USF Athletics

Three Bulls Named To Nagurski Trophy Watch List

July 13, 2017

TAMPA, JULY 13, 2017 –
 
Senior cornerback Deatrick Nichols (Miami), senior linebacker Auggie Sanchez (St. Petersburg) and senior defensive lineman Deadrin Senat (Immokalee) were all named to the watch list for the Nagurski Trophy, presented annually to college football's defensive player of the year. The National College Football Awards will continue announcements of preseason candidates for national recognition in college football over the next week.
 
USF is now represented on seven national award watch lists by seven players: senior quarterback Quinton Flowers (Maxwell), senior punter Jonathan Hernandez (Ray Guy), senior cornerback Deatrick Nichols (Bednarik & Nagurski), senior center Cameron Ruff (Rimington), senior linebacker Auggie Sanchez (Nagurski), senior defensive lineman Deadrin Senat (Nagurski & Outland) and sophomore tight end Mitchell Wilcox (Mackey).
 
Nichols, Sanchez and Senat were three of nine American Athletic Conference players named to the Nagurski Watch List, no other conference school had more than one. The trio have all started 24 or more games and posted more than 100 career tackles at USF. They combine to bring 535 career tackles and 89 career starts into the 2017 season.
Nichols, a two-time all-conference selection at cornerback, was also named to the Bednarik Award Watch list for the second straight season. He has led USF with four interceptions in each of the last two seasons and brings eight career interceptions, leading all USF returners. Nichols brings 119 career tackles, third among USF returners, into his senior season. He posted 49 tackles and a team high seven pass break-ups to go along with his four interceptions last year. The lockdown corner also was big in several late game situations as he denied opposing team's top receivers to end potential game-winning drives. He has started every game at cornerback the last two seasons.
Sanchez is a two-time all-conference selection at linebacker. He brings 303 career tackles into his senior season, which rank second among all returners nationally and stand sixth all-time at USF, 64 away from the career record. Sanchez has started every game at linebacker over the last three seasons and is the quarterback of the Bulls' defense. He has posted more than 100 tackles in consecutive seasons and his 120 tackles in 2016 rank second on USF's all-time season list, just one off the record. He led USF with a career-best 6.0 sacks and ranked second on the team with 8.5 tackles for loss to go along with an interception, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and three pass breakups last year. Sanchez led the team in tackles in six games last season and has done so 15 times on his career with 12 double-digit tackle games.
 
Senat, a second-team all-conference selection in 2016, was also named to the Outland Trophy Watch list. He earned the team's Defensive MVP award last year as he started 12 games at defensive tackle and played in all 13. He led USF defensive linemen and set a career high with 49 tackles. His 34 solo tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss and a sack were also career highs and he made a career-high 10 tackles in the Bulls' win at Syracuse. One of the strongest Bulls, with the ability to squat 675 pounds, Senat brings 113 career tackles and 13 tackles for loss into his senior season. He has started 24 games at defensive tackle.
 
ABOUT THE AWARD
The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce five finalists for the 2017 Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Thurs., Nov. 16. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner will be chosen from those five finalists. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association's full membership, selects a 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Nagurski Trophy finalists. The annual Bronko Nagurski Trophy Banquet, presented by ACN, will be held on Mon., Dec. 4 at the Charlotte Convention Center. The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993. In 1995, the FWAA named the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football, then became a star for professional football's Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw "Bronko" Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
USF finished the 2016 season ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press poll with a school-record 11 wins following the program's fifth-ever bowl victory in the Birmingham Bowl. The Bulls' 11-2 record marked the fifth-best winning percentage in FBS football in 2016 and one of just 11 teams to reach 11 wins. USF set nearly 40 team and individual records in 2016, including team records for total yards (6,650), rushing yards (3,714), touchdowns (77) and scoring (569). Junior quarterback Quinton Flowers was named the American Conference Offensive Player of the Year and led a school-record 10 players named to the all-conference team, six of which, including Flowers, will return in 2017.

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