BYU offensive line named to Joe Moore Award midseason honor roll

NEW YORK — The BYU offensive line was named to the Joe Moore Award Midseason Honor Roll on Monday for its outstanding play as an overall unit in 2021.

The Cougars are one of 19 teams being considered for the annual award recognizing the nation’s most outstanding offensive line. The announcement was made by The Foundation for Teamwork, which has presented the unique award since 2015.

BYU’s offensive line is coached by Darrell Funk and anchored by Outland Trophy candidate and William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalist James Empey. The Cougars’ offensive line is top 25 in the country in fewest sacks allowed and red zone scoring. They have also helped BYU running back Tyler Allgeier to top 25 rankings in touchdowns (9), total yards (670) and yards per game (96.4). Allgeier is a candidate for the Maxwell, Doak Walker and Paul Hornung Awards. 

Joining BYU on the midseason honor roll are the offensive lines of Air Force, Alabama, Appalachian State, Arkansas, Baylor, BYU, Coastal Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, San Diego State, Tennessee, and UCLA. 

This 2021 honor roll represents six conferences—Big Ten (2), Big-12 (2), MWC (2), Pac-12 (3), SEC (6), Sun Belt (3)—and independent BYU. For games played through Oct. 16, teams on this year’s honor roll have a combined record of 101-24.

These units have gained the attention of the Joe Moore Award voting committee as it moves closer to announcing the selection of semifinalists on Nov. 16 and finalists on Dec. 7. Selection of the 2021 Joe Moore Award winner will be made public in late December.

Evaluations for the midseason honor roll were made exclusively through weekly review of actual game film, including offensive line cutups. 

“The cream rises to the top and that certainly has been the case with the units on this year’s honor roll,” said Aaron Taylor, CBS college football analyst and founder of the Joe Moore Award. “As in year’s past, the bar will rise rapidly from here, and there could also be a surprise unit or two that emerges late in the year like Iowa did in 2016.”

The Joe Moore Award is named after Joe Moore, widely regarded as one of the best offensive line coaches in college football history, most notably for his work at Notre Dame and the University of Pittsburgh. Coach Moore sent 52 players on to the NFL.

The Joe Moore Award trophy, crafted by legendary sports sculptor Jerry McKenna, is the largest trophy in college football, standing at a height of six feet and weighing in at 800 pounds. The perpetual trophy is made available for display by the winning university until the conclusion of the following college football season.