Baylor’s Billings, Oakman Named To Bednarik Award Watch List
Bears place two on list for second-straight season.
PHILADELPHIA – Baylor junior defensive tackle Andrew Billings and senior defensive end Shawn Oakman have been named to the 2015 Chuck Bednarik Award watch list, The Maxwell Football Club announced Tuesday. The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1995.
Billings, a returning All-Big 12 lineman, was the starting nose tackle for all 13 games during 2014. He totaled 37 tackles (26 solo, 11.5 for loss of 38 yards), 2.0 sacks, nine hurries and one forced fumble on the season. Billings ranked 12th in the Big 12 (third on team) with 11.5 tackles for loss and led BU with nine QB hurries. He recorded a tackle in all 13 games
Oakman, who was on the watch list and a semifinalist for the award in 2014, enters 2015 as a returning All-American. Last season, he started all 13 games, while setting a BU single-season record with 11.0 sacks and he ranked 15th nationally (second in Big 12) at 0.85 sacks per-game. Oakman ranked top 10 nationally in tackles-for-loss (1.5 per-game, 10th) and fumbles recovered (three, 10th).
He tallied consensus first-team All-Big 12 honors by totaling 51 tackles (38 solo), 19.5 tackles for loss (-89 yards), 11.0 sacks (-73 yards), nine QB hurries, three PBUs, three forced fumbles and three fumbles recovered on season. Oakman’s 19.5 TFL ranks third on BU's single-season chart.
This is the second-straight season that BU has had two players up for college football’s top defensive honor as Bryce Hager joined Oakman on the 2014 edition of the watch list.
The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former standout at Penn and with the Philadelphia Eagles. He is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame's Class of '69 and the NFL Hall of Fame's Class of '67.
Semifinalists for the Bednarik Award will be announced Nov. 2, while three finalists will be unveiled Nov. 23. The winners of the 2015 Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on Dec. 10. The formal presentations of the award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 11.
The watch list candidates have been chosen by the Maxwell Football Club's selection committee, which analyzes both past performance and future potential. The Club reserves the right to make additions and deletions to these lists as the 2015 season unfolds. All members of the Maxwell Football Club, NCAA sports information directors, FBS head coaches and selected national media are eligible to vote for the awards.
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