University of Louisville football’s Drew Bailey and Geron Christian were named to the 2017 Outland Trophy Watch List, the Football Writers Association of America announced Thursday.

A defensive lineman, Bailey heads into his senior campaign with 67 tackles, 10 for loss, and 2.5 sacks through 25 career games. The Jacksonville, Fla., native appeared in all 13 games last season. The 6-foot-3 Bailey had six games with five or more tackles, including a season-best 11 against Duke. He capped the campaign with nine stops against LSU in the Citrus Bowl.

A two-year starter on the offensive line, Christian is coming off a solid 2016 campaign. The junior earned all-ACC honors for the second-consecutive season after helping guide an offense that averaged more than 40 points per game and 500 yards of total offense. The Ocala, Fla., native has started in 26-consecutive contests, including 13 as a true freshman in 2015.

Interior linemen on offense or defense only are eligible for the award.

The ACC leads all conferences with 17 members on the Watch List, followed by the Big Ten and SEC (11 each), Pac-12 (10), American Athletic (9), Big 12 and Mid-American (6 each), Independents and Mountain West (4 each), Conference USA (2) and Sun Belt (1).

The list includes 24 offensive tackles, 21 defensive tackles, 19 centers and 17 offensive guards.

The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from three finalists who are a part of the annual FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects a 26-man first team and eventually the three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner.

The list is being trimmed to six or seven semifinalists on Nov. 15. Six days later, the FWAA will announce the three Outland Trophy finalists. The winner of the 72nd Outland Trophy – named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at Penn at the turn of the 20th century – will be announced live on ESPN at The Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 7. For the third-straight year, the show will air from the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

The Outland Trophy presentation banquet, sponsored by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee, will be held on Jan. 10, 2018, in Omaha, Neb. Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden will receive the Tom Osborne Legacy Award at the same banquet.

The following two tabs change content below.
@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

TCZ Comments

comments