Category Archives: News

FWAA announces finalists for 2020 Outland Trophy

by • Awards, News, Outland Trophy • Tags: ,

OMAHA – Offensive tackles whose teams will face each other in a College Football Playoff semifinal and one of the nation’s top defensive tackles were named as the three finalists for the 2020 Outland Trophy by the Football Writers Association of America. Liam Eichenberg, an offensive tackle for Notre Dame’s top-20 rushing offense, and Alex Leatherwood, an offensive tackle on one of the nation’s top offenses at top-ranked SEC champion Alabama, join Daviyon Nixon, an Iowa defensive tackle who led all interior linemen in tackles for loss, as this season’s superior interior linemen.

The Outland Trophy is awarded annually to the nation’s best college interior lineman on offense or defense. The All-America Committee of the Football Writers Association of America selected the three finalists from among the six semifinalists announced last week.

The recipient of the 75th Outland Trophy will be announced during ESPN’s The Home Depot College Football Awards on Jan. 7, 2021. The official presentation to the winner by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee is still to be determined.

A closer look at each of the finalists, with a note that Eichenberg and Leatherwood will oppose each other in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One on Jan. 1, 2021 in a College Football Playoff Semifinal.

Liam Eichenberg, OT, Notre Dame (6-6, 302, Gr., Cleveland, Ohio): Eichenberg anchors a talented offensive front that was third in the ACC and 11th nationally in rushing offense at 235.0 yards per game in leading the Fighting Irish to a 10-1 season. The Irish were third in the ACC in fewest sacks allowed per game (2.09, and 23 total). Eichenberg’s efforts helped Notre Dame produce a 1,000-yard rusher in Kyren Williams, and three different running backs had 100-yard games for a combined nine 100-yard days in 11 games. The Irish topped 500 total yards four times this season. Eichenberg was named the ACC’s Offensive Lineman of the Week twice, and his protection at left tackle helped quarterback Ian Book to set a school record with 266 consecutive passing attempts without an interception. Notre Dame has had three Outland Trophy winners, the most recent being defensive end Ross Browner in 1976 (also guard Bill Fischer in 1948 and tackle George Connor in 1946). In 2017 guard Quenton Nelson was a finalist and offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey was a semifinalist.

Alex Leatherwood, OT, Alabama (6-6, 312, Sr., Pensacola, Fla.): Leatherwood’s qualification is simple: he’s regarded as the best offensive lineman on the nation’s best offense that continues to post record marks in an 11-0 season. Alabama’s 52 points in its SEC Championship Game win marks the third straight game for the Tide to top 50 points and Leatherwood’s protection at left tackle helped quarterback Mac Jones set SEC Championship Game records for yards (418) and completions (33). Alabama has scored 35 or more points in 24 consecutive games, the longest streak in major-college football history, and averages 49.7 points per game. Leatherwood has an overall blocking grade of 90.8 by the Alabama coaching staff and has graded out at a team-high-tying 99.6 on all assignments. Running back Najee Harris (1,262 yards, 5.90 ypc) has 24 rushing touchdowns, the second-most in Alabama history. Leatherwood was named a permanent team captain by his Crimson Tide teammates as well as one of four Offensive Achievement Award winners by the coaches. Four of Alabama’s five previous Outland winners have been offensive tackles – Cam Robinson (2016), Barrett Jones (2011), Andre Smith (2008) and Chris Samuels (1999) – as well as five of the Tide’s last seven finalists.

Daviyon Nixon, DT, Iowa (6-3, 305, Jr., Kenosha, Wis.): This is the first career postseason honor for Nixon, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the year and Defensive Lineman of the Year who tied for the conference lead with 5.5 sacks on a team that has won six straight games after an 0-2 start. In just eight games played Nixon led the nation among defensive tackles with 13.5 tackles for loss, clogging the middle on an Iowa defense that was second in the Big Ten in total defense (313.8 ypg), third in scoring defense (16.0) and rushing defense (107.6) and fourth in pass defense (206.1). Nixon is tied for third in tackles for the Hawkeyes with 45 and 22 solos. He opened the season with seven tackles at Purdue and then posted a career-high 11 against division champion Northwestern, and his 71-yard interception return for a touchdown at Penn State remains on network highlight packages. The Hawkeyes have had four Outland winners in their past, most recently offensive tackle Brandon Scherff in 2014. Offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs was a semifinalist last season. Offensive tackle Robert Gallery (2003), tackle Alex Karras (1957) and guard Calvin Jones (1955) are the school’s other winners.

The Outland Trophy, which has been awarded annually by the FWAA since 1946, is named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. The Outland Trophy is the third-oldest award in major college football behind the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award.

The Outland Trophy is the third-oldest major college football award. Created in 1946 when Dr. John Outland presented the FWAA with a financial contribution to initiate the award, the Outland Trophy has been given to the best interior lineman in college football ever since. Dr. Outland, an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1890s, eventually took up practice in Kansas City, Mo. An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Outland believed linemen did not get the credit they deserved and wanted an award to recognize them.

The Outland Trophy 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 24 awards now boast over 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about our story.

Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,200 men and women who cover college football. 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 game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.

Related links:
• Preseason Watch List | Semifinalists | Finalists
• Download 75th Anniversary Outland Trophy logo: Primary (.jpg) | Dark background (.jpg) | Illustrator (.ai)

FWAA names nine finalists for 2020 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award

by • Awards, Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, News • Tags: ,

DALLAS – The Football Writers Association of America, in conjunction with the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced nine finalists for the 2020 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award on Monday. Among the finalists is a two-time winner and three former finalists representing a combined total of 14 nominations. Two head coaches whose teams are playing in the College Football Playoff headline the list that also includes coaches of three other conference champions and the country’s top independent team.In alphabetical order the finalists are: Tom Allen, Indiana; Brent Brennan, San José State; Matt Campbell, Iowa State; Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina; Karl Dorrell, Colorado; Luke Fickell, Cincinnati; Nick Saban, Alabama; Kalani Sitake, BYU, and Dabo Swinney, Clemson.

Brennan, Chadwell, Fickell, Saban and Swinney each claimed conference championships this season. Campbell and Iowa State won the Big 12 regular-season title, Allen has Indiana among the top 10 going into the Outback Bowl, and Sitake led BYU into the top 10 and Dorrell had Colorado each unbeaten into December.Saban is the dean of the nine finalists as a two-time winner and seven-time finalist. Swinney, a six-time finalist, is among the finalists for a fourth consecutive season and is the only returning finalist from 2019. Both coaches will compete in the CFP next month, Swinney in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against Ohio State.

“The Allstate Sugar Bowl is proud to sponsor the Eddie Robinson Award and to once again have the opportunity to recognize the top college football coaches in the nation as finalists for this honor,” said Ralph Capitelli, the President of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. “While each of the finalists is fully deserving of the award, we look forward to presenting the trophy to the winner as selected by the football writers.”

The 2020 recipient will be announced the week of Jan. 4-8, 2021. The official presentation will be on the campus of the winning coach at a later date.

The nine finalists have been placed on a ballot which has been sent to the entire FWAA membership.

“The FWAA believes it has an extremely good group of coaches representing different conferences and independents,” said Executive Director Steve Richardson. “We will have a fine recipient for the 2020 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award. The FWAA’s congratulations go out to all coaches for weathering what has been a very trying and unpredictable year.”

“This time of the year with the winding down of the college football season, I’m especially excited to receive the announcement of the Eddie Robinson Coach of Year Award finalists,” said Eddie Robinson III, the grandson of the award’s namesake. “With all of the world dealing with Covid-19, and the fact that we even had a season and that every program had to adapt to deal with the virus protocols etc, all the coaches that made list of finalists are even more than deserving of the award. We wish the best for all that were selected as finalists.”

The FWAA has presented a coaching award since the 1957 season when Ohio State’s Woody Hayes was named the first recipient. The FWAA coaching award is named after the late Robinson, a coaching legend at Grambling State University for 55 seasons.

The 2020 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year finalists:

Tom Allen, Indiana: The Hoosiers (6-1) are one of three teams with three top-25 wins and have been ranked in the top 10 five times in 2020, cresting the top-10 threshold for the first time since 1969. The eight weeks in the poll is Indiana’s longest streak since 1945. In his fifth season in Bloomington, the Big Ten Coach of the Year by media and fellow coaches has led Indiana to six conference wins, tied for the most in program history with the 1967 and ’87 teams. This is Allen’s first finalist honor and the Hoosiers’ first Eddie Robinson Award finalist since 1967 when John Pont was the winner.

Brent Brennan, San José State: The Spartans (7-0) are one of five unbeaten teams heading into the bowl season under their fourth-year head coach. They have been one of the great success stories this season. Having been forced by the pandemic to play three home games outside of California, Brennan, the Mountain West Coach of the Year, and San José State responded by winning their division and playing in the school’s first conference championship game, beating Boise State, 34-20. This is the Spartans’ first winning season since 2012, and a win in the Arizona Bowl would give them their first undefeated season since 1939. This is Brennan’s first Eddie Robinson Award finalist honor and the first for the Spartans.

Matt Campbell, Iowa State: The Cyclones (8-3) were the Big 12 regular-season champions, earning a league title for the first time since 1912, and played in their first Big 12 Championship game. Of the Cyclones’ 22 starters, nine of them were All-Big 12 First Team selections. Campbell, the Big 12 Coach of the Year in his fifth season in Ames, led Iowa State to a school-record eight conference wins and its highest ranking (No. 6 in the CFP) in any poll in its history. A win in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl over Oregon would give the Cyclones their first nine-win season since 2000. This is Campbell’s first Eddie Robinson Award finalist honor and the first for the Cyclones.

Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina: The Chanticleers (11-0), picked to finish last in the Sun Belt Conference’s East Division, captured the nation’s attention in the first week with a 38-23 win at Kansas, swept their eight conference games plus two more for the first unbeaten season in school history and the first in Sun Belt history. In only its fourth year as a full-time FBS member, Coastal Carolina won its first conference championship, earned its first national ranking (No. 9/11 this week with 10 straight weeks in both polls), its first College Football Playoff ranking (No. 12 in final poll) and defeated two Top-25 teams, including then-No. 8 BYU, 22-17 on Dec. 5. CCU’s current 12-game win streak dating back to last season is tied with No. 1 Alabama for the longest in the nation. The Sun Belt Conference’s Coach of the Year in his third season at the Coastal Carolina helm is the school’s first Eddie Robinson Award finalist. He and defensive end Tarron Jackson, a Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalist, are Coastal’s first finalists for any FWAA postseason award.

Karl Dorrell, Colorado: The Buffaloes (4-1) were one of nine undefeated teams heading into the final two weeks of the regular season and were ranked in the Dec. 7 polls for the first time since October of 2018. Dorrell, in his first season at CU, is the fifth head coach in school history to open 4-0 in his first season and just the second since 1905. Colorado jumped out 3-0 in league play for the first time as a Pac-12 member, making Dorrell the first CU coach to win his first three conference games since 1941. The Buffs will play in the Valero Alamo Bowl, their first bowl game since 2016. This is Dorrell’s second finalist nomination, having also achieved it in 2005 while at UCLA. Colorado has had two previous Eddie Robinson Award winners, most recently Mike MacIntyre in 2016 and Bill McCartney in 1989.

Luke Fickell, Cincinnati: The Bearcats (9-0) won their first outright league title since 2009 and their first American Athletic Conference Championship. Cincinnati is No. 8 in the final CFP rankings and will play in its first New Year’s Six bowl and its first New Year’s Day bowl since the 2009 season when the Bearcats battle Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The Bearcats have one of the nation’s top defenses that ranks in the top 15 in five categories, including second in team interceptions (15) and seventh in scoring defense, giving up only 16 points per game. Fickell, the American’s Coach of the Year in his fourth season at UC, has earned Cincinnati’s first finaliist nod since 2009 when Brian Kelly, now at Notre Dame, earned the designation. Cincinnati has never had an Eddie Robinson Award winner.

Nick Saban, Alabama: The Crimson Tide (11-0) completed their fifth undefeated regular season under Saban and earned the top seed in the College Football Playoff with impressive scoring margins through an all-SEC schedule. Alabama is the only team in SEC history to win 10 conference games in a season while averaging 49.5 points per game in the 10-game regular season and became the first SEC team to post five 50-point games in SEC play. Saban, in his 14th season in Tuscaloosa, has coached more games (84) as the AP’s No. 1 team than any other active head coach and will face Notre Dame in a national semifinal in Arlington, Texas. A two-time Eddie Robinson Award winner (at Alabama in 2008, at LSU in 2003), he is one of Alabama’s two previous winners along with Gene Stallings in 1992. He is now a seven-time finalist, earning the designation in four of the last seven seasons.

Kalani Sitake, BYU: The Cougars (10-1) earned their first 10-win season since 2011 navigating through an oft-altered and harried schedule. BYU is the only FBS team in the top 10 in scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense and total defense. The Cougars are in the top 10 in 14 statistical categories overall and have qualified for a 38th bowl game in program history. Sitake, in his fifth season at BYU, is the school’s second finalist and first since Bronco Mendenhall in 2006. LaVell Edwards is BYU’s only previous winner in 1984.

Dabo Swinney, Clemson: The Tigers (10-1) qualified for the College Football Playoff for a sixth consecutive season, heading into their national semifinal game against Ohio State in New Orleans. Swinney and Clemson became the first team in any active conference to win six consecutive outright titles (tied with Oklahoma). Clemson, heading to its 16th consecutive bowl game, has won 10 games for a school-record 10th consecutive season after avenging its only loss to Notre Dame in the ACC Championship Game. The Tigers are 18-8 under Swinney in rematches of losses during his career. Swinney, in his 13th season at Clemson, is now a six-time finalist and the only repeat finalist from a year ago; he is among the finalists for a fourth consecutive season and the fifth time in six seasons (also 2015 and ’11). Danny Ford is Clemson’s only previous winner from the 1981 national championship season.

The Eddie Robinson 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 and @NCFAA on Twitter to learn more about the association.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 96 Hall of Fame players, 50 Hall of Fame coaches and 18 Heisman Trophy winners in its 86-year history. The 87th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, is scheduled to be played on Jan. 1, 2021 between No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1.6 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.7 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit AllstateSugarBowl.org.

The Football Writers Association of America, founded in 1941, consists of 1,300 men and women who cover college football. 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 game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.

Related links:
• All-time Eddie Robinson Award winners, finalists
• Eddie Robinson Award: Logo (.jpg) | Photo

Finalists for 2020 Bronko Nagurski Trophy announced

by • Awards, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, News • Tags: ,

Five defensive standouts will vie for National Defensive Player of the Year

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Five finalists for the 2020 Bronko Nagurski Trophy representing five conferences, the top two teams in the current College Football Playoff rankings and two others from nationally-ranked Group of Five schools, were named Wednesday by the Football Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.

These are the candidates for the award honoring college football’s national defensive player of the year. Each of the five finalists – two linebackers, a defensive end, a defensive tackle and a cornerback – plays for a nationally-ranked team, four of which will play in their conference championship games and includes the first finalist from the Sun Belt Conference.

In alphabetical order, the finalists are Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins, Coastal Carolina defensive end Tarron Jackson, Iowa defensive tackle Daviyon Nixon, Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II.

The recipient of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy presented by LendingTree will be chosen from these finalists. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s entire membership, selects the best defensive player in college football. The announcement of the 2020 Bronko Nagurski Trophy recipient will take take place on Wed., Dec. 23, two weeks from today.

Here is a look at the 2020 finalists:

Zaven Collins, LB, Tulsa (6-4, 260, Jr., Hominy, Okla.): Collins is one of the most dynamic linebackers in the nation. He earned the American Athletic Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week four times after his seven games this season and the Bronko Nagurski Player of the Week award the week of Nov. 14. Heading into the AAC Championship Game, Collins has 11.5 tackles for loss and ties for fifth nationally with four interceptions – tops among linebackers along with two others – one of which he returned 96 yards for a touchdown in overtime for the winning score against Tulane, and another that was a game-clincher against then-No. 19 SMU. In Tulsa’s opening games against then-No. 11 Oklahoma State and the following week’s No. 11 UCF, he combined for 7.5 TFL’s, 3.0 sacks and a tackle for a safety. Collins is Tulsa’s first Nagurski Trophy finalist. The American Athletic Conference has Temple linebacker Tyler Matakevich as a former winner in 2015, and Collins is the AAC’s fourth all-time finalist, the most recent being Houston tackle Ed Oliver in 2017.

Tarron Jackson, DE, Coastal Carolina (6-2, 260, Sr., Aiken, S.C.): Jackson leads the Chanticleers’ defense with 8.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss and is fifth on the team with 44 total tackles with 15 quarterback hurries. He is a three-time Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week, spearheading a defense that has a nose for the ball with 32.0 sacks (fifth nationally) and 66.0 TFL’s this season. Teams run to the other side away from this team captain who is Coastal’s career leader in sacks (26.5), TFL’s (43.0) and hurries (31) as well as yards lost from those stops. The 10-0 Chanticleers’ rise to their first national ranking, first division championship, first wins (two) over nationally-ranked teams and first 10-win season has his footprint on it, as do opposing backfields. Jackson is Coastal Carolina’s first Nagurski Trophy finalist and the first in Sun Belt Conference history. Jackson, together with Collins, gives Group of Five schools six all-time Nagurski Trophy finalists; it’s also the the first time that two non-Power 5 finalists have been so recognized in the same season.

Daviyon Nixon, DT, Iowa (6-3, 305, Jr., Kenosha, Wis.): Nixon is the rare playmaker tucked in the middle of Iowa’s line. He has broken through consistent double-teams to lead the Big Ten with 5.0 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss in just seven games in his first season on the Iowa front. His 36 tackles are tied for the most among Big Ten defensive linemen. Nixon opened the season with seven tackles at Purdue and then posted a career-high 11 against West Division champion Northwestern, and his 71-yard interception return for a touchdown at Penn State remains a national season highlight. Iowa has not had a Nagurski Trophy winner but linebackers Josey Jewell (2017) and Pat Angerer (2009) are recent finalists. A Nixon win would give the Big Ten consecutive honorees after not having a trophy winner since 2006 and Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis. Ohio State defensive end Chase Young won last year.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, LB, Notre Dame (6-1, 215, Sr., Hampton, Va.): A top linebacker and one of the country’s best ball hawks, Owusu-Koramoah leads the unbeaten and second-ranked Irish in tackles (49 with 32 solos) and tackles for loss (9.0) along with 1.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries and an interception. Listed as a rover linebacker, Owusu-Koramoah earned the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Player of the Week (Nov. 7) following the Irish’s win over No. 1 Clemson, posting nine tackles, two TFL’s, a half-sack in overtime that helped stall Clemson’s final possession, and the first touchdown of his career on a 23-yard scoop-and-score early in that game. Notre Dame has one previous winner, linebacker Manti Te’o in 2012, while cornerback Shane Walton was a finalist in 2002. An Owusu-Koramoah win would give the ACC two of the last four winners (N.C. State’s Bradley Chubb in 2017) and five of the last 11.

Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama (6-2, 202, Jr., Plantation, Fla.): Surtain is regarded as the nation’s top cornerback and presents a consistent wall out on the edge, having allowed 25 yards or fewer in eight of nine games this season. Teams have targeted him only 36 times with 14 completions over nine games and he has allowed only one touchdown this season. Opposing quarterbacks have a passer rating of 50.2 when targeting Surtain in coverage, fifth-best in the FBS. Against pass-happy Mississippi State, Surtain was targeted once in 47 attempts, and the junior turned it into a 25-yard pick-six. Top-ranked Alabama has had one Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner, defensive end Jonathan Allen in 2016. The Crimson Tide has had a finalist in nine of the last 10 seasons, most recently nose guard Quinnen Williams (2018), safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (2017) and linebacker Reuben Foster (2016). Going back to cornerback Antonio Langham in the award’s first year in 1993, five of Alabama’s 12 all-time finalists have come from the secondary. A Surtain win would give the SEC three of the last five honorees (Allen in 2016, Kentucky linebacker Josh Allen in 2018).

The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993. In 1995, the FWAA named the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football then became a star for professional football’s Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw “Bronko” Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy 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 and @NCFAA on Twitter to learn more about the association.

Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,300 men and women who cover college football. 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 game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.

About the Charlotte Touchdown Club

The Charlotte Touchdown Club is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 for the purpose of promoting high school, collegiate, and professional football in the Charlotte, N.C., region. The club’s activities and services focus community attention on the outstanding citizenship, scholarship, sportsmanship, and leadership of area athletes and coaches. Since 1990, the club has raised more than $2 million to benefit area high school and collegiate athletics. For more information, contact John Rocco (704-347-2918 or jrocco@touchdownclub.com). The official website of the Charlotte Touchdown Club is touchdownclub.com.

About LendingTree, Inc.

LendingTree is the nation’s leading online marketplace that connects consumers with the choices they need to be confident in their financial decisions. LendingTree empowers consumers to shop for financial services the same way they would shop for airline tickets or hotel stays, by comparing multiple offers from a nationwide network of over 500 partners in one simple search and choosing the option that best fits their financial needs. Services include mortgage loans, mortgage refinances, auto loans, personal loans, business loans, student refinances, credit cards, insurance and more. Through the My LendingTree platform, consumers receive free credit scores, credit monitoring and recommendations to improve credit health. My LendingTree proactively compares consumers’ credit accounts against offers on their network and notifies consumers when there is an opportunity to save money. LendingTree’s purpose is to help simplify financial decisions for life’s meaningful moments through choice, education and support.

Related link:

Army’s West nominated for Courage Award 1

by • Awards, Courage Award, News • Tags: ,

DALLAS — Army’s Amadeo West is this week’s nominee for the 2020 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. West, a defensive end, has overcome three season-ending injuries to become a key piece of the Black Knights’ defense.

Amadeo West

“Just a dream come true,” West said of his success this season. “I can’t express how fortunate and blessed I’ve been just to go out this year and represent this institution, especially the past three years with injuries. Coming back this year and just playing for my teammates, playing for my family and playing for God has made me so blessed.”

West missed the entire 2017 season with an ACL tear. He missed the first eight games of the 2018 season with a ruptured Achilles. And in the third game of 2019, he tore his biceps, costing him the final 10 games of the season.

The Oceanside, Calif., native decided to give football another go and was granted a fifth year of eligibility by the Academy. He has been a huge part of Army’s turnaround in 2020, as the program has rebounded from a 5-8 season in 2019 to start 7-2 this fall.

The 6-foot-2, 245-pound West has 18 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks, two pass breakups and one quarterback hurry for a defense that ranks No. 4 nationally entering Saturday’s game against rival Navy.

A team captain, West is a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year and a candidate for the Senior Class Award.

West graduates Thursday, which means he will take the Michie Stadium field against the Midshipmen this weekend as a lieutenant.

The Courage Award was first presented by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) in 2002. A select group of writers from the FWAA vote on the winner each year. The requirements for nomination include displaying courage on or off the field, including overcoming an injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through hardship. The winner of the award will be included in festivities during Capital One Orange Bowl week and receive his trophy at an on-field presentation.

Previous winners of the Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award are Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson (2019), SUNY Cortland linebacker Kyle Richard (2018), Wisconsin safety D’Cota Dixon (2017), Pitt running back James Conner (2016), Miami offensive lineman Hunter Knighton (2015), Duke offensive lineman Laken Tomlinson (2014), San Jose State defensive lineman Anthony Larceval (2013), Clemson wide receiver Daniel Rodriguez (2012), Michigan State offensive lineman Arthur Ray Jr. (2011), Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand (2010), the University of Connecticut football team (2009), Tulsa’s Wilson Holloway (2008), Navy’s Zerbin Singleton (2007), Clemson’s Ray Ray McElrathbey (2006), the Tulane football team (2005), Memphis’ Haracio Colen (2004), San Jose State’s Neil Parry (2003) and Toledo’s William Bratton (2002).

About the Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is a 380-member, primarily-volunteer non-profit sports organization that promotes and serves the South Florida community. With its primary mission since being created in 1935 to bring tourism to South Florida through an annual football game and events, it has also maintained a legacy of charitable contributions and community outreach. Orange Bowl community outreach efforts are comprised of four pillars: youth sports, fundraising and community events, academic programs and scholarships, and legacy gifts. The Orange Bowl features a year-round schedule of events culminating with the Capital One Orange Bowl on Jan. 2, 2021. The Orange Bowl also led a community-wide effort to bring the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship to South Florida. It will be played on Jan. 11, 2021 (2021miami.com). For more information on the 2020-2021 Orange Bowl events, including promotional and volunteer opportunities through the Ambassador Program presented by Panera Bread, log on to orangebowl.org or follow @OrangeBowl on social media.

Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,200 men and women who cover college football. 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 game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.

2020 Orange Bowl Courage Award Nominees
• Oct. 28: Jon Dietzen, Wisconsin

  • Nov. 4: Alex Charlton, Arkansas State
  • Nov. 11: D’Eriq King, Miami
  • Nov. 18: Kentucky football team
  • Nov. 25: Chase Allen, Iowa State
  • Dec. 2: Sarah Fuller, Vanderbilt
  • Dec. 9: Amadeo West, Army

2020 Outland Trophy semifinalists unveiled

by • Awards, News, Outland Trophy • Tags: ,

Six standout interior linemen tabbed by FWAA

OMAHA — Six semifinalists for the 75th Anniversary Outland Trophy – five offensive linemen and one defensive tackle – were announced Monday by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee. The semifinalists include two teammates and are players from five schools at four different positions representing three different conferences.

The Outland Trophy is awarded annually to the nation’s best college interior lineman on offense or defense. The All-America Committee of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) selected the semifinalists from nominations by the membership.

The field for the 2020 Outland Trophy is as follows: guard Wyatt Davis of Ohio State, center Landon Dickerson of Alabama, offensive tackle Liam Eichenberg of Notre Dame, guard Kenyon Green of Texas A&M, offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood of Alabama and defensive tackle Daviyon Nixon on Iowa.

The six semifinalists will be pared to three finalists on Dec. 22. The recipient of the 75th Outland Trophy will be announced during ESPN’s The Home Depot College Football Awards on Jan. 7, 2021. The official presentation to the winner by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee is still to be determined.

Here is a closer look at each of the semifinalists:

Wyatt Davis, G, Ohio State (6-4, 315, Jr., Bellflower, Calif.): Davis is at the forefront of an offensive line that guides one of the country’s most explosive offenses. The Buckeyes in five games played are fourth nationally in scoring offense at 46.6 points per game and sixth nationally in total offense at 536.4 ypg while leading the Big Ten in rushing at 233.2 ypg. The interior protection by Davis, a second-team FWAA All-American last year, has been stellar as Justin Fields moved to fourth in the nation in quarterback efficiency while completing 79 percent of his passes with 13 touchdowns against only three interceptions. Ohio State has four Outland winners in its past, started off by guard Jim Parker in 1956. Middle guard Jim Stillwagon (1970) and offensive tackles John Hicks (1973) and Orlando Pace (1996) have won it since. Center Billy Price is the Buckeyes’ most recent semifinalist in 2017.

Landon Dickerson, C, Alabama (6-6, 325, Sr., Hickory, N.C.): Dickerson, a Florida State transfer, has made the most of his only season calling the blocking assignments up front for the Crimson Tide. Alabama is third nationally in scoring at 49.2 points per game – tops among schools playing five of more games – and has averaged 548.3 yards per game (4th nationally) while topping 500 yards in six of nine games. Setting things up front each play, Dickerson has helped Alabama establish national leaders at all three skill positions. The Crimson Tide claims two of the last four Outland winners, one on each side of the ball. Quinnen Williams, a defensive tackle, won in 2018, and offensive tackle Cam Robinson won the 2016 award. Alabama has not had a center win the Outland but Barrett Jones was a finalist in 2012 after winning the Outland as an offensive tackle in 2011, and center Ryan Kelly was a semifinalist in 2015. Alabama’s five Outland winners are tied with Oklahoma for the second-most all-time (Nebraska, 9).

Liam Eichenberg, OT, Notre Dame (6-6, 302, Gr., Cleveland, Ohio): Eichenberg anchors a talented offensive front that currently leads the ACC in fewest sacks allowed per game (1.67, and 15 total) while also second in the ACC in rushing offense (229.7 ypg). Three different running backs have totaled seven 100-yard games this season and ball control has allowed the Irish to only trail for 38:10 minutes out of a total 540 minutes of regulation. Eichenberg’s protection has given quarterback Ian Book the extra time to attempt 237 passes without an interception, tied for the longest stretch among FBS signal-callers. Notre Dame has had three Outland winners, the most recent being defensive end Ross Browner in 1976 (also guard Bill Fischer in 1948 and tackle George Connor in 1946). In 2017 guard Quenton Nelson was a finalist and offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey was a semifinalist.

Kenyon Green, G, Texas A&M (6-4, 325, So., Humble, Texas): Green has led the Aggies into national prominence by allowing quarterback Kellen Mond to set school passing records while also paving the way for an underrated running attack. He’s the best among an offensive line which is fifth in the nation and leads the SEC allowing just 0.5 sacks per game and 4.0 total on the season. The line’s 4.0 TFL’s allowed per game is also top-10 nationally as Mond has set six career passing records, including wins as a quarterback. Texas A&M has an Outland winner from 2012 in offensive tackle Luke Joeckel, and offensive tackle Jake Matthews was a finalist in 2013.

Alex Leatherwood, OT, Alabama (6-6, 312, Sr., Pensacola, Fla.): At times the Crimson Tide offense is so fast and fluid you can miss watching the guys up front that make it so. Leatherwood has been a standout in protection as well as blocking, allowing quarterback Mac Jones to rank in the top 10 nationally of nearly every passing statistic. The Crimson Tide has scored 35 or more points in 22 consecutive games, the longest streak in major-college football history. Four of Alabama’s five previous Outland winners have been offensive tackles – Cam Robinson (2016), Barrett Jones (2011), Andre Smith (2008) and Chris Samuels (1999) – as well as five of the Tide’s last seven finalists.

Daviyon Nixon, DT, Iowa (6-3, 305, Jr., Kenosha, Wis.): In just seven games, Nixon leads the Big Ten with 5.0 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss in his first season on the Iowa front. His 36 tackles are tied for the most among Big Ten defensive linemen. Nixon opened the season with seven tackles at Purdue and then posted a career-high 11 against division champion Northwestern, and his 71-yard interception return for a touchdown at Penn State remains a national season highlight. The Hawkeyes have four Outland winners in their past, most recently offensive tackle Brandon Scherff in 2014. Offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs was a semifinalist last season. Offensive tackle Robert Gallery (2003), tackle Alex Karras (1957) and guard Calvin Jones (1955) are other winners.

The Outland Trophy, which has been awarded annually by the FWAA since 1946, is named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. The Outland Trophy is the third-oldest award in major college football behind the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award.

The Outland Trophy is the third-oldest major college football award. Created in 1946 when Dr. John Outland presented the FWAA with a financial contribution to initiate the award, the Outland Trophy has been given to the best interior lineman in college football ever since. Dr. Outland, an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1890s, eventually took up practice in Kansas City, Mo. An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Outland believed linemen did not get the credit they deserved and wanted an award to recognize them.

The Outland Trophy 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 24 awards now boast over 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about our story.

Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,200 men and women who cover college football. 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 game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.

 

Dellenger named FWAA Beat Writer of Year

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DALLAS — Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated has been named the 2020 Steve Ellis Beat Writer of the Year (for the 2019) season by the Football Writers Association of America.

Ross Dellenger

In the most recently completed FWAA Best Writing Contest, Dellenger picked up a first place in Game Story and a second place for Feature Story, both stories dealing with LSU’s national championship season. He is the 10th annual winner of the award which goes to an FWAA member who has displayed excellence in college football writing during a season.

“I am humbled beyond words,” Dellenger said of winning the FWAA Award. “I’m not sure that I’ve ever felt more fortunate and proud. I pride myself in my work and this helps justify all the long hours on the road, in the press box and behind lit computer screens pounding on keys in the middle of the night.”

The award is given in the memory of the late Steve Ellis, the Florida State beat writer for the Tallahassee Democrat. Current FWAA President Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com, then of the Cleveland Plain Dealer was the first recipient in 2011. Other recipients have been Mark Blaudschun of the Boston Globe and Steve Wieberg of USA Today (2012), Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News (2013), Tim May of the Columbus Dispatch (2014), Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times (2015), Jason Kersey of The Oklahoman (2016), Mike Griffith of SEC Country (2017), Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com and Chris Vannini of The Athletic (2018), Brett McMurphy of Stadium (2019).

“Ross is certainly an outstanding talent, combining excellent writing with detailed and thorough reporting,” said FWAA Executive Director Steve Richardson. “When LSU’s football team ascended to the national championship level in 2019, he showcased those abilities in covering most of the Tigers’ top moments with a flair. Overall, his breaking coverage of college football has been top-notch for a while now.”

 A native of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and a Mississippi State graduate, Dellenger has spent the last 15 years as a sports writer, specifically reporting on SEC football. He’s covered programs such as Mississippi State, Auburn, Missouri and LSU before landing at Sports Illustrated in May of 2018 as national college football writer. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Elizabeth, a fellow journalist. She is the lead White House correspondent for Newsweek.

 Getting to Know Ross Dellenger

Question: What was your first interest in sports/journalism and any good stories about how you got your start?

Dellenger: “My career started with an interest in sports before journalism came along. My father was and still is a high school football coach in Biloxi, Miss. I grew up around the sport as a kid — riding on team busses, running through locker rooms and playing around on blocking dummies. But I wasn’t athletic at all, couldn’t catch much and was rail thin. I played football for two years as a 6-foot, 160-pound offensive guard (spoiler alert: that didn’t turn out well). But I did develop a love for watching the game from the sidelines, and I began stringing for a local newspaper as a senior in high school.”

Q: Who were your mentors and what did they contribute to your career? 

 Dellenger: “I think the best sports editor I ever had was Rusty Hampton at The Clarion-Ledger. I’ve had plenty of other great bosses —  and do now at SI —  but Rusty really broke me in as a sports writer, teaching me more about reporting than actual writing. He was hard on us, and I’m thankful for that to this day.

“Ian Rapoport, now famously working as an NFL news-breaker for NFL Network, was once a small-town college beat writer in Mississippi, and he mentored me there, while covering Mississippi State for The Clarion-Ledger (I was a student at State then). I learned a lot about writing from Ian, a noted wordsmith who sadly doesn’t use that skill much longer (aside from Twitter of course!).

“There are plenty more people I idolized (and still do) in the industry, those I read closely and have watched their work ethic and reporting up close, including Kyle Veazey, Rick Cleveland, Pat Forde, David Brandt and, maybe most importantly, Elizabeth Crisp, my wife, whose vocabulary, concise writing and intellect I envy every day.”

Q: What are some of the stories you have done that have been the most rewarding to you? 

 Dellenger: “I think breaking news —  whether through short bursts on social media or woven into a deep investigative feature or enterprise story — is essential to journalism. To that end, some big news stories over the years stick out over everything else, including reporting Les Miles’ firing from LSU in 2016 and Ed Orgeron’s hire there as the full-time coach. Those were significant news-breakers for a young college beat writer and without them, I’m not sure I am in my current position at SI.

“But more specific to the ‘rewarding’ portion of the question. I pride myself in digging deep on issues, writing long, detailed stories on interesting people or topics. In a way, that’s a lost art in sports journalism these days. The world is so caught up in catching clicks and driving traffic that we’ve forgotten a cornerstone of our industry: explanatory writing that sheds light and reveals information never previously explored. As a beat writer, I tried to write one of those stories once a week, which could be very difficult during the season given other daily beat writing duties, but my boss at The Advocate in Baton Rouge, Joe Schiefelbein, gave me the time and resources to do this. My current bosses at SI, namely Ryan Hunt, has done the same.”

Q: Best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?

 Dellenger: ” ‘Write like you talk.’ That’s from Ian Rapoport. ‘Don’t try to be cute with your writing. Put down the thesaurus. Put away the dictionary. And write in simple terms. Your reader will appreciate it.’”

Q: Best interview you ever had and why?

Dellenger: “Talk about a difficult question. … I don’t know where to start. I have recency bias with this of course, but LSU coach Ed Orgeron’s mother, Coco, provided an incredible two-hour interview in December that triggered me to explore the coach’s Cajun heritage. She cried, laughed and even grew slightly perturbed during the sitdown — all signs of a great interview!

“But there have been plenty of others. Again, recency bias here, but I spent a full day two years ago with Dana Holgorsen. The day and night included boozing at the bar, watching a Houston Astros game and a sitdown in his office. A word of advice: You can understand a person more when experiencing them outside of their work arenas. That was the case with Holgorsen.

One more recent interview that sticks out took place last fall with former Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster, who revealed during a 20-minute talk with me that he’d been rushed to the hospital earlier that year with a heart condition —  the true reason for his retirement. You don’t forget those talks.”

Q: Hobbies/passions?

Dellenger: “A former colleague of mine, who I won’t name (ah what the hell, it was Scott Rabalais at The Advocate), once told me, “Ross,” he said, “you work hard and you play hard.” That’s pretty much me in a nutshell. I like to have a good time — bars, restaurants, the beach, the club — but there’s a time to work and a time to play. My life is split between the two.

“I don’t know that I truly have many passions. I do enjoy my job, which explains why I do find myself working quite a bit. I’m growing more and more passionate with traveling (for both work and play), though the pandemic has thrown a wrench into that. I think an impending passion of mine is traveling the world, as soon as the pandemic subsides. And though I no longer live on the Gulf Coast, I do have a passion for boiling and consuming seafood, specifically crawfish, crab and shrimp. Some would say I have a passion for flip flops, which is probably quite true.

“My hobbies are pretty limited. I enjoy a good weight-lifting session, a bike ride and fun night out on the town. I’ll never pass up an opportunity to go to a beach or, while back home, hop around the islands with family and friends.”

Q: Do you have any sports mementos in your house? Such as the press pass from the first game you covered, an old glove?   

Dellenger: “In all honesty, I do not believe I have any of that. It may come as a surprise, but I’m not the biggest sports fan. I watch college football and do enjoy it. I watch some golf and the NFL. But that’s about it. As I grow older, it interests me less and less. I’ve come to realize that sports is such a small part of our world — a great and wonderful part, full of incredible people and awesome stories — but a very small part nonetheless.”

Q: What has been the most difficult aspect of the last few months and COVID-19 in terms of covering sports?

Dellenger: “I usually spend the spring and summer visiting college campuses, building relationships with coaches and administrators, exploring potential story ideas, etc. But that didn’t happen much this year. I felt like I was back working for the Associated Press as a news intern. The virus had me springing into action. It really felt like I was a daily news reporter, each week chasing a new wrinkle regarding the virus and its impacts on a college football season.”

Q: What has the FWAA meant to you over the years?

Dellenger: “If you’re a college football writer, there is no better place to establish relationships than the FWAA. It’s a fantastic way to network, which we all know is the best way to ascend in the industry. Everyone mostly works hard. Plenty of people are good writers. Plenty more are good reporters. But who do you know and what do they think of you as a person? The FWAA is a great way to answer the latter question.”

Vanderbilt’s groundbreaking kicker nominated for Courage Award

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DALLAS — Vanderbilt’s Sarah Fuller is this week’s nominee for the 2020 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. Fuller, the Commodores’ place kicker, became the first woman to play in a Power 5 game this past Saturday.

Sarah Fuller

“I honestly haven’t taken a second to soak it all in, really. I just think it’s incredible that I am able to do this,” Fuller said afterward. “All I want is to be a good influence to the young girls out there because there were times that I struggled in sports, but I am so thankful I stuck with it. It’s giving me so many opportunities, and I’ve met so many amazing people through sports.

“I just want to say, literally, you can do anything you set your mind to — that’s the No. 1 thing.”

Fuller took the opening kickoff of the third quarter of Vanderbilt’s loss at Missouri, becoming the first woman to officially play in a major conference football game. She kicked the ball 30 yards to the Tigers’ 35-yard line on a designed pooch kick, just six days after helping Vanderbilt’s soccer team win the SEC tournament title.

Fuller, the soccer team’s goalkeeper, had allowed just four goals in four games during the tournament. COVID-19 had left the Commodores’ football team without several specialists in their prep for Missouri, so the program called upon Fuller for help.

Fuller became the third woman to appear in an FBS game, joining New Mexico’s Kate Hnida and Kent State’s April Goss. She was named SEC special teams player of the week, and she is expected to be on Vanderbilt’s travel roster for this Saturday’s game at Georgia.

The Wylie, Texas, native was named to the SEC academic honor roll in 2019 and 2018 and the SEC first-year academic honor roll in 2017. Fuller started nine of 12 games for Vanderbilt’s soccer team this fall, leading the Commodores to a 7-2-0 record while posting a 0.97 goals against average, the eighth-best single-season mark in program history.

Fuller plans to transfer to North Texas, where she will play soccer for two more years and pursue her master’s degree in hospital administration.

“She wasn’t trying to set some landmark event. She was just trying to help really where she could,” Derek Mason said after the game. “There’s just a lot to be said about Sarah and her unselfishness and her ability to say, ‘OK, if called upon, if needed, I’m a Commodore and anything that I can do to help this team I’ll do it.’ She did it with a smile on her face all week.

“For her, I just think the world of her. Her ability to just be in the moment and not really be scared of the moment or afraid of the moment but just looking to dominate the moment is what she did. Hat’s off to her.”

The Courage Award was first presented by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) in 2002. A select group of writers from the FWAA vote on the winner each year. The requirements for nomination include displaying courage on or off the field, including overcoming an injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through hardship. The winner of the award will be included in festivities during Capital One Orange Bowl week and receive his trophy at an on-field presentation.

Previous winners of the Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award are Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson (2019), SUNY Cortland linebacker Kyle Richard (2018), Wisconsin safety D’Cota Dixon (2017), Pitt running back James Conner (2016), Miami offensive lineman Hunter Knighton (2015), Duke offensive lineman Laken Tomlinson (2014), San Jose State defensive lineman Anthony Larceval (2013), Clemson wide receiver Daniel Rodriguez (2012), Michigan State offensive lineman Arthur Ray Jr. (2011), Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand (2010), the University of Connecticut football team (2009), Tulsa’s Wilson Holloway (2008), Navy’s Zerbin Singleton (2007), Clemson’s Ray Ray McElrathbey (2006), the Tulane football team (2005), Memphis’ Haracio Colen (2004), San Jose State’s Neil Parry (2003) and Toledo’s William Bratton (2002).

About the Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is a 380-member, primarily-volunteer non-profit sports organization that promotes and serves the South Florida community. With its primary mission since being created in 1935 to bring tourism to South Florida through an annual football game and events, it has also maintained a legacy of charitable contributions and community outreach. Orange Bowl community outreach efforts are comprised of four pillars: youth sports, fundraising and community events, academic programs and scholarships, and legacy gifts. The Orange Bowl features a year-round schedule of events culminating with the Capital One Orange Bowl on Jan. 2, 2021. The Orange Bowl also led a community-wide effort to bring the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship to South Florida. It will be played on Jan. 11, 2021 (2021miami.com). For more information on the 2020-2021 Orange Bowl events, including promotional and volunteer opportunities through the Ambassador Program presented by Panera Bread, log on to orangebowl.org or follow @OrangeBowl on social media.

Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,200 men and women who cover college football. 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 game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.

2020 Orange Bowl Courage Award Nominees
• Oct. 28: Jon Dietzen, Wisconsin

  • Nov. 4: Alex Charlton, Arkansas State
  • Nov. 11: D’Eriq King, Miami
  • Nov. 18: Kentucky football team
  • Nov. 25: Chase Allen, Iowa State
  • Dec. 2: Sarah Fuller, Vanderbilt

Iowa State TE Chase Allen nominated for Courage Award

by • Awards, Courage Award, News • Tags: ,

By Matt Fortuna

DALLAS — Iowa State’s Chase Allen is this week’s nominee for the 2020 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. Allen has overcome a number of physical setbacks both on and off the field, including being hit by a car, to become a key starter for the No. 13 Cyclones.

“You always wonder how good a player you’ll be after you recover from things like that, but I really never doubted anything,” Allen told The Des Moines Register. “Injuries happened early in my career. Maybe I just got them out of the way early.”

While walking to the football complex during the summer of his freshman year in 2016, Allen was hit by a car. He needed 107 stitches. Once he recovered, just before that season, he had a bout with the mumps, which then led to viral meningitis. He lost 20 pounds from the toll that the infection took on his body.

The 6-foot-7, 240-pound tight end went on to play in all 13 games and start nine as a redshirt freshman in 2017, earning second-team All-Big 12 honors. The following season, in 2018, Allen was forced to miss five games because of an abdominal injury.

Chase Allen

Allen rebounded in 2019 to again play in all 13 games, starting five, earning second-team All-Big 12 honors for the second time.

The Nixa, Mo., native has been named first-team Academic All-Big 12 in each of the past three seasons. Allen earned his mechanical engineering degree this past spring, and he is pursuing a graduate degree in industrial and manufacturing systems. Additionally, he is the president of Iowa State’s student-athlete advisory leadership committee and a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award.

Allen has started five games in his redshirt senior season this fall, recording 13 receptions for 173 yards and two touchdowns for the 6-2 Cyclones, who travel to No. 17 Texas for a Friday morning tilt. Iowa State has started 6-1 in conference play for the first time in program history. Allen has 42 career catches for 463 yards and four touchdowns.

“We’re having a blast this year,” Allen said this week. “I hope you guys are having as much fun watching us as we are playing, because this is the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.”

The Courage Award was first presented by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) in 2002. A select group of writers from the FWAA vote on the winner each year. The requirements for nomination include displaying courage on or off the field, including overcoming an injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through hardship. The winner of the award will be included in festivities during Capital One Orange Bowl week and receive his trophy at an on-field presentation.

Previous winners of the Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award are Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson (2019), SUNY Cortland linebacker Kyle Richard (2018), Wisconsin safety D’Cota Dixon (2017), Pitt running back James Conner (2016), Miami offensive lineman Hunter Knighton (2015), Duke offensive lineman Laken Tomlinson (2014), San Jose State defensive lineman Anthony Larceval (2013), Clemson wide receiver Daniel Rodriguez (2012), Michigan State offensive lineman Arthur Ray Jr. (2011), Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand (2010), the University of Connecticut football team (2009), Tulsa’s Wilson Holloway (2008), Navy’s Zerbin Singleton (2007), Clemson’s Ray Ray McElrathbey (2006), the Tulane football team (2005), Memphis’ Haracio Colen (2004), San Jose State’s Neil Parry (2003) and Toledo’s William Bratton (2002).

About the Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is a 380-member, primarily-volunteer non-profit sports organization that promotes and serves the South Florida community. With its primary mission since being created in 1935 to bring tourism to South Florida through an annual football game and events, it has also maintained a legacy of charitable contributions and community outreach. Orange Bowl community outreach efforts are comprised of four pillars: youth sports, fundraising and community events, academic programs and scholarships, and legacy gifts. The Orange Bowl features a year-round schedule of events culminating with the Capital One Orange Bowl on Jan. 2, 2021. The Orange Bowl also led a community-wide effort to bring the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship to South Florida. It will be played on Jan. 11, 2021 (2021miami.com). For more information on the 2020-2021 Orange Bowl events, including promotional and volunteer opportunities through the Ambassador Program presented by Panera Bread, log on to orangebowl.org or follow @OrangeBowl on social media.

Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,200 men and women who cover college football. 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 game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.

2020 Orange Bowl Courage Award Nominees

  • Oct. 28: Jon Dietzen, Wisconsin
  • Nov. 4: Alex Charlton, Arkansas State
  • Nov. 11: D’Eriq King, Miami
  • Nov. 18: Kentucky football team
  • Nov. 25: Chase Allen, Iowa State

John Heisler to receive FWAA’s Bert McGrane Award 1

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DALLAS — Long-time Notre Dame Sports Information Director John Heisler, now holding a similar position at the University of Central Florida, has been named the recipient of the Football Writers Association of America’s Bert McGrane Award for 2021.

John Heisler

The McGrane Award is presented to an FWAA member in recognition of contributions to the FWAA and college football. McGrane was a sportswriter and editor at the Des Moines Register for 45 years and served as the FWAA’s Executive Director from the early 1940s until 1973. This is the FWAA’s highest honor and equivalent to an association’s Hall of Fame.

Heisler is the 48th recipient of the Bert McGrane Award, which started in 1974 and was first awarded to Charley Johnson of the Minneapolis Star.

“I can’t think of anything that’s been any more meaningful to me,” Heisler said. “I say that because it represents hundreds of relationships over a long period of time, and I hope it means we built some trust, could share some institutional knowledge when it was appropriate, and did at least a few things right in terms of working with the media. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Heisler, a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, is a native of South Bend and returned home shortly after his college days. He learned his trade first under SID Bill Callahan at Missouri and later under Roger Valdiserri at Notre Dame. Both the late Callahan and Valdiserri were long-time FWAA members, with Valdiserri still residing in South Bend.

Heisler started working at Notre Dame in 1978 in the SID office and was the award-winning SID from 1988-2003. Thereafter, Heisler rose further up the ladder in the athletic department as an assistant and associate athletic director and was involved in numerous jobs in communications/broadcasting at Notre Dame. He was also editor and frequent contributor to the highly respected “Strong of Heart,” Notre Dame’s annual holiday book of features on Irish athletics. A member of the CoSIDA Hall of Fame, Heisler has claimed numerous awards and written and edited several other books about Notre Dame sports and its coaches.

“John was a fixture at Notre Dame and helped make the Sports Information Office in South Bend one of the best in the country for a number of years, actually a few decades,” said FWAA Executive Director Steve Richardson. “John has been of great help with FWAA members in a number of ways and provided a path for others in the SID profession to follow. He still does in his relocation to Florida.”

Heisler will receive the Bert McGrane plaque at a later time. His name will be a part of the permanent McGrane presentation at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Furthermore, a small plate with his name also will be placed on the master board of former McGrane recipients at the National Football Foundation (NFF) offices in Irving, Texas.

Getting to Know John Heisler

Question: Who were your mentors and what did they contribute to your career?

Heisler: “Growing up in South Bend, I covered some high school sports part-time and as a teenager got to know Joe Doyle, Bill Moor, Woody Miller and others on the South Bend Tribune staff. I decided to attend the University of Missouri because of its Journalism School, and that was the best decision I ever made. I arrived there at the perfect time and Mizzou SID Bill Callahan provided me with some fabulous opportunities that I probably did not deserve. At the time he did not have a full-time assistant, so from my freshman year on I had all sorts of chances to be involved. Bill knew everybody in the Big Eight, so through him I became good friends with many of his newspaper and SID cronies — Maury White, Bill Beck, Don Bryant and so many more. Those were the ‘70s, the days of Friday night press parties and Skywriters tours. Then Bill often would have a social gathering at his home after home football games (inviting all the media in town to cover the game) and that was another wonderful chance to meet people and learn the business.

“I was at Missouri at a time when there was an incredible collection of sports-writing talent in school at the same time as me — Steve Richardson, Joel Bierig, Jeff Rude, Lonnie Wheeler, Dave Stirt, Tim Sullivan, Cal Fussman, Tom Shatel, Dennis Dodd and Mickey Spagnola and many more. That very quickly helped me understand where the bar stood in terms of being able to write well because it was a competitive environment. I subscribed to six newspapers — two each in Columbia, St. Louis and Kansas City. That’s how you kept up day to day when web sites were still some time down the road. I also spent two years as the summer sports intern for the Kansas City Star — what better way to learn the newspaper business.

“When I went to Notre Dame in 1978, the football team was coming off a national championship season and Joe Montana was still the quarterback, so there was no shortage of interest. Working for Roger Valdiserri, I again had the chance to meet all sorts of people in the college athletic business and, thanks to our football schedule, we played everywhere in the country and worked with media all over. There was seldom a dull moment.”

Q: What are some of the stories you have done that have been the most rewarding to you?  Be expansive. These could be the best two three or more over the years.

Heisler: “I got into all this because I loved to write. Unfortunately, the more time I spent in sports information, the fewer opportunities I had to write. But I carved out a few. The students at Notre Dame for years did a football review magazine, but they stopped for a few years in the ‘80s, so we picked it up and did it ourselves. It was great fun. Then beginning in 2010 we did an annual holiday book titled “Strong of Heart” — feature stories about people connected to Notre Dame athletics who had overcome some sort of obstacle. I wrote many of them myself and loved the ability to kind of go back where I started. There was nothing more satisfying that creating a profile of someone and feeling like you absolutely captured that person the way you wanted to portray them.”

Q: Best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?

Heisler: “I remember someone leaving Notre Dame and moving out of state and being disappointed because all sorts of people they did business with no longer connected with them. It taught me that, maybe especially at a place like Notre Dame, lots of people want to be your friend because of the job you have. So, if you value those relationships, you need to nurture them beyond the working aspect of it — and make sure people understand you truly care about them beyond just helping them do their jobs.”

Q: What have you seen change most in the SID profession over the last 25-30 years?

Heisler: “The technology quite obviously is the difference between night and day. There’s a whole generation of media who don’t know what it meant to have both a morning and evening news cycle. The technology makes so many things easier, yet it also makes it simple to skip the personal connections. It may be simple to email or text, but I remind myself not to forget to pick up the cell phone and call people. I miss the time we all spent with each other beyond the games. The virus hasn’t exactly helped that.

“It’s different now because virtually every game is televised or streamed — and results and highlights are instantaneous. But even if we all know every statistic about any given athlete, there’s no substitute for the in-depth feature story that explains what that person is really all about. And when one of us in our business can help you with some background to make one of those stories into something special, that’s when it all pays off for everybody.”

Q: Best interview you ever had and why?

Heisler: “Quite some time before Lou Holtz’s third season at Notre Dame, I suggested to him that we consider a book on what it’s like day to day to be the football coach in South Bend. For all the things that had been written about the job and how difficult and pressure-packed it supposedly was, no one had explained exactly why that was. I had never done anything like that before, but Lou bought into the idea. It became a national championship season, and the book became a best-seller. And it was fascinating sitting down with him to talk at least twice a week that fall. It was football, motivation, how to deal with people and all sorts of other subjects. And it was magical to see how the light went on with Lou the minute I turned on the tape recorder.” 

Q: What are your hobbies/passions?

Heisler: “I became a sports fan at an early age. As a teenager my combination birthday/Christmas present from my parents was a single Notre Dame football season ticket and another for the bleachers for Notre Dame basketball. I’d go by myself and loved every minute of it. I loved any sort of sports publication — media guide, game program, magazine, book, whatever — and I saved them all. As my wife would be quick to add, it got a little out of control. Throw in bobble-heads and autographed baseballs and all sorts of other sports memorabilia and our basement was a bit of a museum.”

Q: Do you have any sports mementos in your house? Such as an old typewriter, the press pass from the first game you attended, an old glove?

Heisler: “I saved tons of ticket stubs and press credentials over the years. My mother’s younger sister lived for many years in San Francisco, and when I was about 10 they went to Joe DiMaggio’s restaurant. On the back of the menu was a classic photo of DiMaggio and a perfect white area beneath for an autograph (and his calligraphy was perfect). I was never particularly a Yankee fan, but that was an item I’ve always treasured.”

Q: Interesting stories with writers?

Heisler: “Back in the ‘80s Mark Blaudschun worked for the Dallas Morning News. He wanted to write a big-picture story about how athletics at Notre Dame worked. He came to town and we set him up to speak with Gerry Faust, Digger Phelps, Gene Corrigan and Father Ned Joyce —maybe all in one day. My wife and I didn’t have kids yet and lived in a condo not far from campus and so we invited Mark over for dinner. Mark on occasion would mention all that and seemed to express some amazement over how it all happened — but I always thought, well, that’s why we’re there — to facilitate those things as best we could.”

“About that same time Pete Alfano worked for the New York Times. During Gerry Faust’s years we had our share of ups and downs. And it seemed like every year by late October we would have lost just enough games that Pete’s editors wanted him to come to town and write something about how football was going at Notre Dame. I used to laugh and remember the 1978 Alan Alda movie “Same Time, Next Year.” I kidded Pete that we should just make a permanent hotel reservation for him in South Bend for about two-thirds of the way through the season because he ended up coming our way about that time every year.

“In 1993, No. 1 Florida State came for a mid-November game in South Bend. It was the biggest late-season football game in Notre Dame history. It was the first time ESPN Game Day went on the road. It seemed like the entire college football world came to town. We quickly ran out of space in the press box, and we ended up putting maybe 40 media on chairs at the top of rows in the stands. We had a great advantage because our team had an open date the week before, so we had the chance to get organized. We set up a full-blown press area where we did interviews all week long, arranged a working press area and had lunch there every day. Then, on Thursday night before the game, Lou Holtz invited all the media to his house for barbeque and beers. It was an amazing week in many ways, but I always took pride in thinking we were able to handle most of the challenges that came our way that week. And then the game was a classic.”

Q: What has the FWAA meant to you over the years?

Heisler: “As a 20-something in the business (and even a bit earlier than that) I idolized so many of the writers who covered college football. And then it was even better when I had the chance to meet and work with so many over the years. I probably should write a book about all those memories over the last four decades.”

 

Miami’s D’Eriq King nominated for Courage Award

by • Awards, Courage Award, News • Tags: ,

DALLAS — Miami’s D’Eriq King is this week’s nominee for the 2020 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. King, a redshirt senior quarterback, lost his father this past winter to a heart attack and saw his mother undergo treatments for breast cancer throughout the last year.

D’Eriq King

“I could always count you to hold me down!” King wrote in a Twitter post when his father died. “The way you loved your family and your will to do anything for us was second to none. The way you loved my mom showed me what pure love was.”

King had tallied 6,346 yards of total offense and 78 total touchdowns from 2016-19 while at Houston. He transferred to Miami after the 2019 season, in need of a fresh start. But this past year has presented no shortage of challenging moments off the field.

In November 2019, King’s mother, Cassandra, was diagnosed with breast cancer. On Feb. 15, just before the Hurricanes were set to start spring practice, King’s father, Eric, died of a heart attack at the age of 48. He had been a youth coach in the Houston area, and his loss was devastating to his family and community.

D’Eriq King in action against the Pitt Panthers on Oct. 17.
(Photo by Eric Espada/University of Miami Athletics)

The COVID-19 pandemic had sent players home from Miami in mid-March, which served as a blessing in disguise for King, as he got to spend more time with his grieving family.

His mother was declared cancer-free on July 20. Two months later, King took the field with the Hurricanes for the first time.

The 5-foot-11, 202-pound King has helped lift Miami to a 6-1 record and a No. 9 ranking in the AP poll. The team captain has completed better than 63 percent of his passes for 1,831 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. He has added 406 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground.

On Friday at NC State, King led a fourth-quarter comeback and finished with 536 yards of total offense and five passing touchdowns. He earned multiple national player of the week honors for his efforts, and he became the first player since 2018 to throw for 400 yards and five touchdowns while also rushing for 100 yards in the same game.

The person who last accomplished that feat? Also King, while at Houston.

The Courage Award was first presented by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) in 2002. A select group of writers from the FWAA vote on the winner each year. The requirements for nomination include displaying courage on or off the field, including overcoming an injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through hardship. The winner of the award will be included in festivities during Capital One Orange Bowl week and receive his trophy at an on-field presentation.

Previous winners of the Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award are Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson (2019), SUNY Cortland linebacker Kyle Richard (2018), Wisconsin safety D’Cota Dixon (2017), Pitt running back James Conner (2016), Miami offensive lineman Hunter Knighton (2015), Duke offensive lineman Laken Tomlinson (2014), San Jose State defensive lineman Anthony Larceval (2013), Clemson wide receiver Daniel Rodriguez (2012), Michigan State offensive lineman Arthur Ray Jr. (2011), Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand (2010), the University of Connecticut football team (2009), Tulsa’s Wilson Holloway (2008), Navy’s Zerbin Singleton (2007), Clemson’s Ray Ray McElrathbey (2006), the Tulane football team (2005), Memphis’ Haracio Colen (2004), San Jose State’s Neil Parry (2003) and Toledo’s William Bratton (2002).

About the Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is a 380-member, primarily-volunteer non-profit sports organization that promotes and serves the South Florida community. With its primary mission since being created in 1935 to bring tourism to South Florida through an annual football game and events, it has also maintained a legacy of charitable contributions and community outreach. Orange Bowl community outreach efforts are comprised of four pillars: youth sports, fundraising and community events, academic programs and scholarships, and legacy gifts. The Orange Bowl features a year-round schedule of events culminating with the Capital One Orange Bowl on Jan. 2, 2021. The Orange Bowl also led a community-wide effort to bring the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship to South Florida. It will be played on Jan. 11, 2021 (2021miami.com). For more information on the 2020-2021 Orange Bowl events, including promotional and volunteer opportunities through the Ambassador Program presented by Panera Bread, log on to orangebowl.org or follow @OrangeBowl on social media.

Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,200 men and women who cover college football. 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 game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.

2020 Orange Bowl Courage Award Nominees