University Park, Pa. — Penn State All-America candidate Stefen Wisniewski (Bridgeville) has been selected to the Outland Trophy Watch List for the second consecutive year. The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) annually presents the prestigious honor to the nation’s top interior lineman.
A senior guard, Wisniewski has been named a 2010 first team pre-season All-American by Sporting News, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview and Lindy’s Football Preview thus far.
Wisniewski earned third team All-America and first team All-Big Ten accolades in 2009, starting all 13 games at center for the Nittany Lions. He moved back to guard during spring practice, where he started 12 games in 2008, helping Penn State win the Big Ten Championship and a berth in the Rose Bowl.
A starter in 25 of 26 games the past two seasons, Wisniewski is on the preliminary Watch List for the 41st Rotary Lombardi Award. He saw action on 905 snaps, the third-highest total on the team in 2009. Wisniewski and the O-Line played a huge role in Penn State ranking No. 2 in the Big Ten in total offense at 406.9 ypg. The Nittany Lions were the only Big Ten team ranked in the top five of the conference’s four primary offensive statistical categories in 2009.
Behind the protection of Wisniewski and his linemates, Daryll Clark finished No. 2 in the Big Ten in passing efficiency and threw a school season-record 24 touchdown passes last year. Penn State was third in the Big Ten in fewest sacks allowed and eclipsed 500 yards of total offense on four occasions, including 512 in the regular-season finale at Michigan State.
A secondary education major in the Schreyer Honors College, Wisniewski has spent this year student teaching 10th-grade English at State College Area High School. He was selected a 2009 first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American®, as he added to his 2008 second-team honor. Owner of a superlative 3.90 grade-point average, the squad’s highest mark, Wisniewski will have an opportunity in 2010 to become Penn State’s first three-time Academic All-American®. A U.S. Army All-American at Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School, he earned a perfect 4.0 GPA last fall.
The FWAA will consider other players for the 2010 Outland Trophy Watch List and will also delete players as the season progresses. The FWAA All-America Committee will select three finalists in late November and eventually the overall winner.
The Outland Trophy, presented annually since 1946, is the third oldest award in major college football. The Outland Trophy is named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at Penn and Kansas at the turn of the century. The 2010 winner will be announced on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show on Dec. 9.
The Outland Trophy presentation banquet, sponsored by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee, will be on Jan. 13, 2011 in Omaha, Neb.
Penn State is 51-13 (79.7) since the start of the 2005 season, tied for the nation’s No. 7 winning percentage over that span. The Nittany Lions earned their second consecutive 11-2 record last season, capped by a win over LSU in the Capital One Bowl, Penn State’s fourth bowl victory in the past five seasons. Penn State posted its 23rd final Top 10 ranking under Hall of Fame Coach Joe Paterno.
The Nittany Lions return 36 letterwinners for the 2010 season, including 13 starters (7 offense, 5 defense, 1 specialist), as well as 10 players that have starting experience. Penn State opens the season Sept. 4 vs. Youngstown State at noon on Big Ten Network and visits 2009 national champion Alabama on Sept. 11 for a 7 p.m. clash on ESPN.
