As the regular season begins to wind down, the individual college football awards are beginning to trim down players form their preseason watch lists to semifinalists and finalists for the college football award season. One of the top individual awards in the sport is the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, and this year sees two Penn State players remaining in the mix for the honor.
The Walter Camp Football Foundation released the list of semifinalists for this year’s award. Penn State tight end [autotag]Tyler Warren[/autotag] and edge rusher [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag] were among the 20 semifinalists for the award. Penn State is one of three schools with multiple semifinalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award. The others are Ole Miss (QB Jaxson Dart and DT Walter Nolen) and Colorado (WR/DB Travis Hunter and QB Shedeur Sanders).
Warren is leading Penn State in total yards from scrimmage with 775 yards (681 receiving, 94 rushing) and is tied for the team lead with seven touchdowns scored. Warren has also thrown for a touchdown. Warren is averaging 10.8 yards per play from scrimmage (combined between rushing and receiving touches).
Carter has been a monster on the edge for Penn State after moving from linebacker to edge this season. Carter leads the Big Ten with 16 tackles for loss and he leads the Penn State defense with 8.0 sacks. He has also forced two fumbles and deflected three passes as he gets more comfortable in his new position.
Warren and Carter are each looking to become Penn State’s third Walter Camp Award winner in program history. The other two winners from Penn State are John Cappelletti in 1973 and Larry Johnson in 2002.
Warren and Carter are each going up against some historical trends that may be stacked against them. There has been just one tight end to win the award with Notre Dame‘s Ken MacAfee winning the award in 1977. In the history of the award, which was first presented in 1967, there have been just three defensive players to win the award (Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o in 2012, Michigan‘s Charles Woodson in 1997, and Pittsburgh’s Hugh Green in 1980).
Last year’s winner of the Walter Camp Award was LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels.
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