Georgia Southern senior defensive tackle Brent Russell was named the 2012 recipient of the Elite Defensive Tackle Award by College Football Performance Awards.
    Russell helped lead the Eagles to their third-straight semifinal appearance and finished his career as the  team's all-time leader in career sacks after recording his 25th in his final game at North Dakota State. The three-year All-American finished the 2012 season with 44 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss.
    The Comer native was also named a First Team FCS All-American by the Sports Network and was a consensus First Team All-Southern Conference selection earlier this year.
    The goal of the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) is to provide the most scientifically rigorous conferments in college football. CFPA recognizes weekly, annual, and multi-season (career) award recipients — selected based upon objective scientific rankings of the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams.