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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Mike Zeuli Named Bushnell Cup Finalist For Ivy Defensive Player Of The Year
December 02, 2014 | Football
Mike Zeuli, one of the nation's most dominant forces in opposing backfields this season, will get one more opportunity to represent Princeton Football in 2014. Zeuli has been named a Bushnell Cup finalist for the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year award.
The Bushnell Cup will be presented on Monday, Dec. 8, the day before the 57th National Football Foundation (NFF) Annual Awards Dinner, at a special press conference and reception presented by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses in the Vanderbilt Room of the famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel at 12:30 p.m. ET. The presentation will mark the fifth-consecutive year that the NFF has partnered with the Ivy League to recognize the conference's offensive and defensive players of the year. The presentation will be shown live and free of charge on The Ivy League Digital Network (ILDN).
Zeuli joins reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Zack Hodges of Harvard as a finalist this season, while Yale's Tyler Varga and Dartmouth's Dalyn Williams are finalists for the Offensive Player of the Year award.
Zeuli, a second-team All-Ivy honoree last year, led the league with 16.5 tackles for loss, and he ranked second in the league with 8.7 tackles per game. He had 16 tackles in his final collegiate game, which moved him over the 200-tackle mark for his career, and he ranked in the Top 5 in the Ivy League in sacks.
“I think Mike is very deserving of this great honor, and I am thrilled that he is a finalist for the Bushnell Cup,” head coach Bob Surace said. “He was the heart and soul of our defense, and a true role model for so many underclassmen that he shared the field with. Nobody practiced harder than Mike during the week, and nobody played harder than Mike on Saturday. He is everything you want in a player, and everything you want in a captain.”
Zeuli, one of only four defensive players to earn unanimous first-team All-Ivy League distinction this season, ranked 12th nationally with an average of 1.8 tackles for loss per game this season. He had double-digit tackles in four of Princeton's last seven games, and he averaged 13 tackles per game against the top three teams in the Ivy standings.
A 2014 Princeton co-captain, Zeuli earned immediate playing time as a freshman and played four different positions during his career. As a senior inside linebacker, he helped Princeton rank second in the Ivy League and eighth nationally in rushing defense.
Zeuli is the fourth Princeton player over the last three years to be invited to the Bushnell Cup banquet. Two years ago, senior lineman Mike Catapano, currently a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, was named the 2012 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. Last season, Quinn Epperly was named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, while Caraun Reid, currently a member of the Detroit Lions, was a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year honor.