BYU football: BYU's Bauman has bowl victory and Harvard on his mind

Provo » BYU linebacker Matt Bauman will miss practice Monday, hardly the behavior of a captain and senior leader.

Bauman has a good excuse, though, one that was easy for his coaches to green-light. He'll be in Boston applying to Harvard Business School for his post-graduate studies. He's also applied to Stanford.

"Some [football players] are smart in the classroom but can't bring it to football," BYU linebackers coach Paul Tidwell said. "Then there are football players who aren't smart in the classroom. Matt's both.

"Sometimes I ask, 'What did I say about this coverage?' "

Smart, reliable and tough, Bauman juggles school and family -- wife Lindsay is expected

to give birth to their first child in April -- and maintains focus on the football field.

"The football field is a great place to come and release stress on the scout team," Bauman said with a small grin. "It all can be a bit overwhelming."

He's handled it well.

"He's super focused," said Lindsay, who teaches violin.

In turn, Bauman credits his wife for her support and understanding. Lindsay, a Utah graduate -- they met in high school -- has no complaints.

"We try to have a couple of hours each night to be together," she said. "We can talk about our day. When we had the bye week, we spent the week at my cabin."

As for her Utah ties, "Sometimes it's a touchy subject. No," she said with a

laugh like she's told that story before. "I'm a BYU fan."

Lindsay has watched her husband enjoy another productive football season in which he is among the team leaders in tackles. Bauman's done even better in the classroom, where his grade-point average is a gaudy 3.91, including three semesters of 4.0.

While a bowl game is the reward for what Bauman and his Cougar teammates have done on the field, off of it, the one-time walk-on who will graduate in December capped his scholastic achievements at BYU by being selected as one of 16 scholar athletes, pulled from a field of 154, for the William V. Campbell Trophy.

The list of finalists includes Colt McCoy, of Texas, and Florida's Tim Tebow -- rare company, indeed.

The award winner, to be named at the National Football Foundation Awards Dinner on Dec. 8 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, receives a $25,000 post-graduate scholarship as well as a 25-pound bronze trophy.

"He's earned his way," Tidwell said. "I'd like 100 more like him."

A walk-on in 2004 from Salt Lake City's Skyline High School, Bauman wound up a starter the final four games as a freshman. He then left on a two-year LDS Church mission.

Bauman didn't miss a beat when he returned in 2007, playing in all 13 games that season. During his junior year, Bauman had a team-leading 108 tackles.

Off the field, Bauman, a 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, was selected three times to the Academic All-Mountain West Conference team. Odds are, he'll be named a fourth time.

Bauman's post-football future is bright. But he doesn't want the football part to end just yet.

"A big part of my life is coming to an end," he said. "We still have some goals that we didn't accomplish last year."

A win against Utah and a bowl victory are on Bauman's to-do list. He's also holding hope that, should TCU stumble, the Cougars can finish atop the MWC standings.

"We'd like to win out and finish on a high note," he said.

A place in Harvard would work, too.

"Stanford would be nice because of the weather, and it's closer to home," Lindsay said. "But I've heard the Harvard area can be fun, too."

martyr@sltrib.com