Three finalists for the Outland Trophy, the third-oldest player award in major college football, were announced by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) on Monday.
Awarded since 1946 to the best interior lineman in college football, the Outland Trophy will be given out for the 67th time early next month to either Alabama center Barrett Jones, Texas A&M offensive tackle Luke Joeckel or North Carolina guard Jonathan Cooper.
Jones, the 2011 Outland Trophy winner as an offensive tackle, will be seeking to become only the second player in the award’s rich history to win it twice. Nebraska center Dave Rimington claimed back-to-back Outland Trophies in 1981 and ’82.
The FWAA selects a 26-man All-America team, which will be announced on Dec. 14. The Outland finalists are interior linemen members of that team as selected by the association’s award committee, with input from the membership.
The three Outland finalists will be highlighted on ESPNU during The Home Depot College Football Awards Nomination Special airing Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET. The 30-minute show, hosted by Matt Schick, will include player interviews and analysis from Kevin Carter surrounding finalists for the Outland Trophy and other members of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA).
This year’s Outland Trophy winner will be revealed on ESPN during The Home Depot College Football Awards airing live from the Atlantic Dance Hall at Disney’s BoardWalk at the Walt Disney World Resort on Thursday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. (ET).
Cooper, a 6-3, 305-pound senior from Wilmington, N.C., has been a standout lineman in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season and has not allowed a sack. He has been named ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week twice through games of Nov. 10. He has been one of the main reasons that North Carolina tailback Giovani Bernard has been one of the country’s top rushers. Cooper is seeking to become North Carolina’s inaugural Outland Trophy winner and the first from the ACC since North Carolina State’s Jim Ritcher in 1979. He is the first Outland finalist from UNC.