HOUSTON ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" Baylor senior Spencer Drango was named a 2015 Rotary Lombardi Award semifinalist as announced by the Houston Sports Authority Thursday.

The 46th-annual Rotary Lombardi Award is limited to down linemen, end-to-end, either on offense or defense, who set up no farther than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball, and linebackers who set up no farther than five yards deep from the line of scrimmage.

On the field for the undefeated Bears, Drango is a returning All-American and a two-time All-Big 12 first team honoree. In 2015, Drango has started all seven games at left tackle for No. 2 ranked Baylor. He has aided the Bears in again being the top offense in the country (686.1 ypg and 61.1 ppg), while ranking second in rushing offense with 338.3 yards per game on the ground. With Drango's help, Baylor ranks eighth in the country in sacks allowed with .86 per game.

He was named the Big 12 Co-Offensive Lineman of Year in 2014, after starting all 13 games for the Big 12 champion Bears.

The 2015 Rotary Lombardi Award semifinalist list includes 12 players, while Drango is the only pick from the Big 12. The semifinalist selection comes after Drango was named to the award's watch list in July.

Other semifinalists include: Joey Bosa (Ohio State), Shilique Calhoun (Michigan State), Taylor Decker (Ohio State), Myles Garrett (Texas A&M), Shaq Lawson (Clemson), Tyler Matakevich (Temple), Carl Nassib (Penn State), Robert Nkemdiche (Ole Miss), Reggie Ragland (Alabama), Joe Schobert (Wisconsin) and Ronnie Stanley (Notre Dame).

Drango is already on the Outland Trophy watch list. To round out his impressive resume he has been named a Wuerffel Trophy semifinalist, a Campbell Trophy finalist and a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award.

All candidates for the Rotary Lombardi Award also must be eligible to play college sports under the rules and regulations of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In addition, we consider the values and characteristics that exemplify the Lombardi legacy, leadership, discipline, sportsmanship and excellence of performance. The voting panel is made up of all FBS Head Football Coaches, past Rotary Lombardi Award Finalists and selected college football writers.

This year's Award ceremony will be held December 9, 2015, at Revention Music Center in Houston.

The Rotary Lombardi Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game's predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association's official Web site, www.NCFAA.org.

Drango will be on the field Thursday for the Bears as they face Kansas State at 6:30 p.m. on FS1 in Manhattan, Kan.

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