ATLANTA – Temple linebacker Tyler Matakevich continues to add to his trophy case as the Owl senior was presented with the Chuck Bednarik Award as the Collegiate Defensive Player of the Year Thursday night as part of The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN .
Matakevich also was tabbed as a Walter Camp Foundation first team All-America selection, adding to an impressive list of postseason honors that included Monday’s presentation of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which also goes to the nation’s top defensive player.
Matakevich was named last week as the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and was the only player to be unanimously chosen to the all-conference first team.
Matakevich was selected as the Bednarik Award winner among two other finalists: Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib and Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland.
The active career tackle leader in the NCAA FBS, Matakevich has recorded more than 100 tackles in all four seasons at Temple. He is only the seventh player in FBS history to record more than 100 tackles in four different seasons, and he is the only player in FBS who has led his team in tackles in every game during the 2015 season. He also has the most interceptions by any linebacker in college football this season (five) with 47 yards in returns.
Matakevich, through 13 games in 2015, has 126 total tackles. He has 15 tackles for 62 yards in losses. Of those, are 4.5 sacks for losses of 28 yards. In addition, he has five passes broken up and one quarterback hurry.
Memphis kicker Jake Elliott, who was named to the Walter Camp Foundation All-America second team, was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, as the nation’s top kicker, but saw the award go to UCLA’s Ka’imi Fairbairn.
FWAA CHUCK BEDNARIK AWARD
First presented in 1995 to honor the nation’s best collegiate defensive player by the Maxwell Football Club. The award is named after Chuck Bednarik, college and pro football Hall-of-Famer.
2015 Tyler Matakevich, Temple, LB
2014 Scooby Wright, Arizona, LB
2013 Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh, DT
2012 Manti Te’o, Notre Dame, LB
2011 Tyrann Mathieu, LSU, CB
2010 Patrick Peterson, LSU, CB
2009 Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska, DT
2008 Rey Maualuga, USC, LB
2007 Dan Connor, Penn State, LB
2006 Paul Posluszny, Penn State, LB
2005 Paul Posluszny, Penn State, LB
2004 David Pollack, Georgia, DE
2003 Teddy Lehman, Oklahoma, LB
2002 E.J. Henderson, Maryland, LB
2001 Julius Peppers, North Carolina, DE
2000 Dan Morgan, Miami, LB
1999 LaVar Arrington, Penn State, LB
1998 Dat Nguyen, Texas A&M, LB
1997 Charles Woodson, Michigan, DB
1996 Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern, LB
1995 Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern, LB