Oregon’s Penei Sewell, an alum of Desert Hills High School, wins Outland Trophy as nation’s top lineman

Oregon sophomore tackle Penei Sewell, a product of Desert Hills High School in St. George, won the Outland Trophy, presented to the country’s top interior lineman, on Thursday night at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

After winning the award, Sewell told ESPN’s Chris Fowler, “Right now, I’m at a loss of words.”

Sewell added his intensity comes from his love of the game.

“I love the game. At the end of the day, all that passion, all that love comes out of me.”

Sewell, a first-team All-American by the Pro Football Focus evaluators, is the first player of Polynesian heritage to win the Outland Trophy. The lineman gave a message to younger Polynesian football players.

“For all the kids on the Island, you can do it,” Sewell said.

LSU quarterback Joe Burrow was named The Associated Press college football player of the year in a landslide vote, making him the first LSU player to win the the 21-year-old award.

Burrow, who has led the top-ranked Tigers to an unbeaten season and their first College Football Playoff appearance, received 51 of 54 first-place votes from AP Top 25 poll voters and a total of 159 points.

Ohio State defensive end Chase Young was second with three first-place votes and 69 points, and Buckeyes quarterback Justin Fields was third with 43 points. Burrow, Young, Fields and Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts, who finished fourth with 33 points, are the finalists for the Heisman Trophy to be handed out Saturday in New York.

Burrow is the overwhelming Heisman favorite after passing for 4,715 yards and a Southeastern Conference record 48 touchdowns. The senior transfer from Ohio State is on pace to set a major college record, completing 77.9% of his passes.

Burrow was up for two more awards Thursday night at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. He won the Maxwell Award Player of the Year, beating out Young and Hurts, and the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Year Award, beating out Fields and Hurts.

The AP player of the year award began in 1998 and only five times has the winner not been the same as the Heisman winner; the last time that happened was in 2015, when Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey won the AP award and Alabama running back Derrick Henry was the Heisman winner.