Sedrick Ellis Wins Morris Trophy

Sedrick Ellis added another award to his long list of honors on Tuesday. Ellis was named the Morris Trophy Winner, which is given to the top defensive linemen in the Pac-10.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif.--Nose tackle Sedrick Ellis of USC and center Alex Mack of California have been named winners of the 28th annual Morris Trophy. Ellis becomes just the fifth player, and the first since Washington's Lincoln Kennedy in 1991-92, to be named a two-time winner of the award.

The Morris Trophy is a unique award given to the outstanding offensive and defensive linemen in the Pacific-10 Conference. What makes the award unique is the selection procedure, which has the starting offensive linemen in the Conference voting for the defensive winner and vice versa. It is truly a players’ award.

Ellis, a 6-foot-2, 305-pound senior from Chino, Calif., anchored the USC defense that led the Pac-10 in scoring defense (15.9) and total defense (258.8). He led USC linemen in tackles with 56, 28 solo, including 12.5 tackles for loss (-75 yards) and 8.5 quarterback sacks and had two fumble recoveries. He has posted 28.5 tackles for loss and 17.5 quarterback sacks in his career. Ellis is a two-time All-Pac-10 selection and was a unamimous selection by the Pac-10 coaches this season. He also has earned consensus first-team All-America status this year.

Mack, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound junior from Santa Barbara, Calif., joins Ellis as a two-time All-Pac-10 selection and a unanimous selection to the first team by the Pac-10 coaches this year. Mack also has been selected the first-team All-America center by The Sporting News. He has started all 25 games at center for the Golden Bears the last two seasons and anchors a unit that allowed a league-low 11 quarterback sacks in 12 games this year. In addition to his prowess on the field, Mack was named a first-team Pac-10 All-Academic selection by virtue of a 3.54 grade-point average in Legal Studies.

Ellis and Mack will be presented their awards at a luncheon at the prestigious Washington Athletic Club in Seattle in January, 2008. The Morris Trophy is sponsored by the Morris Family of Woodway, Wash., and the Washington Athletic Club.

- USC Sports Information Department