. The Chuck Bednarik Award is awarded by the Maxwell Club each year to the nation’s defensive player of the year.

Cox Jr. has grabbed the national attention of multiple preseason watch lists and media outlets, including the All-SEC second team from Athlon Sports, Phil Steele, and the scrum at SEC media days. Cox Jr. is the seventh different Florida player to be named to a preseason award watch list: [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] (Maxwell), [autotag]Ventrell Miller[/autotag] (Butkus), [autotag]Kingsley Eguakun[/autotag] (Rimington), [autotag]Gervon Dexter[/autotag] (Outland), [autotag]O’Cyrus Torrence[/autotag] (Outland), and [autotag]Nay’Quan Wright[/autotag] (Doak Walker & Wuerffel).

Cox Jr. is looking to become the first player in Florida football history to win the Chuck Bednarik award. Nine Gators players have been named semifinalists for the award with [autotag]Jevon Kearse[/autotag] (1998) and [autotag]Brandon Spikes[/autotag] (2009) the only finalists in program history.

Semifinalists for the award will be announced on November 1, with the three finalists to be announced on November 22. The winner will be announced on the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show to be held on December 8.

The Florida Gators will open the 2022 season on Saturday, September 3, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium against Utah at 7:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN.

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Three Tigers add Bednarik Watch List selections

The Maxwell Football Club announced today that defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, defensive end Myles Murphy and linebacker Trenton Simpson have all been named among the 90 members on the 2022 watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented annually …

The Maxwell Football Club announced today that defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, defensive end Myles Murphy and linebacker Trenton Simpson have all been named among the 90 members on the 2022 watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented annually to the nation’s most outstanding defensive player. 

The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1994 and is named in honor of Chuck “Concrete Charlie” Bednarik who was an All American player at the University of Pennsylvania and later a multiple year All Pro linebacker and center for the Philadelphia Eagles. He is a member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame and was the last NFL player to be a full time player on both offense and defense.

The Bednarik Award watch list will once again incorporate a broad spectrum of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs and conferences from coast to coast, led by Will Anderson Jr. (Alabama) who is the lone returning finalist from 2021, as the majority of this year’s candidate group features fresh faces. The full list consists of 90 players with Alabama, Clemson and Georgia having 3 candidates each and an additional 9 schools having two players represented.

Last year’s Chuck Bednarik Award winner was Jordan Davis (Georgia) who went on to be the 1st round selection of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2022 NFL Draft. Davis joins Georgia great David Pollack (2004) as the Dawgs second Bednarik Award recipient.

The Maxwell Football Club has once again partnered with Pro Football Focus (PFF), XOS and Phil Steele Publications as selection committee partners. PFF provides detailed metrics and performance-based assessments to selection committee staff, and several senior PFF analysts are members of our selection committee. Phil Steele’s College Football Preview is generally recognized as the most complete preseason magazine. XOS provides the Maxwell Club selection committee with access to game footage from all FBS colleges.

Semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced November 1, 2022, while the three finalists for the Bednarik Award will be unveiled November 22, 2022. The winners of the 28th Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 8, 2022. The formal presentations of the award will be made at the 86th Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala live from Atlantic City, NJ on March 10, 2023.

Questions concerning the 2022 Bednarik Award watch list can be directed to MFC Executive Director Mark Wolpert mwolpert@maxwellfootballclub.org or MFC Vice President of College Awards Rich Cirminiello rcirminiello@maxwellfootballclub.org.

ABOUT THE MAXWELL FOOTBALL CLUB – The Maxwell Football Club was founded in 1935 and is the oldest football organization of its kind in America. The Club recognizes excellence in performance at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of the game. The Maxwell Club is also deeply involved and fully vested in the community through programs to promote academic excellence, community volunteerism, and leadership. High school student-athletes around the country have an opportunity to participate in MFC Showcase events, free of charge, through the generosity of our corporate partners, Ivy Rehab, SAFR, the ETC Foundation and the Run Around Inc. To learn more about our story visit www.maxwellfootballclub.org.

ABOUT PRO FOOTBALL FOCUS – PFF is widely recognized as the industry leader in the advanced data collection and analysis for American football. Since 2011, PFF has led football’s charge into the world of analytics. Their services are trusted by all 32 NFL teams and over 100 FBS programs. Major broadcast networks, national media outlets and player agencies all use PFF as a resource as well. PFF’s media network provides fans with apps, tools, podcasts and other content to help satisfy their thirst for deeper insights in the game.

The Maxwell Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 25 awards now boast over 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about the association.

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Maxwell Football Club names pair of Nittany Lions to watch lists

Penn State’s top two players were named to a pair of top college football award watch lists by the Maxwell Football Club.

Watch list season stepped into full swing on Monday with the release of watch lists for two of the top individual awards in college football. The Maxwell Football Club released its watch lists for the Maxwell Award and the Chuck Bednarik Award, and a pair of Penn State players made the initial cut.

Penn State wide receiver Jahan Dotson was among those named to the Maxwell Award watch list. The Maxwell Award is awarded to the nation’s top college football player by the Maxwell Football Club.

Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker was included among those named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list. The Bednarik Award is awarded to the nation’s top defensive player in college football.

Penn State has a storied history of Maxwell Award winners. Penn State is tied with Notre Dame for the most all-time Maxwell Award winners. Former Penn State running back Larry Johnson is the most recent recipient of the award from Penn State in 2002. Other former Penn State Maxwell Award winners include Kerry Collins (1994), Chuck Fusina (1978), John Cappelletti (1973), Mike Reid (1969), Glenn Ressler (1964), and Richie Liucas (1959).

Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith won the Maxwell Award for the 2020 season.

Penn State has also seen a handful of Bednarik Award winners since first being awarded in 1995. Former linebacker LaVar Arrington was the first Bednarik Award winner from Happy Valley in 1999. Paul Posluszny won the award in back-to-back seasons in 2005 and 2006. He remains one of two back-to-back winners of the award, joining current Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald won the award each of its first two seasons of being awarded in 1995 and 1996). Dan Connor won the award in 2007 to make it three consecutive years for a Penn State player winning the Bednarik Award. No school has matched that feat.

Tulsa’s Zaven Collins won the Bednarik Award for the 2020 season.

Dotson and Brisker will get their first chances to make some noteworthy highlights on September 4 when Penn State opens the 2021 season at Wisconsin in a Big Ten opener.

Oklahoma’s Nik Bonitto added to Bednarik Award watch list

Oklahoma linebacker Nik Bonitto was added to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list on Thursday.

One of the breakout defenders on the Oklahoma defense this season has without question been redshirt sophomore linebacker Nik Bonitto.

On Thursday, Bonitto was added to the final watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which is presented to the most outstanding defensive player in college football.

Bonitto has started every game this year for Alex Grinch’s defense and leads the team in sacks (6.5) and tackles for loss (9). Those are good enough to put him inside the top ten in the Big 12 in both categories.

He also has 24 total tackles on the season with two pass breakups while being credited with a team-high nine quarterback hurries.

His teammate Ronnie Perkins was named to the preseason watch list for the award as well, so he joins him in contention for the honor. The semifinalists will be announced later this week on Dec. 6th.

Oklahoma will host Baylor in the regular season finale Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. CT at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

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Texas Football: Longhorns honored with Big 12 and National honors

D’Shawn Jamison, Joseph Ossai and head coach Tom Herman were all recipients of weekly honors for the victory over Oklahoma State 41-34.

Taking down a top ten team is no easy task. Especially when it comes on the road but the Texas Longhorns found a way to pull it off. It was the first instance this happened for the Horns since they beat the No. 5 Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2010. The last time this team pulled off a victory over a top ten team on the road they followed it up with loss, let’s hope that history is not on the Longhorns side.

One of the players that was a key cog for the Longhorns victory was D’Shawn Jamison. He returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score to immediately answer Oklahoma State.

The kickoff returned for a score was the only scoring play for the Longhorns in the third quarter. That kept them within striking distance for the win they secured for their efforts. D’Shawn Jamison took home Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week.

As big as the return by Jamison was, no one had the impact of ‘Jack’ Joseph Ossai. He secured the walk-off sack that gave the Longhorns the victory. In the game he led the team in tackles with 12. Six of which were tackles for loss. Couple those stats with three sacks, one fumble forced on a strip sack and a fumble recovery. That is much the reason that Ossai was the talk of college football on Saturday.

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Not only did Joseph Ossai pick up Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors but also three other national honors for his performance. Walter Camp Football Foundation, Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy Player of the Week also went the way of the Longhorns top defender. Not a bad week for Ossai. With that performance National NFL Draft analysts are circling him as a potential first round draft pick. B/R’s Matt Miller even mocked him as high as No. 16 in his latest mock draft.

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These two defensive players weren’t the only individuals associated with the Longhorns to earn weekly honors. Texas head coach Tom Herman was named Coach of the Week by the Dodd Trophy. The award given annually to the top coaches in all of FBS. Herman was named to the preseason watchlist earlier this year.

Wisconsin LB Jack Sanborn receives Big Ten Preseason Honors

Friday evening, a week ahead of the kickoff of the season, the Big Ten Conference released its Preseason Honors for 10 players that are e…

Friday evening, a week ahead of the kickoff of the season, the Big Ten Conference released its Preseason Honors for 10 players that are expected to have outstanding seasons this year. Wisconsin middle linebacker Jack Sanborn was the only Badger to receive this honor.

Jack Sanborn can now add Big Ten Preseason Honors to the numerous award watchlists already on his resume, including his nomination for the Chuck Bednarik Award for the best defensive player in college football and Butkus Award for best linebacker in college football. Sanborn made the list from the Big Ten West along with Rashod Bateman of Minnesota, Tanner Morgan of Minnesota, Paddy Fisher of Northwestern, and Rondale Moore of Purdue.

Badgers inside linebacker Jack Sanborn celebrates a tackle during the first half against Michigan. Credit: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-Imagn Content Services, LLC

Expectations for Jack Sanborn this season continue to rise as he gets nominated for more awards and trophies, and he will need to live up to them to take over the dominant role that Chris Orr played for Wisconsin last season.

Monday’s have been kind to Notre Dame Linebacker Owusu-Koramoah

Another Monday, another watch list that Irish linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah appears in.

For the second Monday in a row, Irish linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, JOK, has been placed into elite company making another watch list. This time it is the Butkus Award, which is given to the nation’s best linebacker. This honor is on the heels of last Monday when JOK was put on the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list as well.

Owusu-Koramoah has a lot to play for in his senior year, as we previewed him here last week, which  includes a potential selection in the first round of the NFL Draft. There is a ton of hype surrounding JOK and if he wins the Butkus, he would become the 3rd Irish linebacker to achieve that status following Jaylon Smith in 2015 and Manti Te’o in 2012. Smith’s season had him finish with 114 tackles and a sack while Te’o has 111 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

The competition will be tough for JOK to take home this award in the 2020 season as Penn State’s Micah Parsons, Alabama’s Dylan Moses and others have gotten significant pre-season hype as well. If JOK can up his tackle numbers from 79 to over 100 and keep the 8.5 sacks or even improve on those number, we can very well see Owusu-Koramoah being named the best linebacker in college this coming season.

Two Longhorns named to Bednarik Award watch list, top defensive player

Texas Safety Caden Sterns and linebacker Joseph Ossai were named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list on Monday.

Texas safety Caden Sterns and linebacker Joseph Ossai were recently named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list. Continue reading “Two Longhorns named to Bednarik Award watch list, top defensive player”