Auburn senior center Ryan Pugh and senior offensive tackle Lee Ziemba have been named to the watch list for the Rotary Lombardi Award, which is given to the nation’s best down lineman, offense or defense, or linebacker.

Pugh, who was named to the watch list for the Rimington Trophy on Thursday, has started 31 games for the Tigers during his career, including all 25 games at center over the past two seasons. He was selected to the Associated Press All-SEC second team following the 2009 season after leading the team with 70 knockdown blocks, and was named a preseason second-team All-SEC selection by the league’s coaches last month.

Ziemba, who was previously placed on the watch list for the Outland Trophy, was a Second-Team All-SEC selection by the league’s coaches in 2009, and a consensus preseason First-Team All-SEC player this year. He has started every game since arriving on the Auburn campus in 2007 for a streak of 38 consecutive starts. If he starts every game during the 2010 regular season, he will break the Auburn school record for consecutive starts, which is currently held by Will Herring with 49 straight from 2003-06.

Both players were an integral part of Auburn’s offense that set team single-season records in 2009 for points (433), total offense (5,613 yards) and passing touchdowns (25).

The candidates for the Rotary Lombardi Award earned a place on the official watch list by earning All-America honors, by being named to their respective all-conference first teams as selected by the conference’s head coaches or by nomination sent to and reviewed by the nominations committee.

The 41st Rotary Lombardi Award ceremony will be held in early December at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.