Oct. 14, 2004
ORLANDO - The Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando has announced that San Diego State senior linebacker Kirk Morrison is one of 12 semifinalists for the 2004 Butkus Award, presented annually to the best linebacker in college football.
The field will be trimmed to three on on Nov. 11th with the winner announced Dec. 10. The semifinalists were chosen from a preseason watch list of 68 players.
Morrison was a first-team All-America linebacker last year, according to College Football News. He is a two-time all-conference player and the reigning Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. Morrison is also on the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (outstanding defensive player), the Chuck Bednarik Award (outstanding defensive player), the Lombardi Award (outstanding offensive or defensive lineman) and the Lott Trophy (defensive impact player of the year).
Morrison enters Saturday's Colorado State game fourth all-time at San Diego State with 329 tackles. He entered the season 11th among the nation's active players in career tackles. Morrison is also eighth all-time at SDSU in tackles for loss (37).
In 2001, Morrison was named a freshman All-American by The Sporting News. He is attempting to become San Diego State's first three-time all-conference defender since defensive end Kabeer Gbaja Biamila (1997-98-99), now of the Green Bay Packers.
The Butkus Award semifinalists are Michael Boley of Southern Miss, Ahmad Brooks of Virginia, Kevin Burnett of Tennessee, Channing Crowder of Florida, Matt Grootegoed of USC, Spencer Havner of UCLA, A. J. Hawk of Ohio State, Derrick Johnson of Texas, Lance Mitchell of Oklahoma, Kirk Morrison of San Diego State, Odell Thurman of Georgia and Leon Williams of Miami (Fla.)
San Diego State hosts Colorado State Saturday afternoon at Qualcomm Stadium. Kickoff is set for 4:05 p.m. The game will be televised on a regional basis by ABC-TV (Channel 10).