Several SEC standouts were honored by the Football Writers Association of America to the Freshman All-America Team, a number that leads all conferences.
Georgia, with OLs Cade Mays and Isaiah Wilson and DL Jordan Davis, led the way among teams. But Alabama also has WR Jaylen Waddle and DB Patrick Surtain, and Tennessee added DB Bryce Thompson.
The SEC had six selections, followed by the Big 12 with five and Big Ten with four.
The 13-person panel represented each of the FBS conferences along with independents in the selecting the team. Both true freshmen (18 players) and redshirt freshmen (14 players) were considered for the team.
Overall, five players on the team are taking part in the national championship tonight at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Josh Heupel, who coached UCF to a 13-0 regular season and the American Athletic Conference title, is the First-Year Coach of the Year.
The quarterbacks chosen were Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Nebraska’s Adrian Martinez.
Lawrence has thrown for 2,933 yards and 27 touchdowns and only four interceptions while averaging 12.3 yards per completion. Clemson’s offense is just 293 yards shy of breaking its own ACC record of 7,718 total yards set in 2015. The Tigers are averaging 530.4 total yards and 44.3 points per game. Lawrence has completed 65 percent of his passes.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
