Nov. 23, 1999

Senior free safety Brian Urlacher (Lovington, N.M.) has been named 1 of 3 finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation's top defensive back in college football. The other two finalists are senior Tyrone Carter from Minnesota and junior Deon Grant from Tennessee. The three finalists will be invited to ESPN's College Football Awards Show, Dec. 9, in Orlando, Fla., at which the time the winner will be announced. Formal presentation of the Jim Thorpe Award will be Feb. 17, 2000, in Oklahoma City.

In addition to his work in the secondary, Urlacher also returns punts, occasionally lines up at receiver and hes on the punt cover and kickoff cover special teams

He ranks 3rd all-time at UNM with 424 tackles as he passed former All-America Robin Cole at Utah on Nov. 13.

Last Game...another spectacular individual performance at Wyoming on Nov. 20...just 9 tackles, but he caught 3 passes for 14 yards, including 2 more TDs to retake the team scoring lead with 42 points...had scoring passes of 3 and 4 yards...also a 46-yard punt return, UNMs longest of the season...for the game, 56 plays on defense, 12 on special teams and 9 on offense

Season...Urlacher leads the Mountain West Conference in tackles 136/13.6 pg), forced fumbles (4) and fumbles recovered (3)...hes tied for 5th in scoring at 4.2 ppg...would rank 3rd in the MWC in punt returns at 15.1 a return, however, he is 2 returns short of qualifying...the only player in the MWC to be named Defensive Player of the Week twice in 1999...has 7 receptions, 6 for scores...season play count stands at 832 (695 defense, 111 special teams, 26 offense), an average of 83 snaps a game