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SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah football team rounded out the week with another member of its program being named to a preseason watchlist.
Center Lo Falemaka, a native of Salt Lake City, was named to the Rimington Award watchlist Friday, according to a news release from the Boomer Esiason Foundation. He joins Zack Moss and defenders Julian Blackmon and Bradlee Anae to preseason honors by the National College Football Awards Association.
He becomes the first center from Utah to be named to the Rimington Award watchlist since Siaosi Aiono in 2015, and only one of three from the school since 2008.
Falemaka, a walk-on athlete from Cottonwood High School, earned a starting center role in 2016 after then-starter J.J. Dielman went down with a season-ending injury. Falemaka, however, suffered an injury himself and missed part of the season. But he came back in 2017 and started in 13 games, giving the offensive line some stability after replacing nearly every starter from the year before.
Although listed as a senior last season, Falemaka earned a medical extension from the NCAA prior to Utah’s Pro Day earlier this year. His return gives Utah additional experience on its offensive line.
Falemaka is one of 10 athletes from the Pac-12 and one of 58 nationally to be named to the preseason award watchlist.
Friday’s award watchlist release concludes the first week of preseason award lists coming into the 2018 season. The following are the remaining awards scheduled to be released:
- Butkus - July 23
- Paycom Jim Thorpe - July 23
- Bronko Nagurski - July 24
- Outland - July 24
- Lou Groza - July 25
- Ray Guy - July 25
- Paul Hornung - July 26
- Wuerffel - July 26
- Walter Camp - July 27
