Iowa’s Blythe named to Rimington watch list

It is 'watch list” season in college football. As always, unless it's a 'most wanted,” it's better to be on the list than not.

The Rimington Trophy, which goes to the nation's top center, was released Monday and Iowa's Austin Blythe is on it.

The 6-3, 290-pounder from Williamsburg started all 13 games at center in 2013. He earned honorable mention all-Big Ten honors in 2013 from both league coaches and media. As a redshirt freshman in 2012, Blythe started nine games at right guard and earned first-team freshman all-America from Scout.com. He missed two games due to an ankle injury in 2012 and made the move from guard to center during spring practice..

Blythe is one of 64 players, including nine Big Ten candidates, on this year's Rimington list.

The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I-A College Football. Since its inception, the Rimington Trophy has raised over $2.5 million for the cystic fibrosis community. The 14-year-old award is overseen by the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis and has raised over $100 million for CF Research. (For more on that, check out the above video from HBO's Real Sports. The Esiason Foundation is a very real thing. The Rimington Trophy's heart is in the right place.)

Dave Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first team all-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982. For more on the Rimington Trophy and a list of past recipients, visit www.rimingtontrophy.com.

(For the fun of it, I threw in a pic of Blythe's cauliflower ear, a trophy in and of itself from a prep wrestling career that included three state titles and the Iowa high school record for pins at 143. He was nice enough to humor me to pose for it. By the way, Iowa really liked what it saw in Blythe when he was a prep at Williamsburg. The Hawkeyes offered in June 2009, nearly a year and a half before Blythe was actually able to sign in February 2011. He had six scholarship offers, including Stanford and Wisconsin. He was and continues to be a 'good get.”)

Iowa State center Tom Farniok also is on the list.

Here's the news release from the Rimington committee:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - The Rimington Trophy Committee has released its 2014 Spring Watch List, which includes 64 of the best centers in Division I football. The athletes included on this list have demonstrated excellence at the center position in the past and are predicted to do so again in the 2014-2015 season.

The following is a list of those named to the 2014 Spring Watch List:

First Name Last Name School Class Height Weight

Alex Mateas Connecticut RS Senior 6'4 309

Alex Huettel Bowling Green RS Junior 6'3 292

Andy Gallik Boston College Senior 6'3 302

Artie Rowell Pittsburgh Junior 6'2 305

Austin Reiter USF Senior 6'3 286

Austin Barron Florida State Senior 6'3 292

Austin Blythe Iowa Junior 6'3 290

B.J. Finney Kansas State Senior 6'4 303

Betim Bujari Rutgers Senior 6'4 295

Braden Lyons Florida Atlantic Senior 6'5 295

Brandon Vitabile Northwestern Senior 6'3 300

Bryce Redman Houston Senior 6'1 285

Bryce Giddens Arkansas State Junior 5'11 300

Chris Jasperse Marshall Senior 6'4 289

Cody Waldrop South Carolina RS Soph 6'2 315

Collin Rahrig Indiana RS Senior 6'2 290

Dan Voltz Wisconson Soph 6'3 313

David Peterson San Jose State Senior 6'5 297

David Andrews Georgia Senior 6'2 295

Deyshawn Bond Cincinnatti Soph 6'2 296

Dillon Day Mississippi State Senior 6'4 300

Dominic Espinosa Texas Senior 6'4 305

Donald Senat FIU Senior 6'2 285

Dylan Foxworth Tulsa RS Soph 6'2 280

Edward Fusi BYU Senior 6'0 317

Elliott Porter LSU Senior 6'4 300

Evan Boehm Missouri Junior 6'3 315

Graham Shuler Stanford Junior 6'4 282

Greg Mancz Toledo Senior 6'5 300

Hroniss Grasu Oregon Senior 6'3 297

Isaac Seumalo Oregon State Junior 6'3 305

Jack Allen Michigan State Junior 6'1 300

Jake Smith Louisville Senior 6'3 307

Jake Brendel UCLA Junior 6'4 285

Joe Townsend Vanderbilt Senior 6'4 310

Joey Grant UCF RS Junior 6'2 291

Joey Hunt TCU Junior 6'3 295

Jon Toth Kentucky Soph 6'5 298

Jon Hoffing Western Mich. Senior 6'4 285

Jordan Smith San Diego State Junior 6'5 285

Kyle Friend Temple Junior 6'2 305

LaMar Bratton New Mexico Senior 6'0 291

Mark Pelini Nebraska Senior 6'0 290

Matt Skura Duke RS Junior 6'4 290

Matt Galas Nevada Senior 6'1 280

Max Garcia Florida RS Senior 6'4 311

Michael Husar Air Force Junior 6'0 275

Mike Criste Washington Senior 6'6 318

Mike Matthews Texas A&M Junior 6'2 285

Nick Beamish Central Mich. Senior 6'3 310

Nick Martin Notre Dame Senior 6'4.5 295

Reese Dismukes Auburn Senior 6'3 297

Robert Kugler Purdue Junior 6'3 290

Robert Waterman UNLV Senior 6'2 290

Ryan Norton Clemson Junior 6'3 280

Ryan Kelly Alabama Junior 6'5 296

Sal Conaboy Maryland Senior 6'4 290

Shane McDermott Miami Senior 6'4 296

Steven Gurrola Arizona Senior 6'2 291

Taylor Lasecki SMU Junior 6'3 296

Tom Farniok Iowa State Senior 6'4 300

Tommy Olson Minnesota Senior 6'4 301

Ty Darlington Oklahoma Junior 6'2 298

Valerian Ume-Ezeoke New Mexico State Senior 6'2 285

While more than a dozen All-America teams are selected annually, the Rimington Trophy committee used these three prestigious teams to determine a winner:

' Walter Camp Foundation (WCF)

' Sporting News (SN)

' Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)

Because the selectors of these three All-America teams can place centers in a 'mix” of offensive linemen that includes guards and tackles, their 11- man first teams can often have two centers. The Rimington Trophy committee's policy is to count all players that play primarily the center position for their respective teams as centers, even though they may be listed as guards or tackles on the four All- America teams.

The center with the most first team votes will be determined the winner. If there is a tie with first team votes, then the center with the most second team votes will win. If there is still a tie, the winner will be determined by a majority vote from the Rimington Trophy committee.

The winner will be recognized at the Rimington Trophy Presentation at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln, Nebraska on Saturday, January 17, 2014.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@sourcemedia.net