Stephen Paea Is Bednarik Semifinalist

Oregon State defensive tackle Stephen Paea hasn't put up big numbers this year, but his unsung efforts against constant double-teams are still earning him recognition.

Paea has been named one of 16 semifinalists for the 16th annual Bednarik Award, presented to the nation’s top defensive player by the Maxwell Football Club. He is the only player from the Pac-10 on the list.

Paea was the 2009 co-recipient of the Pac-10 Conference’s Morris Trophy for the league’s top defensive lineman. The native of Tonga was a 2009 All-Pac-10 First Team selection and earned honorable mention in 2008. He currently has career totals of 105 total tackles, 25 tackles-for-loss and 12 quarterback sacks.

You can see the entire list of semifinalists here.

The winners of the 74th Maxwell Award and the 16th Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 9. Three finalists for each award will be announced on Nov. 22, and a second round of voting will take place at that time.

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Alualu & Te'o-Nesheim Hope to Make the Hendricks Award Watchlist

Pac-10 defenses are getting some recognition, with the Hendricks Award adding three conference defensive ends to its watch list: UCLA's Korey Bosworth, Stanford's Tom Keiser and Arizona's Brooks Reed.

Already on the watch list were: Arizona State's Dexter Davis, Oregon's Will Tukuafu and Stanford's Erik Lorig,

Still missing: USC's Everson Griffen, California's Cameron Jordan and Tyson Alualu and Washington's Daniel Te'o-Nesheim.

Alualu and Griffen, notably, have 2.5 sacks and 2.0 sacks respectively.

Says the press release: "The Mid-Season Watch List, which will remain open to adjustments through our first vote, now includes 40 players. This list will be shortened to include five to six finalists in the final weeks of the season, and the final vote will be concluded on December 7th. The 2009 Hendricks Award winner will be announced December 9th."

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