KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Five Mizzou football players collected honors in the 2020 Southeastern Conference Awards, which were announced Tuesday.
Freshman quarterback Connor Bazelak received co-Freshman of the Year and All-Freshman team honors, along with junior linebacker Nick Bolton and redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Trajan Jeffcoat, who each earned first-team honors. Senior running back Larry Rountree III earned second-team recognition and freshman kicker Harrison Mevis earned All-Freshman team.
With his top freshman honor, Bazelak becomes the first Tiger to earn offensive Freshman of the Year since Jeremy Maclin in 2007.
Bazelak’s season mark of 2,366 yards ranks fourth in the league, while his completion percentage (67.3) and QB rating (132.05) rank sixth. All three marks rank first among SEC freshmen signal callers.
Bolton, a Butkus Award finalist and Jason Witten Man of the Year semifinalist, earned first-team honors for the second straight season. He is the first Tiger since Michael Egnew (TE, 2010-11) to earn back-to-back all-conference first-team honors and the first defensive player to do so since Sean Weatherspoon (LB, 2008-09).
Jeffcoat earned first-team honors after a breakout season on the Tiger defensive line where he has produced six sacks, 18 tackles, seven QB hurries and one forced fumble. He’s the first Tiger defensive lineman to earn all-conference first-team honors since Shane Ray in 2014.
Rountree earned all-conference honors for the first time in his storied career as he has produced 972 rushing yards on 209 attempts with 14 TDs in his senior campaign to become the first Tiger running back to earn all-conference honors since Henry Josey in 2011. His 14 rushing TDs rank third in the SEC and seventh nationally, while his 972 rushing yards rank fourth in the SEC and 13th nationally.
Mevis earned All-Freshman team honors after an impressive debut campaign in the Black & Gold. He was successful on 17-of-20 field goals for the Tigers and a perfect 28-of-28 on PATs. His 52-yard fieldgoal vs. LSU in October was the longest by a Mizzou freshman in program history.
Mizzou Football is slated to face No. 15 Iowa in the Transperfect Music City Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. CST from Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on ESPN.
