Three Terps on Preseason Award Watch Lists
8/17/2010 8:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 17, 2010
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Over the last two days, three members of the Maryland Terrapins were placed on watch lists for postseason football awards.
The Terps may have one of their best linebacker corps in recent memory and the Butkus Award selection committee agreed as seniors Adrian Moten and Alex Wujciak were placed on the preseason watch list Monday.
Moten and Wujciak are two of 51 players from around the country, including 11 from the Atlantic Coast Conference, in the running for the award honoring the top linebacker in the country.
Regarded as one of the top all-purpose players in the country, junior wide receiver Torrey Smith is a candidate for the Paul Hornung Award given annually to the most versatile player in the nation. The Louisville Sports Commission announced the 48-player list Tuesday.
Moten, appearing on an award watch list for the first time, has been a productive performer throughout his career. He earned freshman All-America honors in 2007. After battling a wrist injury in 2008, he rebounded last season to post 68 tackles (second on the team to Wujciak), including a team-best 6.0 sacks.
Moten's 13.0 career sacks rank second among active players in the ACC, while his 142 career tackles rank second on the team behind Wujciak, who is now on the watch list for five postseason awards.
Wujciak, a consensus preseason first team All-ACC choice, is among the candidates for the Nagurski Trophy (top defensive player), Lott Trophy (top impact defender), Lombardi Award (top performer who plays near the line of scrimmage) and Bednarik Award (top defensive player).
Wujciak is a two time all-conference pick. He had 131 tackles last year and ranked eighth nationally in that category (10.9 per game). Wujciak is first among active players in the ACC with 264 career tackles.
Smith, who is also on the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award (top wideout in the nation), was voted to the preseason All-ACC team at two positions - wide receiver and specialist - after setting the league's single-season kickoff return yards record each of the last two years and posting 61 catches for 824 yards and five touchdowns as a sophomore.
Smith, a second-team all-conference choice at both positions after last season, ranks first in school history and third on the ACC books in career kickoff return yards (2,398). Semifinalists for the Butkus Award will be announced on Oct. 21, finalists on Nov. 22, and the winner notified on or before Dec. 8.
Former Terp E.J. Henderson was the 2002 Butkus Award recipient and his brother, Erin, was a semifinalist in 2007.
The Hornung selection committee will narrow the field to approximately 10 to 15 finalists at the end of the regular season, then will select the winner in early January.
