Utah State Center Tyler Larsen named to 2013 Rimington Trophy Fall Watch List

Utah State Football

LOGAN, Utah – Utah State senior center Tyler Larsen was tabbed to the 2013 Dave Rimington Trophy Fall Watch List for the third-straight year it was announced by Rimington Trophy committee Tuesday. The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the Most Outstanding Center in NCAA Division I-A College Football.

Larsen is one of six Mountain West centers on the 44-player list, joined by Hawaii’s Ben Clarke, New Mexico’s Dillon Farrell, Nevada’s Matt Galas, Colorado State’s Weston Richburg and UNLV’s Robert Waterman. The six Mountain West players on the Watch List is the second-most of any conference in the nation behind only the Southeastern Conference who had nine players. Larsen is the only center from the state of Utah to be named to the 2013 Rimington Trophy Watch List.

Larsen is Utah State’s first three-time Rimington Trophy Watch List selection and only the third USU player to be named to the Watch List, joining Brent DeLadurantey in 2005 and Ryan Tonnemacher in 2007.

Along with being named to the 2013 Rimington Trophy Fall Watch List, Larsen has also been named a preseason fourth-team All-American by Phil Steele, and a preseason first-team all-Mountain West selection by both Athlon Sports and College Sports Madness.

Larsen, a 6-4, 312-pounder from Salt Lake City, Utah (Jordan HS) enters his senior season having started 38 consecutive games, which is the longest active streak in the Mountain West and tied for the fifth-longest active streak in the nation. Larsen is a two-time first-team all-Western Athletic Conference honoree and the first USU offensive lineman to accomplish that feat since 1997.

During the 2012 season, Larsen tied for the team lead along with Schultz with an 86 percent overall performance grade, including 78 percent in technique and 83 percent in effort. He carried out the right assignment 97 percent of the time, including four games where he graded out at a perfect 100 percent. He also graded out above 90 percent two times in total performance, and above 80 percent 12 times in effort and seven times in technique. Overall, he posted 65.5 knockdowns on the season.

The winner of the 2013 Dave Rimington Trophy will be honored at the Rimington Trophy Presentation banquet at the Rococo Theater in Lincoln, Neb., on January 11, 2014.

Utah State returns 49 lettermen (offense-23, defense-22, specialists-4) and 18 starters (offense-8, defense-7, specialists-3) from its most successful team in school history as USU ended the 2012 season with a school-best 11-2 record as it set school records for wins (11) and home wins (6), while recording just its second bowl win in school history with a 41-15 victory against Toledo in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. USU also won its first outright conference championship since 1936, as it went 6-0 in the Western Athletic Conference, and just its third in school history joining the 1921 and 1936 teams that both won Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles.

Utah State ended the 2012 season nationally ranked for just the third time in school history as it finished the year ranked 16th in the Associated Press poll, 17th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ poll and 22nd in the Bowl Championship Series standings. USU also finished the 2012 season winning its final seven games, which is tied for the fourth-longest active winning streak in the nation and tied for the third-longest winning streak in school history.

Utah State will open the 2013 season on Thursday, Aug. 29 at Utah and play its first Mountain West game the following weekend at Air Force on Saturday, Sept. 7. USU’s first home game of the 2013 campaign will be on Saturday, Sept. 14 against Weber State, while its first home Mountain West game will be on Saturday, Oct. 12 against Boise State.

Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on facebook at Utah State University Athletics.

About the Rimington Trophy

The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the Most Outstanding Center in NCAA Division I-A College Football. Since its inception, the Rimington Trophy has raised over $2 million for the cystic fibrosis community. The twelve-year old award is overseen by the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis and has raised nearly $100 million for CF Research.

Dave Rimington, the award’s namesake, was a consensus first-team All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy’s only double winner as the nation’s finest college interior lineman.

For more on the Rimington Trophy and a list of past recipients, visit www.rimingtontrophy.com.

About the NCFAA

The Rimington Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game’s predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association’s official website, www.NCFAA.org.

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