Back to Back: Bush Earns Butkus Finalist Nod for Second Straight Year
11/19/2018 9:36:00 AM | Football
CHICAGO, Ill. -- Junior linebacker and defensive captain Devin Bush of the No. 4-ranked University of Michigan football program was selected as one of five finalists for the 34th annual Butkus Award, the Butkus Foundation announced Monday (Nov. 19). The award is given each year to honor the top college and high school linebackers in the nation.
Other finalists for the award include Kentucky's Josh Allen, Clemson's Tre Lamar, Alabama's Dylan Moses and LSU's Devin White. The winner will be announced on or before Dec. 6.
Bush's finalist honor is the third for Michigan in the last five seasons as part of the Butkus Award (Jake Ryan, 2014; Bush, 2017). Overall, he is the sixth different Wolverine to be named a finalist for the award.
Bush is a native of Pembroke Pines, Florida, and is in his second season starting at middle linebacker in defensive coordinator Don Brown's aggressive, blitz-heavy defense. A two-time letterwinner, Bush leads a unit that ranks No. 1 in the nation in total defense, pass defense and pass efficiency defense and leads the Big Ten in five of eight major categories.
The junior linebacker is the team's leading tackler with 72 total stops and ranks second in sacks (5.0) and tackles for loss (9.0). Bush was praised as a midseason All-American by the Associated Press and is also a finalist for the 2018 Bronko Nagurski Award honoring the best defensive player in college football. He has played more than 600 snaps this season according to Pro Football Focus, which measures him as the top Big Ten linebacker in pass coverage (No. 15 nationally) and the No. 2-ranked linebacker in pass rush (No. 5 nationally). He has seven games with seven or more tackles this year and has generated 22 pressures on 64 pass-rush snaps.
Bush directs a shutdown defense and is the engine behind the Wolverines' attacking front-seven. Eight of Michigan's 11 opponents have recorded their lowest yardage of the season when playing U-M, and the team's 12.5 points per game allowed in conference play are the second-best among Power 5 programs. Opponents have been afforded just 1.7 red zone trips per game against the Maize and Blue, and opposing quarterbacks have been held to 47.3 percent completion percentage (130-of-276) on the season.
An early contributor since he stepped foot on campus, Bush has appeared in 38 contests in his career, racking up 187 total tackles with 19.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks. He has one interception and another 13 pass breakups.
Michigan (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten) will conclude its regular-season slate with a matchup at No. 10 Ohio State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) on Saturday (Nov. 24). Kickoff is scheduled for noon, and the game will be televised on Fox.
