Ole Miss linebacker MoMo Sanogo Tabbed to Butkus Award Watch List
(Courtesy of Ole Miss Media Relations) —Â Ole Miss junior linebacker MoMo Sanogo has been named to the preseason watch list for the 2019 Butkus Award, the Butkus Foundation announced on Monday.
Sanogo is one of 51 collegiate players from across the nation to find a place on this year’s watch list for the award, which honors the nation’s best linebackers at three separate levels.
MoMo Sanogo (46) makes a play against Auburn. (Photo: Dan Anderson, The Rebel Walk)
The Plano, Texas, native is coming off a 2018 campaign in which he tallied 112 total tackles and finished third in the SEC with 9.3 tackles per game. Sanogo joined former linebacker, DeMarquis Gates, as being the only two Rebels in the last 12 years to tally 100 or more tackles in a season.
Sanogo, a preseason All-SEC selection, has appeared in 23 games in his two years at Ole Miss, including 12 starts in 2018. He tallied double-digit tackles in six contests last season and was the Rebels’ leading tackler in half of the games played.
Formed in 1985, the Butkus Award was expanded in 2008 to honor linebackers at three levels while supporting causes important to the Butkus family. They include the I Play Clean® initiative promoting training and nutrition instead of performance-enhancing drugs, and the Butkus Takes Heart™ initiative encouraging early cardiovascular screening among adults.
Semifinalists will be named Nov. 4, finalists Nov. 25, and winners on or before Dec. 10. Appearing on the watch list is not a requirement to win the award.
The Butkus Award® is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored more than 800 recipients since 1935. Visit www.NCFAA.org for more information.
Ole Miss will open the 2019 season at Memphis on Aug. 31. Kick is slated for 11 a.m. CT and will be televised on ABC.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
