WACO, Texas – Baylor senior center Kyle Fuller was named to the 2016 Rimington Trophy Fall watch list, the award’s committee announced Wednesday. The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the Most Outstanding Center in NCAA Division I-A College Football.
Fuller is one of seven Big 12 centers on the list and one of 61 in the country to be recognized.
Going into his final season in Waco, Fuller is a fifth-year senior center and a two-time All-Big 12 honoree. He leads BU with 39 career games played and is tied for the most starts on the team with 26.
Last season, Fuller was the starting center in all 13 games as a junior and earned All-Big 12 honors. He anchored an offensive line that paved the way for the nation’s No. 2-ranked rushing offense (326.7 ypg) and led the Big 12 with 1.15 average sacks allowed.
Fuller was named second-team All-Big 12 by the Associated Press, league coaches, San Antonio-Express News and Waco Tribune-Herald. He averaged an 88.9 percent coaches grade and totaled 51 knockdowns on the season. Fuller was also named to the USA Today All-Bowl team for his efforts in BU’s Russell Athletic Bowl victory and during the course of the season earned Lineman of the Week honors four times.
It marks the second-consecutive year that the Wylie, Texas, product has been on the Rimington’s fall watch list. Fuller had previously been named to the trophy’s spring watch list in May.
The Rimington Trophy committee uses three All-American teams to determine its winner. The center with the most first team votes on the Walter Camp Foundation, Sporting News and Football Writers Association of America teams will be the winner.
The Rimington Trophy is name for Dave Rimington, who was a consensus first-team All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy's only double winner as the nation's finest college interior lineman.
Finalists for the honor will be announced on Dec. 5. The winner will be recognized at the Rimington Trophy Presentation at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln, Nebraska on Saturday, January 14, 2017.
