Congrats to Boston College's junior LB Luke Kuechly, who was named one of 20 quarterfinalists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, awarded annually by the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation to college football's Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year.
Kuechly is just one of six linebackers to be named a Lott IMPACT Trophy quarterfinalist, joining Texas' Emmanauel Acho, Nebraska's Lavonte David, Alabama's Dont'a Hightower, Purdue's Joe Holland and Notre Dame's Mani Te'o.
Other quarterfinalists include: Mark Barron (S, Alabama), John Boyett (S, Oregon), Brodrick Brown (CB, Oklahoma State), Quinton Coples (DL, North Carolina), Stephon Gilmore (CB, South Carolina), Aaron Henry (DB, Wisconsin), Delano Howell (S, Stanford), Jordan Kovacs (S, Michigan), Chase Minnifield (CB, Virginia), T.J. McDonald (S, USC), Kendall Reyes (DL, Connecticut), John Simon (DL, Ohio State), Brandon Taylor (DB, LSU) and Jerel Worthy (DL, Michigan State).
Here's Kuechly's bio over at LottImpactTrophy.com:
"Luke Kuechly , Boston College (1-6), LB, 6-3, 235 (Cincinnati): Named on all four mid-season All-American teams (ESPN, CBS, Sporting News, Phil Steele)... Leads country in tackles (118) for second straight year...Lott POW Week 3...Leads team with 7.5 tackles for loss...Led the nation in tackles with 183 last season...His 459 career tackles leaves him 86 shy of the all-time NCAA record for tackles (545)...Consensus All-American...Finalist for both the Butkus and Nagurski awards last year...No. 1 linebacker by Rivals.com."
Kuechly finished Saturday's game against Maryland with 12 tackles (7 solo, 5 assists), upping his consecutive game streak with 10+ tackles to 30 games. In total, Kuechly's 130 tackles and 16.25 a game lead the nation.