Josh Allen Named Winner of the Lott IMPACT Trophy
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky senior Josh Allen has been named the winner of the Lott IMPACT Trophy which is presented to the college football defensive IMPACT player of the year. The trophy was presented Sunday at the 15th annual awards banquet at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach, California.
Allen, along with finalists Ben Burr-Kirven of Washington, Christian Wilkins of Clemson and Ben Humphreys of Duke, represent the qualities embodied by Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott – Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.
Allen, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound linebacker from Montclair, N.J., was named the Lott Trophy Player of the Week three times during the season, the first player to win the POW award three times since Manti Te’o of Notre Dame in 2012.
Allen has been a pass rush terror this season. With 28.5 career sacks and 14 sacks in 2018, he now holds UK’s career and single-season records. His 11 career forced fumbles tie Trevathan for UK’s career mark (forced fumbles stats available since 1988). He leads the team with 84 tackles and paces the SEC in sacks, tackles for loss (18.5) and forced fumbles (5). Twelve of his 14 sacks have come in the second half of games, including eight in the fourth quarter. In five of UK’s nine wins this season, Allen had a sack in the fourth quarter that was crucial to the Wildcat victory.
Allen’s honors add to a growing list of postseason accolades as he has already received the Chuck Bednarik Award for the Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, signifying the National Defensive Player of the Year, was first-team All-America by Walter Camp Football Foundation, Sports Illustrated, and TheAthletic.com, and was named Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year by The Associated Press and SEC coaches. The also was a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end of the year), the Walter Camp National Player of the Year and the Dick Butkus Award (nation’s best linebacker).
The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation will make a $25,000 donation to the general scholarship fund of the winner’s university and $5,000 to each of the schools of the runners-up. In 14 years, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has now donated more than $1.5 million, including nearly $650,000 to universities throughout the country.
For more on the Lott IMPACT Trophy visit: http://www.lottimpacttrophy.org
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