Dec. 4, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Senior defensive end Carl Nassib (West Chester, Pa.) is among the six finalists for the Ted Hendricks Award for the nation's top defensive end.
The winner of the Hendricks Award will be announced Wednesday, Dec. 9. Joining Nassib on the list of finalists are DeForest Buckner of Oregon, Shilique Calhoun of Michigan State, Myles Garrett of Texas A&M, Shaq Lawson of Clemson and Emmanuel Ogbah of Oklahoma State.
The Ted Hendricks Award is named in honor of college football's first three-time first-team All-American. As a defensive end at the University of Miami, Ted used his agility, height and reach to block passes and kicks, force interceptions and pressure quarterbacks and running backs. He roamed the front line, read plays and blitzed on impulse, completely transforming the way the defensive end position was played. His professional career spanned 15 years and 215 consecutive games. It included four Super Bowl victories, eight Pro Bowl selections and inductions into the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame. It is in the spirit of Ted Hendricks' aggressive style of play, winning attitude and determination that the Defensive End of the Year Award for college football's premier defensive end is presented.
The Ted Hendricks Award is the sixth national award that Nassib has been named a finalist for, joining Lombardi Award (nation's top lineman or linebacker), Nagurski Trophy (nation's top defensive player), Bednarik Award (nation's top defensive player), Burlsworth Trophy (top player that started his career as a walk-on) and Lott IMPACT Trophy (distinguished young men represent the qualities embodied by Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott -- Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity).
Earlier this week, Nassib was picked as the Big Ten's Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year in a vote of the conference's coaches and earned first team All-Big Ten honors from both the coaches and media. He is the sixth Nittany Lion to take home Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year accolades since 1998. He joins LaVar Arrington (1998), Courtney Brown (1999), Michael Haynes (2002), Jared Odrick (2009) and Devon Still (2011) on the list of Penn State honorees.
Despite playing only six snaps in the last two games due to injury, Nassib leads FBS in sacks (15.5) and forced fumbles (6) and is second in FBS and first in the Big Ten in tackles for loss (19.5). With one sack at Northwestern, Nassib broke the Penn State single-season sacks record by upping his total to 15.5. He surpasses the mark of 15 sacks set by Larry Kubin (1979) and Michael Haynes (2002).
Additionally, Nassib's six forced fumbles this season are the most by a Penn State player since Haynes had a school-record seven in the 2002. Nassib is the first Penn State player to force two fumbles in two games in a season since Maurice Evans did it in 2007. Evans had two forced fumbles against Indiana and two forced fumbles against Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl. Nassib was a midseason All-America choice by SI.com, ESPN.com, USAToday.com and CBS Sports.
The Nittany Lions are bowl eligible for the 46th time. Penn State's 45 bowl appearances are the ninth-most among FBS schools at the start of the season. The announcement of the bowl game and opponent will be announced Sunday, Dec. 6. Fans can visit Penn State's Bowl Central at GoPSUsports.com/bowlcentral for more information.