BATON ROUGE — For the second straight year, LSU linebackers Trev Faulk and Bradie James have been named to the Butkus Award “Watch List”, The Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando announced on Thursday.
The Butkus Award goes annually to the nation’s top collegiate linebacker.
The award is named for former Illinois and Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus.
The “Watch List”, which consist of 69 candidates, will be trimmed to 10 semifinalists on October 18. From there, the list will be cut to three finalists on November 8 with the winner of the award being announced on Dec. 7 in Orlando.
Of the 69 candidates on this year’s list, Faulk and James are two of just 14 players that are making their second appearance on the watch list.
Faulk, a preseason first team all-America selection at linebacker, led LSU and ranked second in the Southeastern Conference with 113 tackles last year, including nine for losses. The Sporting News has already ranked Faulk as the nation’s premier inside linebacker heading into the 2001 season.
James, also listed as a preseason all-America by several publications, ranked second on the squad and third in the SEC with 110 tackles last year.
James led the Tigers with five sacks a year ago. He was also named the Peach Bowl’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player in the Tigers’ 28-14 win over Georgia Tech.
2001 Butkus Award Watch List
James Allen-Oregon State
Boss Bailey-Georgia
Solomon Bates-Arizona State
Chad Bayer-TCU
Kevin Bentley-Northwestern
Rocky Boiman-Notre Dame
Eric Brackens-Michigan
Lance Briggs-Arizona
Jomar Butler-San Diego State
Rocky Calmus-Oklahoma
Travis Carroll-Florida
Chad Carson-Clemson
Joe Cooper-Ohio State
Andra Davis-Florida
Rod Davis-Southern Miss
Dan Dawson-Rice
Sheldon Deckart-Utah
Michael Dulaney-Tulsa
Kalimba Edwards-South Carolina
Justin Ena-BYU
Trev Faulk-LSU
LeVar Fisher-NC State
Lawrence Flugence-Texas Tech
Larry Foote-Michigan
Nick Greisen-Wisconsin
Pernell Griffin-East Carolina
Mario Haggan-Mississippi State
Napoleon Harris-Northwestern
Gerald Hayes-Pittsburgh
Victor Hobson-Michigan
Curtis Holden-Washington State
Bradie James-LSU
Bradley Jennings-Florida State
Justin Johnson-Fresno State
Brad Kassell-North Texas
Jason Kaufusi-Utah
Ben Leber-Kansas State
D.D. Lewis-Texas
Roy Magee-Southern Miss
Kawika Mitchell-South Florida
Mike Nattiel-Florida
Terry Pierce-Kansas State
Kendyll Pope-Florida State
Saleem Rasheed-Alabama
Billy Silva-Northwestern
Clifton Smith-Syracuse
Justin Smith-Indiana
Raonall Smith-Washington State
Maurice Sonnier-Louisiana-Monroe
Randy Stella-Nebraska
Dominique Stevenson-Tennessee
Eddie Strong-Mississippi
Jashon Sykes-Colorado
Taylor Suman-Temple
Ben Taylor-Virginia Tech
D’Wayne Taylor-New Mexico State
Robert Thomas-UCLA
Aaron Thompson-Maryland
Josh Thornhill-Michigan State
Vic Viloria-SMU
Paul Walkenhorst-BYU
Will Weatherspoon-Georgia
Matt Weikert-Ohio
Grant Wiley-West Virginia
Matt Wilhelm-Ohio State
Larry Williams-Northern Illinois
Recardo Wimbush-Georgia Tech
Max Yates-Marshall
Brian Zickefoose-Army