Huffman Named a Semifinalist for Ronnie Lott Trophy: Senior cornerback Antoine Huffman has been named a semifinalist for the second-annual Ronnie Lott Trophy, presented by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation in Newport Beach, Calif.
The Lott Trophy honors the college football Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. The student-athlete is judged on both his on-field performance and his off-field IMPACT ? integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community, and tenacity. The Lott Trophy was the first sports award based on personal character and is appropriately named after the legendary defensive back Ronnie Lott. Last year?s winner was David Pollack, the All-America defensive end from Georgia.
Finalists will be announced on Nov. 28. Voting for the winner will be done by college offensive and defensive coordinators, national media, The Pacific Club Board of Directors, a Board of Advisors made of former NFL players and coaches, and the three finalists from last year ? Pollack, Derrick Johnson of Texas, and Jim Leonhard of Wisconsin.
The winner will be announced on Dec. 11 at a gala black-tie awards banquet at The Pacific Club in Newport Beach. The winner?s university will receive $25,000 from the IMPACT Foundation for the school?s general scholarship fund.
Huffman, a two-year starter at cornerback, set the Kentucky career record for pass breakups in Saturday?s win over Vanderbilt. Huffman has 26 pass breakups as a Wildcat. Off the field, he has graduated with a 3.45 grade-point average in telecommunications and is working on his master?s degree in mass communications. He has been involved in numerous community service and campus activities during his years at UK and was named to the National Good Works Team by the American Football Coaches Association.
The seven semifinalists include Huffman, Ohio State linebacker A. J. Hawk, Notre Dame linebacker Brandon Hoyte, Maryland linebacker D?Qwell Jackson, Alabama linebacker DeMeco Ryans, Virginia defensive end Brennan Schmidt, and Va. Tech defensive end Darryl Tapp. For more information, go to .
In addition to the Lott Trophy, Huffman is a candidate for the Danny Wuerffel Trophy (football/community service/academics), the ARA National Sportsmanship Award, the National Scholar-Athlete Award from the National Football Foundation, and the Academic All-America Team.
?Big Blue Crush? Tied After One Day: After one day, the ?Big Blue Crush? blood drive is tied at 476 pints.
The Big Blue Crush is an annual competition between the University of Kentucky and the University of Tennessee to see which school can generate the most blood donations in a week. The Big Blue Crush is vital to the local blood supply as there is usually a slowdown in blood donations during the holiday season.
The Big Blue Crush will continue through Fri. Nov. 18. The winning school will be announced at the Tennessee-Kentucky game on Nov. 26. Kentucky leads the all-time series, 9-7, and there has been one tie.
In Lexington, fans may donate blood at the Central Kentucky Blood Center at 330 Waller Avenue. Donors receive a T-shirt, McDonald?s meal coupon, and are registered for prizes. For additional donation sites and times around Central and Eastern Kentucky, go to website www.ckbc.org and click on ?Big Blue Crush.?
Little, Fontaine are Game Captains for Georgia Game: Tailback Rafael Little and linebacker Raymond Fontaine have been named game captains for the Georgia game, Coach Rich Brooks has announced.
Game captains are usually selected based on their performance from the previous game and normally include a player from special teams. In last Saturday?s win over Vanderbilt, Little compiled 372 all-purpose yards and was named National Player of the Week by SI.com. Fontaine performed well on special teams, most notably his blocked field goal that Bo Smith returned for a touchdown. Little and Smith will join permanent captains Muhammad Abdullah and Tommy Cook for the opening coin toss.
Hawkins, Jarmon, Duncan are Scouts of the Week: Wide receiver Kenny Hawkins, defensive end Jeremy Jarmon, and defensive end Zipp Duncan have been named Scout Team Players of the Week, Coach Rich Brooks has announced.
Hawkins (offense), Jarmon (defense), and Duncan (special teams) were chosen for their work on the scout teams in helping Kentucky prepare for the win over Vanderbilt.
