UCLA's S'ua-Filo, Arizona State's Sutton named 34th Morris Trophy winners
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.— Offensive guard Xavier Su’a-Filo of UCLA and defensive tackle Will Sutton of ARIZONA STATE have been named winners of the 34th annual Morris Trophy.
The Morris Trophy is given annually to the most outstanding offensive and defensive linemen in the Pac-12 Conference. What makes the award unique is the selection procedure, in which the league’s starting offensive linemen vote for the defensive winner and vice versa. It is truly a players’ award.
S’ua-Filo, a a 6-foot-3, 305-pound junior from Pleasant Grove, Utah, is a two-time All-Pac-12 first team selection, starting every game in his career on the offensive line for the Bruins. A team captain in 2013, he earned the team’s offensive most valuable player honors after playing both tackle and guard for a Bruins team that won nine or more games for the second-consecutive year, a feat the program hadn’t accomplished since the 1997 and 1998 seasons. After earning All-Pac-10 honorable mention honors as a freshman in 2009, S’ua-Filo left for his two-year Mormon mission, but returned in 2012 to star on an offensive line that helped pave the way for former Bruins running back Johnathan Franklin, who set new school records for most career rushing yardage and most single-season rushing yardage. S’ua-Filo is only the second UCLA offensive lineman to earn the award and just the fourth Bruin overall to be honored.
Sutton, a 6-foot-1, 267-pound redshirt senior from Corona, Calif., earns the award for the second-consecutive year, becoming just the fourth defensive player in the award’s history to do so. The two-time Pac-12 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year led a Sun Devils defense in 2013 that was third in the Conference in total defense (363.8 yards per game), was tied for first in sacks (40 total sacks) and led the Conference in forced turnovers (31). Sutton anchored an aggressive defense that has forced one turnover in 28-consecutive games, which is good for second in the country among FBS schools for longest-active streak. On the year, Sutton recorded 11.5 tackles for loss for 45 yards, four sacks and added one interception that sealed a win over UCLA to clinch the Pac-12 South Division title and earn the Sun Devil’s their first Pac-12 Football Championship game berth. He is the fifth Sun Devil to win the Morris Trophy, the third ASU defensive lineman to earn the honor and the first in program history to earn the defensive award twice.
The Morris Trophy is sponsored by the Washington Athletic Club, the 101 club, Athletic Awards of Seattle and the Morris Trophy Foundation. It was created by Traci (Morris) Drake in 1980 and named after her father, G. Patrick Morris. S’ua-Filo and Sutton will be presented their awards at a luncheon at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle on Thursday January 16, 2014.
For a list of past winners, visit www.morristrophy.com