(AP photo)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

Despite a nearly 30-tackle margin in his favor and finishing fifth in the American Athletic Conference in the stat as a redshirt freshman, Steve Longa was left off the Butkus Award preseason watch list for the nation's most outstanding linebacker.

Longa said he wasn't fazed by the snub.

“I don’t look at it," he said Friday. "That’s preseason prediction. It doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day, we still have to produce. All of that is entertainment, but at the end of the day you still have to get on the field and play. I’m not worried about anything. What I control, that’s what I worry about.”

Leonte Carroo shows off his new Nike-fit helmet

Longa is transitioning to the weakside after finishing 2013 with 123 tackles, 7.5 for a loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles.

Betim Bujari, Kaleb Johnson and Tyler Kroft were named to the preseason award watch lists at their respective positions.