UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (Spotsylvania, Va.) is among the 42 candidates on the preseason watch list for the 16th annual Lott IMPACT Trophy, as announced by the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation.
The Lott IMPACT Trophy honors the top defensive player in college football who makes the biggest impact for his team, both on and off the field. The award is given to a distinguished young man who represents the qualities embodied by Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott – Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity. Penn State's Carl Nassib won the award in 2015.
Gross-Matos claimed first-team All-Big Ten honors from the conference's media last season. The junior finished second in the Big Ten and No. 12 in FBS with 1.5 tackles for loss per game in 2018. He was also eighth in the Big Ten and No. 47 nationally in sacks per game (0.62). Gross-Matos became the 11th Nittany Lion to record 20 tackles for loss in a season (12th occurrence). He is tied with Bruce Clark (1978), Todd Atkins (1994), LaVar Arrington (1999) and Aaron Maybin (2008) for eighth place on Penn State's season tackles for loss list. Against Indiana in 2018, Gross-Matos had a career-high 10 tackles, the most tackles for a Penn State defensive end since Carl Nassib had 10 stops at Temple in 2015.
More than 3,800 new season tickets have already been sold for the 2019 campaign. For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and reserving new season tickets for the 2019 Penn State Football season presented by PSECU, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.PSUnrivaled.com, call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office weekdays from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
