The Maxwell Football Club has announced three finalists for the Bednarik Award, and USC defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu is one of them.
The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented to the best defensive player in college football. The past few winners include Chase Young in 2019 of Ohio State and Jordan Davis of Georgia in 2021.
Chuck Bednarik is an iconically memorable figure in football history. He starred at Pennsylvania in college and then became an NFL world champion with the Philadelphia Eagles. His thunderous hit of New York Giant halfback and former USC Trojan Frank Gifford is one of the most memorable plays in NFL history. “Concrete Charlie” is a football legend, whose story lives on at NFL Films.
Winning the Bednarik Award is a big deal.
Tuli Tuipulotu is the nation’s second-leading sack man with 11.5 on the season (1.15 per game). He is also the Pac-12 leader and is fourth nationally with 1.8 tackles for loss per game (17.5 total). Those combine for 167 yards lost to opposing offenses.
The other finalists for the award are Cincinnati’s Ivan Pace Jr., who leads the American Athletic Conference in tackles and tied for second in sacks and Will Anderson Jr. of Alabama, currently leading the Southeastern Conference in sacks (10) and tackles for loss (17). Both marks are among the top-10 in the nation.
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