Offensive guard John Urschel was one of 30 candidates named for this year’s Senior CLASS Award in football. Nominees must have outstanding achievements in four categories: community, classroom, character, and competition.

Urschel’s most notable — and probably most discussed — accomplishments are in the classroom. Urschel graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA, earning a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Math in only four years. Indeed, you’d be hard pressed to find a Penn State media outlet that hasn’t written a feature on Professor Urschel’s academic prowess (and yes, he is actually an instructor.) The guard is a three time Academic All-Big Ten selection and he was also a first team Academic All-American this past year

On the field, Urschel was named to the Rotary Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy watch lists earlier this year. The Rotary Lombardi award is given to the best lineman or linebacker in the country, although no offensive lineman has won the award since 1996. The Outland Trophy is awarded to the country’s best interior lineman. Urschel was also named to a preseason All Big Ten team.

The nominees will be cut down to 10 finalists midway through the college football season. The award will be voted on by coaches, media, and fans.

And if I know anything about Penn State fans, they don’t lose fan votes.

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