Sept. 1, 2001

COLUMBIA, Mo.- Missouri sophomore center A.J. Ricker is one of 21 offensive centers on the "watch list" for the 2001 Dave Rimington Trophy, which honors the nation's best offensive center. The award is presented by the Boomer Esiason Foundation. It is named for Dave Rimington, a former center at the University of Nebraska, and the only player to earn two Outland Trophies. Rimington teamed with Boomer Esiason with the Cincinnati Bengals from 1984-87.

Ricker, a sophomore from Klein, Texas, started all 11 games as a redshirt freshman last season. He took 654 snaps without committing a penalty, and recorded 45 knockdowns. He allowed just seven hits on the Tigers quarterbacks.

The other 20 players on the "watch list" are:

Matt Anderson, University of Texas

Kyle Benn, University of Washington

LeCharles Bentley, Ohio State University

Luke Butkus, University of Illinois

Troy Danhoff, UCLA

Jeff Faine, University of Notre Dame

Melvin Fowler, University of Maryland

Chris Gibson, Oregon State University

Al Johnson, University of Wisconsin

Austin King, Northwestern University

Dan Koppen, Boston College

Seth McKinney, Texas A&M University

Josh Melton, University of Arkansas

Ben Nowland, Auburn University

Brian Ottney, Michigan State University

Scott Peters, Arizona State University

Brett Romberg, University of Miami

Jason Scukanec, Brigham Young University

Lenny Vandermade, University of Southern California

Kyle Young, Clemson University