Bethpage, N.Y.-----For the second year in a row, San Jose State University tight end Ryan Otten is listed on the John Mackey Award Midseason Watch List.

            Sponsored by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the John Mackey Award is given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end.

            Twenty-six Football Bowl Subdivision players, many from the preseason Watch List, are on the Midseason Watch List.

            The 6-foot-5, 245-pound senior from Loomis, Calif. (Del Oro HS) leads all tight ends that are averaging at least 4.00 receptions per game in yards per catch with his 15.1 average. At the Spartans' midpoint of the season, Otten is third on the team with 24 receptions for 382 yards and one touchdown. After dealing with a preseason camp injury, Otten again is one of the main cogs in the San Jose State passing attack with 17 receptions in the last three games.

            Heading into the October 20 game at UTSA, Otten now is the Spartans' career leader for tight ends with 103 receptions for 1,380 yards.

            Semifinalists will be named on November 12 and three finalists will be announced on November 19. The 2012 John Mackey Award winner be presented on December 6 at the Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show.

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The John Mackey 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 website www.ncfaa.org.