UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (Spotsylvania, Va.) is among the five finalists for the Ted Hendricks Award for the nation's top defensive end. Joining Gross-Matos on the list of finalists are Utah's Bradelee Anae, Baylor's James Lynch, Boise State's Curtis Weaver and Ohio State's Chase Young.
The Ted Hendricks Award is named in honor of college football's first three-time first-team All-American. 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. Penn State's lone winner of the Hendricks Award is Carl Nassib in 2015, while Michael Haynes (2002), Tamba Hali (2005), Maurice Evans (2007) and Aaron Maybin (2008) were finalists for the honor.
A two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection, Gross-Matos has been instrumental in helping the Nittany Lion defense to be among the best in the country. He has 14.0 tackles for loss, including 8.5 sacks, in 11 games this season. For his career, Gross-Matos has 36.0 TFL and 18.0 sacks as part of his 110 tackles. He was the team's Reid-Robinson Award winner as the most outstanding lineman in 2018 and was an honorable-mention All-Freshman Team selection by BTN.com in 2017.
As a junior, Gross-Matos ranks No. 7 in the Big Ten and No. 27 nationally in tackles for loss per game (1.3) and is No. 5 in the conference and No. 23 in FBS in sacks per game (0.77). He also had seven quarterback hurries on the year. He was a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award this season and was a Sporting News Midseason All-American. He collected Pro Football Focus Big Ten Team of the Week accolades three times this season (Michigan State, Iowa, Buffalo).
For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and reserving new 2020 season tickets, 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.
