The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
11.03.2014 | Football
Senior linebacker among 20 candidates for award honoring top defensive player in the nation
SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. – Jordan Hicks has been named a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which honors the nation's most outstanding defensive player.
The senior is one of five linebackers on the 20-man list of candidates that was announced Monday by the Maxwell Football Club.
Hicks has been one of the leaders of a defense this year that ranks No. 37 in the FBS in total yards allowed (352.4 per game), No. 9 in passing defense (177.3 ypg), No. 14 in yards allowed per play (4.61), 14th in passing efficiency defense (105.09 rating) and tied for 18th in sacks (3.0 pg).
The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has registered a team-high 115 tackles, an average of 12.8 per game. He has seven double-digit tackle contests, including a career-best 18 stops vs. both UCLA and Iowa State. Hicks is tied for second on the team in interceptions with two and has nine tackles for loss to go along with 1.5 sacks.
Three finalists will be announced on Nov. 24 and the winner as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show which will be broadcast on ESPN on Dec. 11.
A Longhorn has never won the Bednarik Award, though Derrick Johnson was a finalist in 2004.
