7/13/2020 football Edit

FB: Woods named to Bednarik Award Watch List

WSU Athletic Communications

College Football

Washington State outside linebacker Jahad Woods was named to the 2020 Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List, The Maxwell Football Club announced Monday.

The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1995 and is named in honor of Chuck Bednarik a former standout at the University of Pennsylvania and with the Philadelphia Eagles. Bednarik is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame's Class of 1969 and the NFL Hall of Fame's Class of 1967.

Woods is the first Cougar to be named to the Bednarik Award Watch List since safety Jalen Thompson received the same recognition prior to the 2018 season. Woods, a two-time All-Pac-12 Conference honorable mention pick, produced one of the best seasons in Washington State history as a redshirt-junior last season. The San Diego native recorded 141 tackles, fourth-most in the country and tied for the fifth-most in WSU single-season history, the most by a Cougar since 1991.

Woods also tallied a team-high 10 tackles-for-loss, three sacks, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one interception. Woods, the Pac-12's top returning tackler, recorded 10+ tackle games and finished the season as the Pac-12's best inside linebacker in pass rush productivity and fourth-best inside linebacker at run stop percentage.

Woods capped his 2019 season with a WSU Bowl Game and Cheez-It Bowl Game record 20 tackles against Air Force, tied for the seventh-most in WSU single-game history.

Woods enters 2020 with 287 career tackles and 25.5 tackles-for-loss in 39 career games.

Semifinalists for the Bednarik Award will be announced Nov. 3, 2020, while the three finalists for the Bednarik Award will be unveiled Nov. 23, 2020. The winner of the 2020 Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on Dec. 10, 2020. The formal presentations of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel &Casino Atlantic City on March 12, 2021.