Utah State's Kyler Fackrell to Play in 2016 Senior Bowl this Weekend

Utah State's [University] Kyler Fackrell will play in the 67th Senior Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala., Saturday, Jan. 30. The game will kick off at 12:30 p.m. (MT) and will be televised nationally on the NFL Network (Comcast Ch. 180, Dish Network Ch. 154, DirectTV Ch. 212).

The Senior Bowl is college football's premier senior showcase event, annually featuring the nation's best senior collegiate football stars and top NFL draft prospects on teams coached by NFL coaching staffs.

Overall, Fackrell is the 20th Utah State player selected to the Senior Bowl since 1962 and USU has now had six players selected to the Senior Bowl in the past seven years as defensive back Curtis Marsh was selected in 2010, linebacker Bobby Wagner was named the North’s Most Outstanding Player in 2012, cornerback Will Davis played in 2013 and recorded an interception, and center Tyler Larsen and cornerback Nevin Lawson both played in the 2014 game, as Lawson intercepted a pass.

Fackrell, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound linebacker from Mesa, Ariz. (Mesa HS), earned fourth-team All-American honors from Phil Steele’s Magazine and was named a first-team all-Mountain West selection as a senior as he finished the season ranking first in the nation with five fumble recoveries, while also ranking first on the team with his 15.0 tackles for loss, first on the team with his school-record 12 quarterback hurries and second with his 4.0 sacks.

Facrkrell was also a semifinalist for the Butkus Award in 2015, honoring the nation’s best linebacker, and earned College Football News Sophomore Honorable Mention All-America honors in 2013, along with being the first player in school history to be named a Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-American in 2012.

Overall, Fackrell ranked sixth in the Mountain West in tackles for loss (1.15 pg) and 27th in the MW in tackles with 82 (6.3 pg), which were the second-most on the team, as were his three games with double-digit tackles, all of which came against conference opponents. He also tied for first on the team with his two forced fumbles, to go along with a defensive touchdown on a fumble recovery in the end zone against Nevada (11/21).

Along with earning All-America and first-team all-conference honors as a senior, Fackrell was also named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week twice after performances against then-No. 21 Boise State (10/16) and Nevada (11/21). Against the Broncos, he had 11 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. Against the Wolf Pack, he recorded 10 tackles, including 0.5 tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown.

In all, Fackrell earned conference player of the week honors five times during his career.

In 2015, Fackrell recorded double-digit tackles in three games, including a season high 11 stops against Boise State. He also had 10 tackles against both San Diego State (10/23) and Nevada, and recorded at least five tackles in 11 of the 13 games he played in. He also posted a career-high 3.0 tackles for loss against Colorado State (10/3), to go along with a career-high six quarterback hurries, and had tackles for loss in nine games.

Fackrell concluded his career with nine double-digit tackle games and is one of just 15 players in school history to earn first- or second-team all-conference honors three times. Overall, he had 253 tackles, which included 12.0 sacks and 36.0 tackles for loss, while adding seven fumble recoveries, five forced fumbles, four interceptions and three total touchdowns, with an interception return and fumble recovery on defense, to go along with a reception on offense.

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