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Oklahoma's Ethan Downs, Danny Stutsman Make Prestigious Midseason Watch List

Arguably the Sooners' top two defenders made the list, which goes to down linemen or linebackers.
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma's Ethan Downs, Danny Stutsman Make Prestigious Midseason Watch List
Oklahoma's Ethan Downs, Danny Stutsman Make Prestigious Midseason Watch List

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Oklahoma Sooners

NORMAN — Two Oklahoma defenders landed on a prestigious college football watch list on Tuesday.

Linebacker Danny Stutsman and defensive end Ethan Downs were among the 100 players identified for the Lombardi Award midseason watch list.

The 6-foot-4, 236-pound Stutsman, a junior from Windermere, FL, leads the Sooners in total defensive snaps played with 354 as well as tackles with 58 (Jaren Kanak is next with 35). Stutsman, a two-year starter, also leads OU with 10.5 tackles for loss at the midway point of the season (Downs is next with 5.0).

The 6-4, 265-pound Downs, a junior from Weatherford, OK, leads OU with 3.5 quarterback sacks (including two in the Sooners’ win over Texas). Downs ranks eighth among OU defenders with 17 total tackles and is tied for fifth on the defense with 233 snaps this season.

Stutsman earned honorable mention All-Big 12 last year as he led the conference and ranked fifth nationally with 125 total tackles, including 10.5 TFLs in 13 games (his same total so far this year through six games).

Downs was named second-team All-Big 12 last year when he compiled 38 total tackles, including a team-high 13.5 TFLs and 4.5 sacks.

To be eligible for the Lombardi Award, players must play on the line or at linebacker on defense or offensive line on offense.

A total of 16 Big 12 players made the midseason watch list, which ranks second to the Big Ten (20) and is tied with the SEC (16) and just ahead of the ACC (15) and Pac-12 (13).

Semifinalists for this year's award will be announced on Nov. 1, and four finalists will be revealed on Nov. 15.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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