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Penn State's Hull moves on from Butkus Award snub

The news that reached Happy Valley earlier this week was a real head-shaker, perhaps even worse than the officiating crew's blowing two vital calls in Penn State's loss to Ohio State a couple of nights before.

The news that reached Happy Valley earlier this week was a real head-shaker, perhaps even worse than the officiating crew's blowing two vital calls in Penn State's loss to Ohio State a couple of nights before.

Fifth-year senior Mike Hull, the 6-foot, 235-pound heart and soul of the Nittany Lions defense and arguably the Big Ten's best at his position, was left off the list of 15 semifinalists for the Butkus Award given to the nation's No. 1 linebacker.

How could that be? Maybe his 19-tackle performance against the Buckeyes came after the selection committee had chosen the semifinalists. But could that same committee have missed his 16 tackles last month against Northwestern? Heck, Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald is on that 51-member committee.

Hull received some good news Wednesday when the Maxwell Club of Philadelphia selected him as a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award given to the nation's outstanding defensive player. He also was named Reese's Senior Bowl player of the week for his performance against Ohio State.

While it might be too late to persuade the Butkus Award committee to squeeze in a 16th candidate, it won't keep James Franklin from lobbying.

"I don't know if I could find something that I would say in terms of his preparation and his demeanor that I would want more from," the Penn State coach said. "It's how he is in meetings, how he is out at practice, his focus, his attention to detail, his work ethic, how coachable he is.

"From day one he's embraced everything we've asked him to do as a team, as a leader, in the defensive scheme, in the defensive techniques, which isn't always easy to do as a senior. I mean, he's a model."

Hull said he found out about the snub Monday on social media. He did not sound too distraught about it the next day in a conference call with the media.

"I don't really play for awards or anything like that," Hull said. "It doesn't really mean anything to me. The only thing that matters is finishing out the season strong and helping our defense be successful every Saturday. That's the most important thing. It's great to have all the support from the fans and everybody."

Hull is sixth in the nation in tackles at 11.9 per game, and ninth in solo tackles with an average of 6.7. That is better than the Butkus semifinalists save for UCLA senior Eric Kendricks, who has 11.6 tackles per game and is third in FBS with 7.6 solos per game.

But it isn't all just Hull's numbers in this, his first season at middle linebacker. The Lions are seventh in FBS in total defense and ninth in points allowed. Of teams with Butkus Award semifinalists, only Alabama's defense is better statistically, while Clemson's is comparable.

Obviously, the committee likes certain conferences. Ten of the semifinalists come from either the SEC (five) and the Pac-12 (five). UCLA, Washington, and Georgia have two candidates each.

The only Big Ten semifinalist for the Butkus Award is Michigan's Jake Ryan, whom Hull cited as a player he loved to watch during an interview last July at Big Ten media day.

Hull has been worth watching all season. And all Franklin can do is shake his head.

"I've been doing this for 20 years," he said. "I've been around. And I'm telling you there's not too many guys like this out there, and that's in college or the NFL. He's a special player."

@joejulesinq