The bypassing of Penn State players on awards lists appears to be ending.

Senior linebackers Michael Mauti and Gerald Hodges were selected today as two of 12 semifinalists for the Butkus Award. The players survived another round of Butkus Award cuts less than two weeks after being left off the list of quarterfinalists for the Lombardi Award.

The Lombardi Award snub created a stir because of Mauti and Hodges' role in the Nittany Lions' recent surge. Mauti leads the Nittany Lions with 65 tackles and three interceptions. Hodges has 54 tackles. The pair is helping Penn State hold opponents to a 15.7 points per game.

The Butkus Award honors the nation's top linebackers. Other semifinalists include Rutgers' Steve Beauharnais, Kansas State's Arthur Brown, Illinois' Jonathan Brown, Michigan State's Max Bullough, Georgia's Jarvis Jones, Oregon's Dion Jordan, LSU's Kevin Minter, Alabama's C.J. Mosley, Stanford's Trent Murphy and Notre Dame's Manti Te'o.

Finalists will be announced Nov. 20.

Follow Guy Cipriano on Twitter @cdtguy.