Oct. 20, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's Tim McGarigle (Chicago, Ill./Saint Patrick) has been named one of the 10 semifinalists for the prestigious Butkus Award®, which honors the nation's best collegiate linebacker.
The semifinalist list will be cut down to three finalists, which will be announced via a national teleconference with players, coaches, media members and Butkus Award® officials on Thursday, November 10. The winner will be announced Saturday, December 10, 2005 at the Butkus Award® Gala in Orlando, Fla. The Butkus Award® will be presented to the winner by the award's namesake former University of Illinois and Chicago Bear NFL Hall of Fame member, Dick Butkus.
Entering his senior season as the country's top returning tackler, McGarigle has picked up where he left off from his stellar junior season and ranks sixth nationally in tackles with 13.2 per game. He has totaled 468 career tackles in 42 career games and is just 34 tackles shy of becoming Northwestern's all-time leader in that category.
Earlier this month against nationally ranked Wisconsin, McGarigle was tabbed the national defensive player of the week by two organizations: the Walter Camp Football Foundation and the Bronko Nagurski Award. In that game, McGarigle racked up a career-best 25 tackles (personal-best 15 solo tackles), as well as 3.5 tackles-for-loss (two sacks).
In addition to his team-best 79 tackles (second-most in the Big Ten), McGarigle has 6.5 TFL's, 3 pass deflections, 2 fumble recoveries and 1 forced fumble.
Joining McGarigle on the Butkus Award semifinal list from the Big Ten are Iowa's Chad Greenway, Ohio State's A.J. Hawk and Penn State's Paul Posluszny. The other six semifinalists are Aaron Harris (Texas), Spencer Havner (UCLA), D'Qwell Jackson (Maryland), A.J. Nicholson (Florida State), DeMeco Ryans (Alabama) and Ernie Sims (Florida State).