Utah Utes DE Bradlee Anae wins peer-voted Morris Trophy

Utah Utes defensive end Bradlee Anae (6) sacks Northern Illinois Huskies quarterback Ross Bowers (12) during second half action in the University of Utah versus Northern Illinois football game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News

Defensive end is a big part of Utah’s stellar senior class

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah senior Bradlee Anae has won the Morris Trophy as the Pac-12’s most outstanding defensive lineman. The 40th annual award, presented by the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle, is voted upon by the starting offensive linemen in the conference.

Anae, who is a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award, has 35 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup this season. His 29.5 career sacks are tied by Hunter Dimick for the most in school history.

The 6-foot-3, 265-pound Anae, who is from Laie, Hawaii, is part of a talented senior class that led the Utes to a second straight Pac-12 South title and a school-record No. 5 placement in the College Football Playoff rankings before Friday’s 37-15 loss to Oregon in the conference championship game.

“It would take me an hour to talk about those guys, what they’ve done, how important they’ve been to our program,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said of the seniors. “The only reason this game is important is because of what we did all season long from start to finish, to make this an important game, to get to this point.”

Whittingham added that besides winning the program’s first outright Pac-12 South titles, all of the departing players will leave with degrees.

“The leadership that they brought to this football team has been incredible,” he said. “Been around a long time, and this is as good of leadership as we’ve ever had. Their maturity, work ethic, just who they are as people. They’re all going to be wildly successful whether it’s in the NFL or in life. It’s a great group of guys.”

Besides Anae, previous Morris Trophy defensive winners for Utah include Star Lotulelei (2011) and Nate Orchard (2014). In 2016, Isaac Asiata was named best offensive lineman by his defensive counterparts in the Pac-12.

Anae will receive his award at a ceremony in Seattle on Jan. 16.

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