TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona junior linebackers
Tony Fields II and
Colin Schooler have been named to the 2019 Butkus Award Watch List, honoring the best linebacker in college football.
Fields and Schooler are two of 51 linebackers on the watch list, which honors namesake Dick Butkus. Arizona is one of nine programs nationally to have multiple players on the watch list.
Schooler had one of the finest seasons by an Arizona defender last season, earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors from the Associated Press and honorable mention honors from the league's coaches. Schooler started all 12 games at the middle linebacker position and tallied 119 tackles, 72 solo stops, 21.5 tackles-for-loss and 3.5 sacks. The 21.5 TFLs ranked fifth-most in UA single-season history and he now has 35 for his career, which is just 5.5 shy of the UA career top-10.
Schooler led all Power 5 defenders with 1.79 tackles-for-loss per game and ranked fifth in the Pac-12 with 9.92 tackles per game. He also added four pass breakups, two interceptions, one forced fumble and one fumble recovered and scored on a safety. He recorded at least one tackle-for-loss in 10 of the 12 games last season, including four at Oregon State.
His impressive sophomore campaign followed up a banner rookie season in 2017 when Schooler shined as a true freshman. He played in all 13 games and was named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America, the USA Today, ESPN.com, 247 Sports and College Football News. He was also named the Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year.
Fields has started all 25 games of his two-year career for the Wildcats, while flourishing next to Schooler. Last season, he finished second on the team with 89 total tackles, including two sacks and 4.5 tackles-for-loss. Fields had at least eight tackles in eight of 12 games last year and reached double-figure tackles four times. He had a season-high 11 tackles in the opener against BYU.
In 2017, Fields was named Freshmen All-America by ESPN.com and 247 Sports after starting all 13 games at linebacker. Fields led the team with 104 total tackles, which marked the most by an Arizona freshman in more than 20 seasons. Fields finished as the second-leading freshman tackler in the country with seven double-digit tackle performances.
The semifinalists for the award will be announced Nov. 4, with the finalists named Nov. 25. The winners will be announced on or before Dec. 10.
Fields, Schooler and the Wildcats open fall camp Friday in preparation for the 2019 season, which opens Aug. 24 at Hawaii. Arizona will open its home schedule Sept. 7 against NAU. Full ticket information for the season can be found at ArizonaWildcats.com/FB.
