More National Recognition for Smith
8/27/2010 6:04:48 PM | Football
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Syracuse senior linebacker Derrell Smith continues to earn the attention of the college football world. Today he was listed on the 2010 Rotary Lombardi Award Official Watch List. A 2009 All-BIG EAST Second Team selection, Smith led the BIG EAST and set an SU single-season standard with four forced fumbles. The New Castle, Del. native also ranked eighth among BIG EAST defenders with 8.1 tackles per game and sixth with .65 sacks per game.
Eligibility for the Rotary Lombardi Award is limited to down linemen, end-to-end, either on offense or defense, who set up no farther than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball, or linebackers who set up no farther than five yards deep from the line of scrimmage. The candidates earned a place on the official watch list by earning All-American honors, by being named to their respective all-conference first teams as selected by the conference's head coaches or by nomination sent to and reviewed by the nominations committee.
Smith is also among 60 student-athletes on the Chuck Bednarik watch list for the nation's top defensive player (click here for complete release) and is one of 30 football student-athletes in consideration for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, presented to a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) senior who excels both on and off the field (click here for complete release). He and teammate Doug Hogue are also among the 51 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) student-athletes named to the preseason watch list. Instituted in 1985 and named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, the Butkus Award is presented annually by the Butkus Foundation (click here for complete release).
He enters the 2010 season tied for sixth on the SU career record list with five forced fumbles. A 2009 All-BIG EAST Second Team selection, Smith led the league and set an SU single-season record with four forced fumbles last season. His 8.1 tackles per game ranked fifth among BIG EAST defenders while his .65 sacks per game were sixth in the conference.
Smith earned a dual degree in information management and technology, and marketing in May 2010, is enrolled in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication Master's degree program for advertising. Off the field, Smith is a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council. He has spent time volunteering at the Elmcrest School, working with teenagers who have been removed from their homes for a variety of reasons, clothing drives, the Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army, the Syracuse Justice Center and Crouse Hospital.
In addition to Smith and Hogue's pre-season recognition, senior punter Rob Long is one of seven student athletes on the Ray Guy Award preseason watch list (click here for complete release).
The Orange kick off the 2010 season on September 4 at Akron (6:00 p.m., ESPN3). SU opens at home against Maine on September 18 at 7:15 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. Tckets are available online (click here) and at the Carrier Dome Box Office (888-DOME-TIX).
