Kansas State linebacker Austin Moore named to Bednarik Award watch list

If No. 18 Kansas State is going to win the Big 12 Conference and possibly crash the 12-team College Football Playoff in 2024, they’ll need to do so with a star on the defensive side of the ball.

That player could be senior linebacker Austin Moore, who was named to the Bednarik Award preseason watch list on Aug. 12. Moore, 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, has started 27 consecutive games and is a two-time All-Big 12 pick. He’s led Kansas State in tackles each of the last two seasons and has 22.5 tackles for loss in that stretch.

No player from the 16 schools in the Big 12 has won the Bednarik Award, given annually to the nation’s best defensive player, since Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright in 2014.

Kansas State opens the season on Aug. 31 at home against Tennessee-Martin.