Aug. 14, 2008
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State senior linebacker Russell Allen (Oceanside, Calif.) has been named to the 2008 Butkus Award Watch List for the second consecutive season. Allen is one of 66 candidates up for the annual honor, which is presented to the nation's best collegiate linebacker.
A preseason all-Mountain West Conference selection, he led SDSU in tackles a year ago with 119 and ranked first in the league in tackles per conference outing (10.6). Allen broke a 36-year-old school single-game record with 22 stops against Utah in 2007 to garner MWC player-of-the-week honors for the second time in his career. The Aztecs' only non-senior team captain last season, he earned honorable mention all-league accolades and enters 2008 with 268 career stops, 12.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions.
Allen is just the second Aztec linebacker to be named to the Butkus Award Watch List on more than one occasion, joining current Oakland Raiders standout Kirk Morrison (2002, 2003, 2004), who was one of 12 semifinalists for the award his senior campaign. Matt McCoy, who plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was also named to the watch list in 2004.
The Butkus Award, which began in 1985, is named in honor of Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus. The award will be presented by the Butkus Foundation at a ceremony on January 13, 2009, at the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago, Ill. An independent Butkus Award selection committee, comprised of 51 members, will vote for the winner of the award.
2008 Butkus Award Watch List
Russell Allen#46, San Diego State Darry Beckwith #11, Louisiana State University Tray Blackman #10, Auburn Will Bonilla #27, SMU Caleb Bostic #44, Miami, OH Jasper Brinkley #52, South Carolina Derrick Burrell #19, Kent State Reggie Carter #51, U.C.L.A. Jonathan Casillas #2, Wisconsin Jamar Chaney #22, Mississippi State University Scotty Cooper #44, Clemson University Maurice Crum #40, Notre Dame Rennie Curran #35, Georgia Aaron Curry #59, Wake Forest Brian Cushing #10, U.S.C. Dannell Ellerbe #33, Georgia Zack Follett #56, University of California - Berkeley Marcus Freeman #1, Ohio State University Kevin Grant #30, Akron Bryant Haines #49, Ball State Joe Henderson #51, University of Alabama - Birmingham Robert Henson #51, T.C.U. Mark Herzlich #94, Boston College Anthony Heygood #42, Purdue Daniel Holtzclaw #44, Eastern Michigan Joey Hudson #48, Miami, OH Jake Hutton #53, Utah State Paul Igboeli #31, Utah State Micah Johnson #4, University of Kentucky Frantz Joseph #56, Florida Atlantic University Braxton Kelley #56, University of Kentucky James Laurinaitis #33, Ohio State University Boris Lee #2, Troy Adam Leonard #44, Hawaii Scott Lutrus #32, University of Connecticut Ray Maualuga #58, U.S.C. Josh Mauga #30, Nevada Pat Maynor #44, Stanford Rolando McCain #25, Alabama Rico McCoy #5, Tennesee Gerald McGrath #24, Southern Mississippi Tyrone McKenzie #27, University of South Florida Scott McKillop #40, Pittsburgh Joe Mortensen #8, University of Kansas Clayton Mullins #9, Miami, OH Gerald Munns #47, Arizona State University Eric Norwood #40, South Carolina Ben Owens #40, Arkansas State Ronnie Palmer #33, University of Arizona Joe Pawelek #41, Baylor University Dave Philistin #34, Maryland Jason Phillips #39, T.C.U. Brian Raines #31, Rice Ryan Reynolds #8, University of Oklahoma John Ryan #90, Notre Dame Frank Scappaticci #49, Army Clint Sintim #51, Virginia Clinton Snyder #20, Stanford Clint Sovie #44, Navy Brandon Spikes #51, Florida Stevenson Sylvester #10, Utah Brian Toal #16, Boston College Worrell Williams #1, California Reed Williams #47, West Virginia University Martez Wilson #2, Illinois Sean Witherspoon #12, Missouri