UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Senior defensive tackle Robert Windsor (Fond du lac, Wis.) earned a berth on the Outland Trophy watch list for the nation's top interior lineman. Windsor, junior defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (Spotsylvania, Va.) and sophomore linebacker Micah Parsons (Harrisburg, Pa.) were all selected to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list for the nation's top defensive player.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is given yearly to the National Defensive Player of the Year. The award is named for legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota, Bronko Nagurski, who dominated college football then became a star for the Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Penn State has never won a Nagurski Trophy, but has had five finalists, most recently Carl Nassib in 2015.
The Outland Trophy is named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at Penn at the turn of the 20th century and is given to the nation's top interior lineman (offensive or defensive). Penn State defensive tackle Mike Reid won the Outland Trophy in 1969 and All-America defensive tackle Devon Still was the most recent Nittany Lion finalist, in 2011.
Gross-Matos, who is also on the Lott IMPACT Trophy preseason watch list, 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.
Parsons was chosen as Freshman All-American by The Athletic, 247Sports and ESPN to go along with his honorable-mention All-Big Ten laurels. He finished the season, leading the Nittany Lions with 83 tackles, becoming the first freshman (true or redshirt) in Penn State history to lead the team in tackles in a season. Parsons had seven games with seven or more tackles and 10 contests with five or more tackles. In Penn State's Citrus Bowl game against Kentucky, he posted a career-high 14 tackles, which ranks No. 13 in Penn State bowl history.
Windsor collected second-team All-Big Ten honors from the Associated Press last season and was named honorable-mention All-Big Ten by the league's coaches and media. The senior finished No. 6 in the Big Ten and No. 42 in FBS with 0.63 sacks per game. Windsor had a career game against Wisconsin, collecting a career-high six tackles and personal-best two sacks. For his efforts against his home state team, the Fond du lac native was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and Outback Bowl Player of the Week. Windsor also claimed Pro Football Focus Big Ten Team of the Week accolades following the Rutgers game when he had six tackles, including two tackles for loss, and a forced fumble.
Eight different Nittany Lions have been named to preseason watch lists. They include: senior linebacker Cam Brown – Butkus Award (nation's top linebacker); senior punter Blake Gillikin – Allstate AFCA Good Works Team; senior defensive tackle Robert Windsor – Nagurski Trophy (National Defensvie Player of the Year), Outland Trophy (best college football interior lineman); junior defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos – Nagurski Trophy (National Defensvie Player of the Year), Bednarik Award (National Defensive Player of the Year), Lott IMPACT Trophy (National Defensive Player of the Year on and off the field); junior wide receiver KJ Hamler – Maxwell Award (National Player of the Year), Biletnikoff Award (outstanding wide receiver); junior center Michal Menet – Rimington Trophy (top center); sophomore tight end Pat Freiermuth – Mackey Award (outstanding collegiate tight end); sophomore linebacker Micah Parsons – Nagurski Trophy (National Defensvie Player of the Year), Bednarik Award (National Defensive Player of the Year), Butkus Award (nation's top linebacker).
The Nittany Lions' home schedule features three non-conference games and four Big Ten Conference match-ups. The Nittany Lions open the season against Idaho (Aug. 31; 3:30 p.m.), Buffalo (Sept. 7; 7:30 p.m.) and the 100th all-time meeting with Pittsburgh (Sept. 14; noon) in non-conference action. In Big Ten play, Penn State welcomes Purdue (Oct. 5; noon), Michigan (Oct. 19), Indiana (Nov. 15) and Rutgers (Nov. 30) to Happy Valley.
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.
Nearly 4,500 new season tickets have already been sold for the 2019 campaign.
