Four-year BYU starter among 75 players selected to the preseason list
PROVO, Utah – BYU defensive lineman Eathyn Manumaleuna has been named to the 2013 OutlandTrophy Watch List, announced today by the Football Writers Association of America.
The BYU senior is one of 75 players on the watch list. The Outland Trophy is awarded annually to the best interior lineman in college football. BYU boasts two previous Outland Trophy winners with defensive lineman Jason Buck earning the award in 1986 and offensive lineman Mohammed Elewonibi receiving the honor in 1989.
Manumaleuna enters the 2013 season slated as the starter at defensive tackle for BYU. The versatile lineman has started 38 games for BYU at both nose tackle and end. A four-year starter, he is returning from a season-ending injury that sidelined him after four starts last year. He has 96 tackles, including 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, and one interception during his career. Among his many career highlights, he blocked a field goal attempt from his nose tackle position in the closing moments of the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl to give BYU a win over UCLA.
Florida State, USC, Stanford and Tennessee combined to put 13 players on the watch list.Florida State and Stanford have never had an Outland winner in the 67-year history of the award. USC has had onewinner (Ron Yary, 1967), and Tennessee has had two interior linemen claim the prestigious bronzed trophy (SteveDeLong, 1964 and John Henderson, 2000).
The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from three finalists who are part of the FWAA All-America Team. The FWAAAll-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects the 25-man team and eventuallythe three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemenon offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends are not eligible.
The list will be trimmed to six or seven semifinalists on Nov. 20. Five days later three Outland Trophy finalists willbe named by the FWAA. The winner of the 68th Outland Trophy, named after the late John Outland, an All-Americalineman at Penn at the turn of the 20th century, will be announced on ESPN on The Home Depot College FootballAwards on Dec. 12 from Disney’s Boardwalk in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
The Outland Trophy presentation banquet, sponsored by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee, will be held onJan. 9, 2014 in Omaha, Neb. This year, North Carolina State center Jim Ritcher, the 1979 Outland Trophy winner,will be honored and presented an Outland Trophy, which was not given in the era in which he won the award.
The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than1,300 men and women who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcastersand publicists, as well as key executives in all areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas thatinclude gameday 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 or 972-713-6198.
2013 OUTLAND TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST
The Outland Trophy is presented to the nation’s most outstanding
interior lineman by the Football Writers Association of America.
Offensive Tackles (25)
Le’Raven Clark, Texas Tech
La’el Collins, LSU
Anthony Dima, Massachusetts
Cameron Erving, Florida State
Cameron Fleming, Stanford
Kevin Graf, USC
Ryan Groy, Wisconsin
James Hurst, North Carolina
Ja’Wuan James, Tennessee
Kaleb Johnson, Rutgers
Wesley Johnson, Vanderbilt
Tyler Johnstone, Oregon
Cyrus Kouandjio, Alabama
Eric Lefeld, Cincinnati
Charles Leno, Boise State
Taylor Lewan, Michigan
Cornelius Lucas, Kansas State
Zack Martin, Notre Dame
Jake Matthews, Texas A&M
Jack Mewhort, Ohio State
Morgan Moses, Virginia
Antonio Richardson, Tennessee
Jeremiah Sirles, Nebraska
Brandon Thomas, Clemson
Austin Wentworth, Fresno State
Offensive Guards (20)
Austen Bujnoch, Cincinnati
Chris Burnette, Georgia
A.J. Cann, South Carolina
Kevin Danser, Stanford
Trey Hopkins, Texas
Tré Jackson, Florida State
Gabe Jackson, Mississippi State
Brandon Linder, Miami
Spencer Long, Nebraska
Antwan Lowery, Rutgers
John Martinez, USC
Andrew Norwell, Ohio State
Cyril Richardson, Baylor
Will Simmons, East Carolina
Anthony Steen, Alabama
Xavier Su’a-Filo, UCLA
Laken Tomlinson, Duke
John Urschel, Penn State
Mason Walters, Texas
David Yankey, Stanford
Centers (11)
BJ Finney, Kansas State
Hroniss Grasu, Oregon
Gabe Ikard, Oklahoma
Zac Kerin, Toledo
Tyler Larsen, Utah State
Andrew Miller, Virginia Tech
Weston Richburg, Colorado State
Isaac Seumalo, Oregon State
Bryan Stork, Florida State
Travis Swanson, Arkansas
Brandon Vitabile, Northwestern
Defensive Tackles (19)
Calvin Barnett, Oklahoma State
Ryan Carrethers, Arkansas State
Deandre Coleman, California
Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh
Dominique Easley, Florida
Ra’Shede Hageman, Minnesota
Chucky Hunter, TCU
Kerry Hyder, Texas Tech
Timmy Jernigan, Florida State
Anthony Johnson, LSU
DaQuan Jones, Penn State
Eathyn Manumaleuna, BYU
Daniel McCullers, Tennessee
Louis Nix III, Notre Dame
Roosevelt Nix, Kent State
Kelcy Quarles, South Carolina
Will Sutton, Arizona State
Nikita Whitlock, Wake Forest
Leonard Williams, USC