Four from Mizzou Football Named to Preseason All-SEC Team
9/17/2020 2:00:00 PM | Football
LB Nick Bolton highlights the bunch as first-team selection at linebacker
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football has four players listed on the Preseason All-Southeastern Conference Coaches Team, announced Thursday (Sept. 17) by the league office. Mizzou players earning a spot on the prestigious annual list, which is selected by the league's 14 coaches, are listed below:
- First Team Linebacker: Junior Nick Bolton (Frisco, Texas)
- Second Team Defensive Back: Senior Tyree Gillespie (Ocala, Fla.)
- Second Team Defensive Line: Senior Kobie Whiteside (Houston, Texas)
- Third Team Running Back: Senior Larry Rountree III (Raleigh, N.C.)
Bolton has been a mainstay on almost every national All-SEC and All-America team during the 2020 preseason. The 6-0, 230-pound linebacker is coming off of a breakout sophomore season saw that saw him earn national honors after leading the SEC in tackles during the regular season (107). He also led the SEC with his 8.92 tackles-per-game average. Bolton has appeared on several preseason award watch lists already, including the Nagurski Trophy and the Butkus Award. In 2019, Bolton was Pro Football Focus' top-graded SEC linebacker. He is a team captain in 2020.
Mizzou had a pair of defenders on the All-SEC Second Team in Gillespie and Whiteside. Gillespie developed into one of the team's top defenders at one of the two safety spots during his junior season, finishing the year with 50 tackles, second-most on the team. He added 4.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, seven pass breakups, a QB hurry and a forced fumble to his stat line as a junior. Whiteside became a dominant force on the interior for Mizzou during his first season as a full-time starter as a junior in 2019. He tallied 27 tackles and a team-high 6.5 sacks for a loss of 51 yards. His 6.5 sacks are tied for the most among any returning SEC defender in 2020.
Rountree is Mizzou's lone offensive representative on the preseason All-SEC team, earning third-team honors. The senior running back finished his junior season with 829 rushing yards on 186 carries (4.5 average), scoring a team-high nine touchdowns on the ground. He also concluded his junior season with 2,748 career rushing yards, sixth-most in program history and trailing fifth-place Henry Josey by just 23 yards. He enters his senior season needing 450 yards to become Mizzou's rushing yards leader by a non-quarterback, and is just 1,541 rushing yards away from catching Mizzou's all-time career rushing leader, QB Brad Smith (4,289 from 2002-05) … His 537 career carries rank seventh-most in program history.
Mizzou will open the 2020 season next Saturday (Sept. 26), welcoming SEC West foe Alabama to Memorial Stadium for a 6 p.m. kick on ESPN. For all the latest on Mizzou Football, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on social media (@MizzouFootball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook).
