Buckner Awarded Morris Trophy In Vote Of Pac-12 Peers
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Pac-12 coaches and players agree: DeForest Buckner is the conference’s best defensive lineman.
Two weeks after being named Pac-12 defensive player of the year in a vote of conference coaches, Buckner on Tuesday was awarded the Morris Trophy as the top defensive lineman as voted on by Pac-12 offensive linemen.
Buckner enters the Alamo Bowl second in the Pac-12 in sacks with 9.5 and third in tackles for loss with 16. His 76 tackles are second on the team.
With all-America teams being named by various organizations, Buckner has yet to be accorded a first-team honor. But opposing Pac-12 players recognized his abilities.
“I’m just really honored that my own peers think I was the best defensive lineman in the conference,” Buckner said. “It says a lot. Being able to play against a bunch of good guys in the conference, and them thinking I’m the best, it’s a confidence booster, and it humbles me a lot. It’s nice to be recognized like that.”
Buckner is the sixth UO player and fourth on defense to earn the Morris Trophy. The first was defensive tackle Vince Goldsmith in 1980, followed by offensive linemen Gary Zimmerman (1983) and Adam Snyder (2004), and defensive linemen Haloti Ngata (2005) and Nick Reed (2008).
Ngata and Buckner are the only Ducks to be named Pac-12 defensive player of the year by coaches.
Stanford guard Josh Garnett was the Morris Trophy winner on offense for 2015.
