Chris Cole earns national Player of the Week honor for performance against Alabama
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs are coming off a massive 20-17 road win against the Alabama Crimson Tide, a game where the defense was firing on all cylinders against Keelon Russell and the rest of the Crimson Tide offense.
Star junior linebacker Chris Cole led the way for the Dawgs defensively all game, racking up 8 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 2 pass breakups, and a sack in what was arguably his best performance so far in a Georgia uniform.
The rest of the country also took notice of Cole’s stellar showing against Alabama, as he was officially named the Bendarik Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday afternoon.
A Virginia native and former 5-star recruit, Cole joined Georgia out of high school in 2024 after choosing the Dawgs over programs like Virginia Tech, Penn State, and Miami. He saw limited action as a freshman in 2024 before taking on a larger role last season.
With former standout CJ Allen departing for the NFL last offseason, Cole stepped into the lead role in Glenn Schumann’s system and has looked every bit like the next great UGA linebacker.
If he can maintain his current level of play over the second half of the season, then it’s very likely he ends up taking home some serious hardware come season’s end.
