| Daily Blog •July 8, 2011 |
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All week long I have been giving you the preseason watch lists for the various awards that I am a proud voting member for and with each of these lists I was an integral part in the players that were selected. Today the 2011 Outland Trophy Watch List was released. The award goes to the best interior lineman in college football and the winner is selected by the Football Writers Association of America, which I am also a proud member of.
The Outland Trophy, presented annually since 1946, is the third oldest award in major college football. It is named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at Penn and Kansas at the turn of the century.
Every conference, along with independents BYU and Notre Dame, had at least one player on the annual list, which includes only tackles, guards and centers on both sides of the ball. Of the 65 players on the watch list, 16 defensive tackles occupied spots. The rest of the linemen were on offense. 10 players made the watch list for the 2nd year in a row including DT Jared Crick, Nebraska, OG Barrett Jones, Alabama, OT Nate Potter, Boise St and OT Matt Reynolds, BYU.
Here is the complete list.
2011 Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List
| Levy Adcock, Oklahoma State, OT | Ryan Miller, Colorado, G |
Jeff Allen, Illinois, OT |
David Molk, Michigan, C |
Don Barclay, West Virginia, OT |
Al Netter, Northwestern, OT |
Chris Barker, Nevada, G |
Lucas Nix, Pittsburgh, OT |
Kelvin Beachum, SMU, OT |
Xavier Nixon, Florida, OT |
Tony Bergstrom, Utah, OT |
Trevor Olson, Northern Illinois, OT |
Mike Brewster, Ohio State, C |
Kelechi Osemele, Iowa State, OT |
James Brown, Troy, OT |
Moe Petrus, Connecticut, C |
Jared Crick, Nebraska, DT |
Ken Plue, Purdue, G |
Andrew Datko, Florida State, OT |
Dontari Poe, Memphis, DT |
David DeCastro, Stanford, G |
Nate Potter, Boise State, OT |
Blake DeChristopher, Virginia Tech, OT |
Tydreke Powell, North Carolina, DT |
Lonnie Edwards, Texas Tech, G |
Kheeston Randall, Texas, DT |
Joel Foreman, Michigan State, G |
Riley Reiff, Iowa, OT |
Marcus Forston, Miami, DT |
Kendall Reyes, Connecticut, DT |
Dalton Freeman, Clemson, C |
Matt Reynolds, BYU, OT |
Garth Gerhart, Arizona State, C |
Mitchell Schwartz, California, OT |
Cordy Glenn, Georgia, OT |
Kawann Short, Purdue, DT |
Ben Habern, Oklahoma, C |
Bradley Sowell, Ole Miss, OT |
Braden Hansen, BYU, G |
Akeem Spence, Illinois, DT |
Logan Harrell, Fresno State, DT |
Alameda Ta'amu, Washington, DT |
Dan Hoch, Missouri, OT |
Lane Taylor, Oklahoma State, G |
Khaled Holmes, USC, C |
Chris Thompson, Houston, C |
Jaye Howard, Florida, DT |
Omoregie Uzzi, Georgia Tech, G |
Malik Jackson, Tennessee, DT |
William Vlachos, Alabama, C |
Chris Jacobson, Pittsburgh, G |
Larry Warford, Kentucky, G |
T.J. Johnson, South Carolina, C |
Brandon Washington, Miami, G |
Barrett Jones, Alabama, G |
Rokevious Watkins, South Carolina, OT |
Ben Jones, Georgia, C |
Billy Winn, Boise State, DT |
Matt Kalil, USC, OT |
Derek Wolfe, Cincinnati, DT |
Jonathan Martin, Stanford, OT |
Jerel Worthy, Michigan State, DT |
Mike Martin, Michigan, DT |
Kevin Zeitler, Wisconsin, G |
Zack Martin, Notre Dame, OT |
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Candidates may be added or removed during the season |
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By conference: Big Ten 13, SEC 11, Pac-12 9, ACC 7, Big 12 7, Big East 6, Conference USA 3, Independents 3, Mountain West 2, WAC 2, MAC 1, Sun Belt 1.
The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from three finalists who are part of the FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects the 25-man team and eventually the three Outland finalists to be named on Nov. 21. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner.
The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,200 men and women who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include gameday operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tigerfwaa@aol.com or 972-713-6198.
The Outland Trophy presentation banquet, sponsored by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee, will be held on Jan. 12, 2012, in Omaha, Neb.
I will be back tomorrow with a look at 2011 Nagurski Watch List.