Penn State football tight end Pat Freiermuth has had himself an impressive sophomore campaign thus far, but it still wasn’t enough for him to make the list of Mackey Award semifinalists that was released on Monday.

The award is named after John Mackey, a pro football Hall of Famer and former Syracuse tight end. The honor is presented to the top tight end in college football at the end of each regular season.

Plenty of Penn State fans are upset that Freiermuth didn’t make the cut for the prestigious award, and there’s good reason for such strong feelings.

The 6’5″, 265-pound target currently has seven touchdowns on the season. That’s four more than Purdue tight end Brycen Hoskins — the only Big Ten semifinalist for the award — and tied for second-most among all tight ends in the nation. While he falls behind in total grabs and yards on the year, Freiermuth’s consistency as a red-zone target and ability to block in the run game make him a worthy tight end in the country in many fan’s eyes.

Although he was disappointed he isn’t being considered for the Mackey Award, Freiermuth seems to have his focus elsewhere.

“An award doesn’t define me, who I am as player. I think I’ve had a really good season so far,” Freiermuth said. “It is what it is. I can’t control that now. My focus right now is on Ohio State, anything we can do to beat them, [and] the season moving forward.

James Franklin was quick to defend his tight end at his weekly press conference Tuesday afternoon.

 “I can’t imagine there’s eight tight ends in the country that people would choose ahead of Pat Freiermuth,” Franklin said. “Could there be a couple? Okay, I can live with that. But eight? No.”

Along with Franklin, defensive end Shaka Toney had high praise for Freiermuth when asked about him being left off the list, as he assured that the tight end won’t be worried much about not winning the award this season.

“Pat is hard working. If he keeps doing what he’s doing, he’s in the NFL, first-round guy. He’s not going to be thinking about awards he missed out on,” Toney said. “He’s going to think about the times he had here, just like the rest of us. Individual accolades are okay, but championships, enjoying time with your brothers mean the world to you.”

Franklin went on to discuss how he feels Freiermuth definitely feels some individual recognition for his efforts this season, as well as Jan Johnson, who wasn’t selected a finalist for the Burlsworth Trophy. That honor is annually awarded to the nation’s top former walk-on run-on player.

As for Freiermuth, individual recognition would be appreciated, but he understands that Penn State still has lots to play for, and focusing on individual achievements won’t do the team any favors. For now, he just plans to use his absence on the list as motivation.

“Obviously [I’m] still motivated to win it. It’s not going to be this year, it’s going to be next year or the year after that,” Freiermuth said. “If anything, it’s just going to fuel me to play harder and faster, do what I need to do.”