The following is a news release from Utah State University
Utah State junior quarterback Jordan Love was named to the 83rd annual Maxwell Award Watch List, while senior defensive end Tipa Galeai and junior linebacker David Woodward were both named to the 25th annual Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List, it was announced Monday by the The Maxwell Football Club.
Love is one of 80 players named to the Maxwell Award Watch List, including one of just four Mountain West players, joining Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald, Nevada running back Toa Taua and San Diego State running back Juwan Washington. The Maxwell Award, named in honor of Robert W. “Tiny” Maxwell, has been given to America’s College Player of the Year since 1937.
Galeai and Woodward are two of 80 players named to the Bednarik Award Watch List, and Utah State is one of just 17 schools nationally to have multiple players recognized, joining Alabama, Clemson, Colorado, Florida, Fresno State, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Penn State, Syracuse, TCU and Utah.
In all, Galeai and Woodward are two of the eight MW players listed, including Fresno State safety Juju Hughes and linebacker Mykal Walker, Nevada linebacker Gabe Sewell, San Diego State linebacker Kyahva Tezino, Boise State defensive end Curtis Weaver and Wyoming linebacker Logan Wilson. The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1995.
Love, a 6-foot-4, 220-pounder from Bakersfield, Calif. (Liberty HS), earned second-team all-Mountain West honors in 2018 as he set five school records with 32 touchdown passes, 3,567 passing yards, seven 300-yard passing games, 234 points responsible for and being named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week five times. Love also tied the single-season school record with a pair of 400-yard passing games. Furthermore, Love tied the single-game school record for touchdown passes with five against both UNLV and San José State, becoming just the fifth quarterback in school history to accomplish the feat.
Along with being named to the Maxwell Award Watch List, Love is also a preseason first-team all-Mountain West selection by both Athlon Sports and Phil Steele’s Magazine.
Heading into his junior campaign, Love is 396-of-652 (.607) passing for 5,198 yards and 40 touchdowns with just 12 interceptions during his career, and ranks fourth all-time in school history in touchdown passes, tied for fourth in completion percentage, and 10th all-time in passing yards, completions and total offense (5,426).
Galeai, a 6-5, 230-pounder from Euless, Texas (Trinity HS/TCU), earned second-team all-Mountain West honors in 2018 as he played in all 13 games and made 12 starts. He finished his redshirt junior season fifth on the team with 64 tackles (30-solo, 34-assist), while leading the team in both sacks (10.5) and tackles for loss (14.0). In fact, his 10.5 sacks are the most by an Aggie since 2005, while his 14.0 tackles for loss are the most by an Aggie since 2015. He also led the team with three forced fumbles and seven quarterback hurries, while adding two interceptions, three pass breakups and one blocked kick during the year.
Along with being named to the Bednarik Award Watch List, Galeai is also a preseason first-team all-Mountain West selection by both Athlon Sports and Phil Steele’s Magazine.
Woodward, a 6-2, 230-pound junior linebacker from Olympia, Wash. (Olympia HS), earned first-team All-America honors from Pro Football Focus (PFF) and third-team All-America honors from The Associated Press (AP) as a sophomore in 2018, as he started all 13 games and finished the season with 134 tackles (52-solo, 82-assist), which included 5.0 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss, to go along with two forced fumbles, two interceptions, three pass breakups and four quarterback hurries. He was also named the PFF Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year as he ranked first in the MW and 11th in the nation with 134 tackles (11.2 pg).
Following his sophomore season, Woodward graded out as the top linebacker in the nation, according to PFF, at 91.6 percent as he ranked fourth among linebackers with a 92.4 grade against the run and fourth in coverage at 90.5 and only missed two tackles all season.
Along with being named to the Bednarik Award Watch List, Woodward has also been named a preseason third-team All-American by Athlon Sports a preseason fourth-team All-American by Phil Steele’s Magazine and first-team all-Mountain West by both Athlon Sports and Phil Steele’s Magazine, along with being named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List, which is awarded annually to college football’s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year.
Utah State returns nine starters (O-2, D-7) as part of 32 letterwinners (O-13, D-17, S-2), including two All-Americans and eight players that earned various all-Mountain West honors, from last year’s team that ended the season ranked 21st in the final Amway Coaches poll and 22nd in the final AP poll as it tied the school record for wins and best record with an 11-2 mark following the Aggies’ 52-13 win against North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl.
Utah State will open the 2019 season on Friday, Aug. 30, at Wake Forest and begin its home season the following weekend against Stony Brook on Saturday, Sept. 7. Mountain West play begins for USU two weekends later at San Diego State on Saturday, Sept. 21.
For Aggie football ticket information, fans can contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office over the phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or 435-797-0305 during regular hours of operation. Fans can also buy their tickets in person at the USU Ticket Office inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or online by clicking on the “Buy Tickets” tab at www.UtahStateAggies.com.
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