Overland Park, Kan. - Louisiana Tech offensive lineman Stephen Warner and San Jose State defensive end Travis Johnson are two of 30 FBS candidates for the 2012 SENIOR Class Award to be awarded by the NCAA during the 2012-13 bowl season.

A senior civil engineering major with a grade point average of over 3.0, Warner has started 30 consecutive games on the offensive line for Tech and was a team captain in both 2011 and in 2012.

Johnson is a three-time Academic All-WAC honoree, the conference's 2012 pre-season media pick as Defensive Player of the Year, and is on Watch Lists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Hendricks Award, the Rotary Lombardi Award and the Senior Bowl. He ranks among the top-five players nationally in quarterback sacks (3rd tied) and tackles for loss (3rd) heading into the September 22 game at San Diego State.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I FBS senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplify excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.

For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
 
Football Candidates
Ryan Aplin, Arkansas State
Montee Ball, Wisconsin
Johnthan Banks, Mississippi State
Matt Barkley, USC
Jeff Braun, West Virginia
Rex Burkhead, Nebraska
Blaize Foltz, TCU
Rashard Hall, Clemson
Duron Harmon, Rutgers
Dustin Hopkins, Florida State
Travis Johnson, San Jose State
Barrett Jones, Alabama
Landry Jones, Oklahoma
Collin Klein, Kansas State
A.J. Klein, Iowa State
Jeff Locke, UCLA
Philip Lutzenkirchen, Auburn
Riley Nelson, Brigham Young
Kyle Quinn, Arizona
Sean Renfree, Duke
Adam Replogle, Indiana
Luke Ruff, Wyoming
Jason Schepler, Northern Illinois
John Simon, Ohio State
Caleb Sturgis, Florida
Matt Summers-Gavin, California
Manti Te'o, Notre Dame
Omoregie Uzzi, Georgia Tech
Stephen Warner, Louisiana Tech
Tyler Wilson, Arkansas