Georgia Bulldogs DL Jordan Davis Wins Outland Trophy
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ATHENS – Georgia Bulldogs defensive tackle Jordan Davis was named the recipient of the 76th Outland Trophy on Thursday night during The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN. The Outland Trophy is awarded annually to the nation's best college interior lineman on offense or defense and Davis is the second Georgia lineman to earn the award.
Davis joined Bill Stanfill (1968) as Georgia’s winners of the Outland Trophy.
Earlier Thursday, Davis picked up the Chuck Bednarik Award as the top defensive player as judged by the Maxwell Football Club. Davis and David Pollack (2004) are the Bulldogs’ winners of the Bednarik Award.
Davis, Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh (2009) and Pitt’s Aaron Donald (2013) are the only players to win the Outland Trophy and the Bednarik Award in the same season.
Davis, a native of Charlotte, N.C., has helped Georgia (12-1, 8-0 SEC) lead the nation in scoring defense (9.5 points per game) and rank second in total defense (254.3 yards per game) and third in rushing defense (81.7 yards per game). He anchors the interior line with 28 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks. Opponents have scored just 124 points on the Bulldogs. Davis also scored a rushing touchdown on Senior Day against Charleston Southern.
Davis will be honored as the recipient of the 2021 Outland Trophy on Wed., Jan. 12 in Omaha at a dinner hosted by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee and sponsored by Werner Enterprises.
A 6-6, 340-pound senior from Charlotte, N.C., Davis was selected by the All-America Committee of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) from three finalists that also included N.C. State offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu and Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum. Davis is the third Outland Trophy winner from the defensive side of the ball in last five seasons, following defensive tackles Ed Oliver of Houston in 2017 and Quinnen Williams of Alabama in 2018.
Each of the Bulldogs' Outland Trophy prior honorees have been defensive tackles. Georgia's lone winner was Bill Stanfill in 1968 and defensive tackle Andrew Thomas was a semifinalist in 2019.
Davis is a commanding presence in the middle of the Georgia defensive line, constantly double-teamed while closing interior running lanes between the ends. His presence taking away the defensive middle was a key in the Bulldogs leading the nation in scoring defense giving up only 9.5 points per game as the only program in single-digits and 5.5 points ahead of the next best unit. Georgia was also second in total defense (254.3 yards per game), third in rushing defense (81.7 ypg) and third in passing defense (172.6 ypg).
During Georgia's 12-0 start and consensus No. 1 ranking for the bulk of the 2021 season, Davis posted 24 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks and even included a short rushing touchdown. He had four tackles in Georgia's loss to Alabama in last week's SEC Championship Game, giving him 28 total tackles for the season.
Davis was also a finalist for the FWAA's Bronko Nagurski Trophy and is a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, both recognizing the national defensive player of the year.
The Bulldogs, seeded third, take on No. 2 Michigan in the College Football Playoff Semifinals on Dec. 31 in the Capital One Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Fla.
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