Junior safety Dominique Long (9) pounds his chest during the game against Penn State Oct. 26, 2019 at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans fell to the Nittany Lions, 28-7.
—After being nominated for the William V. Campbell Award, MSU football safety and senior Dominique Long has been named a semifinalist for the nation's top college football academic award.
The award is often called the "Academic Heisman" and is granted to the top scholar-athlete in the nation.
Long is a mechanical engineering major that has above a 3.6 GPA. He's been named an Academic All-Big Ten selection three times while also competing for snaps at cornerback and safety and serving primarily on special teams. Long has appeared in 37 games during his career with one pass break-up and one blocked punt.
He has 38 career tackles with a majority of them coming on special teams, where he has seen the most playing time. But this season, he's in the conversation for one of the starting defensive back spots after the departure of Josiah Scott and graduation of Josh Butler.
Long is among 199 other semifinalists the National Football Foundation announced on Wednesday. The number sets a new record for the highest number of semifinalists the award has ever recognized in its 31 year history.
"It is wonderful to see a record number of semifinalists for the Campbell Trophy during such a turbulent year, proving the Future for Football is bright," National Football Foundation President & CEO Steve Hatchell said in a release. "We are extremely proud to highlight each semifinalist's achievements, showcasing their ability to balance academics and athletics at the highest level. The NFF Awards Committee will have an incredibly difficult task in selecting the finalists from this outstanding group of candidates."
The National Football Foundation is one of the partners who present the award and choose the finalists.
Michigan punter Will Hart and Ohio State punter Drue Chrisman were also named as semi finalists earlier this week. The large pool of eligible nominees will shrink to a group of 12-14 finalists in November, all of which receive an $18,000 scholarship. From there, the winner is announced in December, whose scholarship increases to $25,000.
As a junior in 2019, Long was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team and received MSU's Downtown Coaches Club Award for most outstanding player on special teams. He had a career-high 16 total tackles last season.
Michigan State has had three Campbell Trophy finalists in the past 10 seasons: Kirk Cousins, Max Bullough and Mike Sadler, along with nine semifinalists: Cousins, Bullough, Sadler, Jack Allen, Josiah Price, Brian Allen, Khari Willis, Cole Chewins and now Long.
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