PHILADELPHIA -- San Diego State sophomore Trey White has been added to the mid-season watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given out annually to the outstanding defensive player in college football.
An EDGE player, White has 32 tackles (24 solo), including 15 tackles for loss and 11 sacks, six quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and a forced fumble through six games this season. The San Diego native is averaging 1.83 sacks per game, which would be a NCAA FBS record (NCAA defensive stats go back to 2000) for most sacks per game in a season, just ahead of Arizona State’s Terrell Suggs (1.71 in 2002), Louisville’s Elvis Dumervil (1.67 in 2005) and Syracuse’s Dwight Freeney (1.46 in 2001). White is already seventh in SDSU single-season history with 11 sacks, only trailing Mike Douglass (21.0 in 1976), Brett Faryniarz (13.0 in 1987), Andy Coviello (12.5 in 1991), Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (12.0 in 1997 and 1999) and current Kansas City Chief Cameron Thomas (11.5 in 2021).
White, who’s 1.83 sacks per game are more than 43 other FBS teams, leads the country in sacks (11.0), sacks per game (1.83), tackles for loss (15.0), tackles for loss per game (2.50) and tackles for loss yards (91), and is tied for second in sack yards (60). According to Pro Football Focus, White ranks in a tie for fourth in the country in quarterback pressures (27). He has four straight games with multiple sacks, including three apiece at Central Michigan on Sept. 28 and vs. Hawai’i on Oct. 5 en route to being named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 7 for the first time of his career.
Earlier this week, White was named a midseason first-team All-America selection by College Football Network and a second-team pick by The Athletic.
The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1994 and is named in honor of Chuck “Concrete Charlie” Bednarik who was an All-American player at Penn and later a multiple year All-Pro linebacker and center for the Philadelphia Eagles. He is a member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame and was the last NFL player to be a full-time player on both offense and defense.
Semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced November 12 with the winners being announced at ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 12, 2024. The formal presentations of the Chuck Bednarik Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards on Friday, March 14, 2025 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.