COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina senior edge rusher has been awarded his second Defensive Player of the Year award in as many days.
After the Associated Press named Kennard the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, the league coaches have also awarded Kennard with that top defensive honor.
It's already been a huge week for Kennard who on Monday, was named the winner of the Bronco Nagurski Trophy which is presented to college football's top defensive player by the Football Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.
During the regular season, Kennard led the SEC with 15.5 tackles for loss including 11.5 sacks. That sack total ranked sixth in the nation. His single-season sack total also ranks second in school history behind Clowney’s 13.0 in 2012, while his tackles for loss total is the school’s fourth-highest single-season mark.
On the other side of the ball, quarterback LaNorris Sellers is the SEC Freshman of the Year as selected by the league coaches.
On Tuesday, Sellers was named a third-team All-SEC selection by the Associated Press. During the regular season, the Florence product completed 64.9 percent of his passes (172-for-265) for 2,274 yards and 17 touchdowns. He added 155 carries for 655 yards and seven touchdowns in his first year as the starting quarterback for the Gamecocks after playing in just four games as a true freshman in 2023.
Sellers was the Walter Camp and Maxwell Football Club National Player of the Week following his performance against Missouri and was the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week following the Texas A&M contest. He was a two-time winner of the SEC Offensive Player of the Week award and a two-time recipient of the league’s Freshman of the Week honors.
Clowney was also the last Gamecock to win Freshman of the Year accolades, as he was selected by the SEC Coaches in 2011. Other Gamecocks that earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors were Marcus Lattimore (2010), Sidney Rice (2005), Ko Simpson (2004) and Steve Taneyhill (1992).
