By: Washington State Athletic Communications
Philadelphia, Pa. – Washington State defensive lineman Hercules Mata'afa was named a semifinalist for the Check Bednarik Award, the award for the nation's most outstanding Defensive Player of the Year, the Maxwell Football Club announced Monday.
Mata'afa paces the Pac-12 Conference and is tied for fourth in country with 15.0 tackles-for-loss and also owns 6.5 sacks, good for second in the conference. The redshirt-junior from Lahaina, Hawaii has recorded 30 tackles this season for the Cougars defense that ranks No. 17 in the country and eighth in the nation with 19 forced turnovers.