Out of all of the surprises for the UCLA Bruins, few have been bigger than linebacker Sammy Omosigho. Omosigho has been everywhere this year for the UCLA defense and it’s earned him a spot as a Butkus Award semifinalist.
The semifinalists were announced on Thursday, with the Oklahoma transfer being one of 15 linebackers to make the cut. The Big Ten Conference saw several linebackers be named as semifinalists, with Omosigho, Minnesota’s Maverick Baranowski, Iowa’s Cam Buffington, Wisconsin’s Mason Posa and Penn State’s Tony Rojas.
Entering Week 9, Omosigho has 57 tackles, with 10 tackles for loss, a team-high 5.5 sacks and a country-leading five forced fumbles. Omosigho has been the leader of a terrific linebacker unit for the Bruins, alongside
Jalen Woods and Trent Hendrick.
In addition to being a leader for the UCLA defense, the first-year Bruin was namedas a permanent captain prior to the start of the season and has been the heartbeat for the UCLA defense this season. That defense has gotten great results too, with the Bruins having the No. 5 scoring defense in the Big Ten. A lot of the success for the UCLA defense was due to the amount of turnovers that the Bruins have forced. The Bruins are second in the NCAA with 22 turnovers this season, behind only New Mexico.
Omosigho was an Associated Press Midseason First-Team All-American and he doesn’t appear to be done raking in the awards. The winner of this year’s Butkus Award will be announced in early December, with UCLA’s Omosigho making a very compelling case for the award.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA LB Sammy Omosigho named as a semifinalist for the Butkus Award
