Oklahoma State University Athletics
Ogbah, Simmons Named To Rotary Lombardi Watch List
July 14, 2015 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State football defensive standouts Emmanuel Ogbah and Ryan Simmons were named to the 2015 Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List on Tuesday.
Ogbah and Simmons were among 13 Big 12 players selected to the watch list, and OSU was one of just four Big 12 programs with multiple members nominated for the award given annually to the nation's top linebacker or lineman – offensive or defensive.
Ogbah is coming off a breakout season, and was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch lists last week. He became the first OSU player to be recognized as Big 12 defensive lineman of the year, was a first-team all-Big 12 honoree by the Associated Press and the coaches and was chosen as the team's 2014 defensive most valuable player by the OSU coaches.
Ogbah, a junior out of Houston, finished the season third in the Big 12 and 24th nationally in tackles for loss per game (1.3) and second in the Big 12 and 15th nationally in sacks per game (0.85).
He recorded 5.5 tackles for loss in the Cowboys' win at Kansas, which set an OSU single-game record and was the most tackles for any player in the country in a single game last season. He also enjoyed a breakthrough performance on a national stage to open 2014 when he had six tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and two pass-breakups against top-ranked Florida State. The athletic defensive end produced a stretch last season where he recorded at least one sack in six consecutive games.
Simmons, a three-year letterman at linebacker, has 26 starts to his credit heading into his senior season, and will enter 2015 with the most career tackles among all returning OSU players at 189. Â Included in that total are 25.5 tackles for loss, which also leads the team. He made 96 tackles and had 12.0 for loss last season.
Simmons ranked eighth in the Big 12 with an average of 5.1 solo tackles per game and 13th in the league with 7.4 total tackles per game. Against Baylor, Simmons tallied a season-best 13 tackles, and he added two tackles for loss against both TCU and Texas. OSU's coaches named him the recipient of the team's Vernon Grant Award for spirit and enthusiasm.
The Rotary Lombardi Watch List of 145 student-athletes will be whittled down to 12 semifinalists this fall, and the award will be handed out on December 9, 2015 at the Bayou Music Center in Houston, Texas.
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Ogbah and Simmons were among 13 Big 12 players selected to the watch list, and OSU was one of just four Big 12 programs with multiple members nominated for the award given annually to the nation's top linebacker or lineman – offensive or defensive.
Ogbah is coming off a breakout season, and was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch lists last week. He became the first OSU player to be recognized as Big 12 defensive lineman of the year, was a first-team all-Big 12 honoree by the Associated Press and the coaches and was chosen as the team's 2014 defensive most valuable player by the OSU coaches.
Ogbah, a junior out of Houston, finished the season third in the Big 12 and 24th nationally in tackles for loss per game (1.3) and second in the Big 12 and 15th nationally in sacks per game (0.85).
He recorded 5.5 tackles for loss in the Cowboys' win at Kansas, which set an OSU single-game record and was the most tackles for any player in the country in a single game last season. He also enjoyed a breakthrough performance on a national stage to open 2014 when he had six tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and two pass-breakups against top-ranked Florida State. The athletic defensive end produced a stretch last season where he recorded at least one sack in six consecutive games.
Simmons, a three-year letterman at linebacker, has 26 starts to his credit heading into his senior season, and will enter 2015 with the most career tackles among all returning OSU players at 189. Â Included in that total are 25.5 tackles for loss, which also leads the team. He made 96 tackles and had 12.0 for loss last season.
Simmons ranked eighth in the Big 12 with an average of 5.1 solo tackles per game and 13th in the league with 7.4 total tackles per game. Against Baylor, Simmons tallied a season-best 13 tackles, and he added two tackles for loss against both TCU and Texas. OSU's coaches named him the recipient of the team's Vernon Grant Award for spirit and enthusiasm.
The Rotary Lombardi Watch List of 145 student-athletes will be whittled down to 12 semifinalists this fall, and the award will be handed out on December 9, 2015 at the Bayou Music Center in Houston, Texas.
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