BATON ROUGE — LSU defensive tackle Chad Lavalais is one of five finalists for the 2003 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is presented annually to college football’s outstanding defensive player, the Football Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club announced on Tuesday.
Joining Lavalais on the list of finalists are Oklahoma defensive tackle Tommie Harris and cornerback Derrick Strait, UCLA defensive end Dave Ball and West Virginia linebacker Grant Wiley.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy will be presented to the winner on Dec. 8 in Charlotte, N.C.
Lavalais, a 6-3, 292-pound senior from Marksville, La., is the anchor for an LSU defense which ranks tops in the country in fewest points allowed per game at 8.9 a contest and ranks second in the nation in rushing defense with 60.8 yards per contest. Overall, the Tigers rank fourth in the nation in total defense, allowing 259.7 yards per contest.
In 10 games this year, Lavalais has recorded 43 tackles, 12 of which have gone for losses. He also leads the Tigers with six quarterback sacks totaling 48-yards in losses to go along with 18 quarterback hurries. He’s also blocked one field goal and intercepted a pass.
Lavalais, a First Team All-Southeastern Conference pick in 2002, earned SEC Player of the Week honors following LSU’s 31-7 win over Auburn on Oct. 25. Last week, Lavalais had six tackles and five quarterback hurries in LSU’s 27-3 win over Alabama. In that game, Lavalais and the Tiger defense held the SEC’s leading rusher in Shaud Williams to only 29 yards, 85 below his season average.
Harris, a 6-3, 289-pound junior from Killeen, Texas, helps anchor OU’s No. 3-ranked scoring defense in the country. He has nine tackles for 36 yards in losses this season. Four of those are sacks for 21 yards in losses. He has recovered a fumble and caused a fumble.
Strait, a 5-11, 195 senior from Austin, Texas, has had an outstanding season for a secondary that ranks tops in the country in yards allowed a game. He has set an Oklahoma career record for passes broken up, surpassing Williams’ record.
Strait’s interceptions against Texas early in the game keyed a 65-13 OU victory in which he also had 11 tackles (one for loss), two fumble recoveries and three passes broken up.
Ball, a 6-6, 275-pound senior from Dixon, Calif., leads the nation in sacks with 15.5 and is tops in the Pacific-10 Conference in tackles for loss (19.5). He was a Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Washington when he recorded 3.5 sacks, added another tackle for loss and caused two fumbles. Ball is also a finalist for the Lombardi and Ted Hendricks awards.
Wiley, a 6-1, 235-pound senior from Trappe, Pa., leads the country in forced fumbles (seven) and is second in the country in tackles per game (13.1) this season. Wiley had 11 tackles in West Virginia’s upset of Virginia Tech and this past weekend chipped in with 15 tackles (two for losses) a sack and pass broken up in a victory over Pittsburgh.