West Virginia University senior defensive lineman Darius Stills was named to the watch list for the 26^th annual Chuck Bednarik Award announced today by the Maxwell Football Club.

 

The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1995. Chuck Bednarik, a former standout at Penn and with the Philadelphia Eagles, is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame's Class of '69 and the NFL Hall of Fame's Class of '67.

Stills, who was recently named to Athlon Sports’, Lindy’s and Phil Steele’s 2020 All-Big 12 Conference First Teams, also was named to the Lott Trophy Award watch list. The 2019 All-Big 12 First Team honoree finished the 2019 season with 47 tackles, a team-leading 14.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks, which tied for the team lead, and five quarterback hurries. He also had a forced fumble, two pass breakups and a blocked field goal. He tied for No. 2 in the Big 12 with his brother, Dante, in sacks and was No. 5 in the league in tackles for loss.

 

The Fairmont, West Virginia, native finished with a season-best 10 tackles and three tackles for loss at Baylor. He also recorded six tackles against James Madison and five each at Kansas State and TCU. He posted two sacks at Missouri and had three tackles for loss against Texas and two at Missouri and against NC State.

 

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 Awards 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.

 

This year’s watch list consists of 11 players from the Big 12 Conference and the entire list is divided among position groups, including 26 defensive linemen, 32 linebackers and 32 defensive backs.