Scott McKillop Honored by CollegeFootballNews.com
12/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 11, 2007
PITTSBURGH--Pitt junior linebacker Scott McKillop this week received yet another postseason honor when he was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year by CollegeFootballNews.com.
Describing McKillop as "special throughout the year as a tackler and playmaker behind the line," CFN also rated him the No. 2 player in the Big East regardless of position.
It is the latest accolade for McKillop, who earlier this month was selected a first team All-American by Scout.com. He was also a unanimous first team All-Big East pick by the conference's coaches.
At Pitt's season-ending football awards dinner, McKillop was named the Panthers' 2007 Most Valuable Defensive Player.
The 6-foot-2, 245-pound "Mike" linebacker established a national reputation in his first season as a starter, leading the country in tackles (12.58 tackles/game) and ranking second nationally in solo stops (8.17 avg.).
McKillop (Export, Pa./Kiski Area) finished with 151 total tackles, the third highest single-season total in Pitt history. Perhaps his biggest tackle of the year occurred Dec. 1, when he made the initial stop of West Virginia's Steve Slaton on a 4th-and-3 situation late in the fourth quarter of Pitt's 13-9 upset of the Mountaineers.
During ESPN's national telecast of the Pitt-West Virginia game, play-by-play man Mike Patrick quipped, "McKillop is a tackling machine." McKillop and the Panthers' defense limited the high-powered West Virginia offense to just 183 total yards, including 104 on the ground, and a single touchdown.
McKillop was a reserve his first two seasons behind All-America H.B. Blades before seizing the starting role this year. He emerged as the centerpiece of a unit that is seventh nationally in total defense, yielding just 297.67 yards per game.
The Panthers also boast lofty national rankings in pass defense (fourth, 167.25 yards/game), sacks (tied for 19th, 2.92 sacks/game), pass efficiency defense (27th, 113.96 rating) and rush defense (35th, 130.42 yards/game).
McKillop is one of seven returning starters for Pitt's defense in 2008. The Panthers return 17 starters overall, including two specialists.
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