Ellis gets academic SEC nod
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas linebacker Brooks Ellis was named the SEC football scholar-athlete of the year Wednesday, as selected by league coaches.
Ellis, a senior from Fayetteville, was one of 12 finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, also known as the academic “Heisman,” which was awarded earlier this week by the National Football Foundation to Western Michigan quarterback Zach Terrell.
Ellis’ selection as scholar-athlete was part of the release of the SEC’s individual awards, which were dominated by SEC champion Alabama.
Conference coaches voted five of the seven awards to the Crimson Tide, including Nick Saban as coach of the year, freshman
quarterback Jalen Hurts as offensive player of the year and end Jonathan Allen as defensive player of the year.
Alabama won both the offensive and defensive player of the year awards for the second consecutive season.
Saban led the Crimson Tide to their 26th SEC championship with last week’s 54-16 victory over Florida. Alabama has won 10 or more games under the Fairmont, W.Va., native for the ninth consecutive season.
Hurts, a native of Channelview, Texas, was also chosen as the league’s freshman of the year. He has thrown for 2,563 yards and 21 touchdowns, while rushing for 841 yards and 12 scores.
Allen, of Leesburg, Va., has a team-high 15 quarterback hurries and 8½ sacks. Allen is second on the school’s all-time career sacks list.
Alabama left tackle Cam Robinson was named the winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, an award that went to Arkansas’ Sebastian Tretola last season.
Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson, the league’s special teams player of the year, joined Ellis as the only non-Alabama players to win SEC individual awards.
Ellis is the first Arkansas athlete to earn Academic All-America status twice in his career. He carries a 3.82 GPA in pre-professional exercise science and leads the Razorbacks with 78 tackles and seven tackles for loss.
The Crimson Tide (13-0) will take on Pacific-12 champion Washington (12-1) in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 31 as one of the two College Football Playoff semifinal games. Clemson (12-1) and Ohio State (11-1) will meet in the Fiesta Bowl in the other semifinal.
Alabama, the defending CFP champion, will be aiming for their fifth national championship in eight years under Saban.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players for All-SEC teams or the individual awards. The SEC All-Freshman Team will be announced today.