Manhattan, KS (Ryan Lackey) – Kansas State senior defensive end Jordan Willis has accepted an invitation to play in the 68th Annual Reese’s Senior Bowl, held on January 28, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, the organization announced Monday.
Willis, the 2016 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and an All-American by multiple outlets, will be the seventh Wildcat to play in the game since 2012. Each of the last two years, a former K-State player who participated in the premier college scouting event has been a high draft pick: Tyler Lockett – a third-round pick in 2015 by the Seattle Seahawks – and Cody Whitehair – a second-round selection in 2016 by the Chicago Bears.
A product of Kansas City, Missouri, Willis led the Big 12 and ranked ninth nationally during the regular season with a school-record tying 11.5 sacks as part of his 16.5 tackles for loss on the year. Willis has 26.0 career sacks to rank third in school history, while his 39.5 career TFLs rank ninth in K-State history and mark the first time a Wildcat has cracked the top 10 since 2001.
Entering his final game as a Wildcat, Willis has recorded a sack in 11 of the last 16 games dating back to his junior year and a TFL in 14 of the last 16.
A team captain for the 2016 Wildcats, Willis has helped lead K-State to an 8-4 record, including a 6-3 mark in the Big 12 to finish fourth in the league standings. Kansas State faces Texas A&M (8-4, 4-4 SEC) in the 2016 AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium on Wednesday, December 28. It is the 20th bowl game in school history and the 18th under head coach Bill Snyder. The game kicks off at 8 p.m., and will be shown to a national audience on ESPN, while it can be heard across the K-State Sports Network and on ESPN Radio.
