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Ohio State's Tommy Eichenberg Named Bednarik Award Semifinalist

The redshirt junior is looking to become just the second player in school history to win the award.

Andrew Lind

In this story:

Ohio State linebacker Tommy Eichenberg was named on Tuesday morning as one of 20 semifinalists for the Bednarik Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s best defensive player.

Eichenberg ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 72 total tackles while adding seven tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and one pick-six. He’s coming off a season-high 15-tackle performance in Saturday's 44-31 win over Penn State.

The redshirt junior from Cleveland St. Ignatius has been the anchor of first-year coordinator Jim Knowles’ defense, which allows just 270.1 yards and 16.88 points per game this season, which ranks sixth and 10th nationally.

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Other semifinalists include Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. and Kool-Aid McKinstry; Arkansas’ Drew Sanders; Cincinnati’s Ivan Pace Jr.; Clemson’s Tyler Davis; Georgia’s Christopher Smith; Illinois’ Jer’Zhan Newton and Devon Witherspoon; Iowa’s Jack Campbell; Kansas State’s Felix Anudike-Uzomah; Michigan’s Mike Morris; Mississippi State’s Emmanuel Forbes; Old Dominion’s Jason Henderson; Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr.; Pittsburgh’s Calijah Kancey; Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson; USC’s Tuli Tuipulotu; Utah’s Clark Phillips III; and Wisconsin’s John Torchio.

Finalists for the award, which is named after form Penn linebacker Chuck Bednarik, will be announced on Nov. 22. Eichenberg is looking to become the second Buckeye to win the award, joining former defensive end Chase Young in 2019.

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Andrew Lind
ANDREW LIND

Andrew Lind is an Ohio State beat writer and photographer at BuckeyesNow, founder of The Ohio State Uniform Database and the NCAA and NFL writer at SportsLogos.net.

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