Still a finalist for Bednarik, Outland awards
Penn State defensive tackle Devon Still was named a finalist for two prestigious college football post-season awards -- the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Outland Trophy.
Penn State defensive tackle Devon Still was named Monday as a finalist for two prestigious honors – the Chuck Bednarik Award, given by the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia to the defensive player of the year, and the Outland Trophy, awarded to the nation's top lineman.
Still, of Wilmington, was named a finalist last week for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is presented by the Football Writers Association of America to the nation's best defensive player.
Still joins Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower and LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu as Bednarik Award finalists. The Outland Trophy list has Stanford guard David DeCastro and Alabama offensive tackle Barrett Jones with Still as finalists.
The winners of both awards will be announced during a special ESPN college football awards show on Dec. 8.
Although he was bottled up by the double-team blocking schemes of Ohio State last Saturday, the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Still remains the Big Ten leader in solo tackles for loss with 15.0.
In its 17th year, the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented in honor of the former great Penn and Eagles center and linebacker, has had four previous winners from Penn State – LaVar Arrington (1999), Paul Posluszny (2005, 2006) and Dan Connor (2007).
The Outland Trophy will be presented for the 66th year, making it the third-oldest award in college football. Former Penn State defensive tackle Mike Reid won the Outland in 1969.
--Joe Juliano