COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football junior linebacker Nick Bolton (Frisco, Texas) was named a second-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), announced by the organization Thursday. The teams were voted on by coaches at the FBS level. It is the fourth All-America honor for Bolton after being named to the second team by the Associated Press, The Athletic and the FWAA earlier. Bolton was also named to the All-SEC first team by the league's coaches and the AP last week.
Bolton, a Butkus Award finalist and Jason Witten Man of the Year semifinalist, was routinely one of the best players on the field week-in and week-out in 2020, as his 67 solo tackles lead the conference while his 95 total tackles rank fifth. He also ranks among the SEC's Top 10 in tackles per game (9.5, seventh) and tackles-for-loss (8.0, 10th).
In addition, he added 2.0 sacks, five pass break-ups and a fumble recovery on the season. He was named the FWAA Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week after Mizzou's win over LSU (Oct. 10) where he had 11 tackles (nine solo) and three pass break-ups. He was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week after playing every snap of the Tigers win over Kentucky, recording seven tackles and 1.0 TFL. Bolton was named to the SEC Community Service Team on Dec. 16. He recorded a career-high 17 tackles in Mizzou's game against Tennessee (Oct. 3), a mark which was the most by a Tiger since Sean Weatherspoon had 20 stops in 2008.
Before Mizzou's TransPerfect Music City Bowl game was canceled, Bolton had elected to opt out of the game to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft. He ends his collegiate career with 224 total tackles, 16.0 TFL and 4.0 sacks.
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