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Utah's Nate Orchard Wins Morris Trophy
12/16/2014 12:00 AM | Football
Dec. 16, 2014
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.--
Utah Bowl Central
Utah defensive end Nate Orchard and Stanford offensive tackle Andrus Peat have been named winners of the 35th annual Morris Trophy, given to the most outstanding offensive and defensive linemen in the Pac-12 Conference.
What makes the Morris Trophy unique is the selection procedure, in which the league's starting offensive linemen vote for the defensive winner and vice versa, making it a true players' award.
Orchard is the second Ute to win the Morris Trophy in Utah's four years in the Pac-12 Conference. Defensive tackle Star Lotulelei--a starter for the Carolina Panthers and a first-round draft pick--won the award as a junior in 2011.
Orchard, a 6-foot-4, 255-pound senior from Salt Lake City, has been named to six All-America teams to date, including first-team Walter Camp and second-team Associated Press. He also won the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation's top defensive end and was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection. He leads the nation in sacks per game (1.46) and his school-record 17.5 total sacks ranks second. Orchard, who has played in all 49 games in four seasons with 35 starts, is second on the squad with 81 tackles. His 20.0 tackles for loss ranks fifth in the FBS, while his 1.7 TFL per game ranks fourth. He was twice named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week.
.@StanfordFball's Andrus Peat and @Utah_Football's Nate Orchard are the winners of the 35th annual Morris Trophy: http://t.co/c2JcrB6cVS
-- Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) December 16, 2014
Peat, a 6-foot-7, 316-pound junior from Chandler, Ariz., is a All-Pac-12 first team selection and earned first team All-America honors by ESPN.com and CBS Sports. In addition, he was selected a Walter Camp All-America second team honoree.
The Morris Trophy is sponsored by the Washington Athletic Club, the 101 Club, Athletic Awards and the Morris Trophy Foundation. It was created by Traci (Morris) Drake in 1980 and named after her father, G. Patrick Morris. Orchard and Peat will be presented their awards at a luncheon at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle on Thursday, Jan. 15.
Players Mentioned
DE
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