Sweat Named Sporting News Midseason All-American
October 15, 2018 | Football
by Brandon Langlois, Associate Director/Communications
STARKVILLE – The national leader in sacks per game, Mississippi State defensive end Montez Sweat was named to Sporting News' midseason All-American team Monday.
Sweat, the SEC leader in sacks a year ago and a candidate for virtually every national defensive player of the year award, has racked up 7.5 sacks through six games this season to tie for the Southeastern Conference lead and rank fourth nationally. His 1.25 sacks per game average is tops in the country. Of Sweat's 24 total tackles this season, 10 have been for lost yardage, which ranks second in the SEC and tied for 19th nationally.
Sweat heads into the seventh game of the season at No. 8 in program history with 18 sacks. Sweat posted an SEC-best 10.5 sacks last season, good for No. 7 in single season history. He needs just 1.5 sacks to enter State's single-season top 10 for the second time in his career.
Since arriving to Starkville prior to last season, Sweat has been a nightmare for opposing offensive lines and a thorn in opposing quarterbacks' sides. No player in the Power 5 since the start of the 2017 season has been credited with more sacks than Sweat, who has 18 to his name in 19 career games as a Bulldog.
College football's most feared pass rusher, Sweat is coming off a dominant performance in MSU's 23-9 win against then-No. 8 Auburn on Oct. 6, turning in a career-best three sacks for a loss of 27 yards, forcing one fumble and adding two quarterback hurries that forced incompletions. He earned SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors for an SEC record-tying fifth time in his career, and he also was named the Football Writers Association's Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player of the Week and the Bednarik Player of the Week by the Maxwell Football Club for his efforts.
Sporting News Midseason All-Americans
Offense
QB: Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama
RB: Travis Etienne, Clemson
RB: Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
WR: Marquise Brown, Oklahoma
WR: Jerry Jeudy, Alabama
TE: Noah Fant, Iowa
OL: Jonah Williams, Alabama
OL: Mitch Hyatt, Clemson
OL: Dalton Risner, Kansas State
OL: Michael Dieter, Wisconsin
OL: Andrew Thomas, Georgia
ATH: Darrell Henderson, Memphis
Defense
DL: Clelin Ferrell, Clemson
DL: Ed Oliver, Houston
DL: Jerry Tillery, Notre Dame
DL: Montez Sweat, Mississippi State
LB: Josh Allen, Kentucky
LB: Kenneth Murray, Oklahoma
LB: Devin White, LSU
DB: Deandre Baker, Georgia
DB: Greedy Williams, LSU
DB: Richie Grant, UCF
DB: Deionte Thompson, Alabama
Special Teams
RET: Terrence Horne, USF
K: Andre Szmyt, Syracuse
P: Braden Mann, Texas A&M
STARKVILLE – The national leader in sacks per game, Mississippi State defensive end Montez Sweat was named to Sporting News' midseason All-American team Monday.
Sweat, the SEC leader in sacks a year ago and a candidate for virtually every national defensive player of the year award, has racked up 7.5 sacks through six games this season to tie for the Southeastern Conference lead and rank fourth nationally. His 1.25 sacks per game average is tops in the country. Of Sweat's 24 total tackles this season, 10 have been for lost yardage, which ranks second in the SEC and tied for 19th nationally.
Sweat heads into the seventh game of the season at No. 8 in program history with 18 sacks. Sweat posted an SEC-best 10.5 sacks last season, good for No. 7 in single season history. He needs just 1.5 sacks to enter State's single-season top 10 for the second time in his career.
Since arriving to Starkville prior to last season, Sweat has been a nightmare for opposing offensive lines and a thorn in opposing quarterbacks' sides. No player in the Power 5 since the start of the 2017 season has been credited with more sacks than Sweat, who has 18 to his name in 19 career games as a Bulldog.
College football's most feared pass rusher, Sweat is coming off a dominant performance in MSU's 23-9 win against then-No. 8 Auburn on Oct. 6, turning in a career-best three sacks for a loss of 27 yards, forcing one fumble and adding two quarterback hurries that forced incompletions. He earned SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors for an SEC record-tying fifth time in his career, and he also was named the Football Writers Association's Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player of the Week and the Bednarik Player of the Week by the Maxwell Football Club for his efforts.
Sporting News Midseason All-Americans
Offense
QB: Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama
RB: Travis Etienne, Clemson
RB: Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
WR: Marquise Brown, Oklahoma
WR: Jerry Jeudy, Alabama
TE: Noah Fant, Iowa
OL: Jonah Williams, Alabama
OL: Mitch Hyatt, Clemson
OL: Dalton Risner, Kansas State
OL: Michael Dieter, Wisconsin
OL: Andrew Thomas, Georgia
ATH: Darrell Henderson, Memphis
Defense
DL: Clelin Ferrell, Clemson
DL: Ed Oliver, Houston
DL: Jerry Tillery, Notre Dame
DL: Montez Sweat, Mississippi State
LB: Josh Allen, Kentucky
LB: Kenneth Murray, Oklahoma
LB: Devin White, LSU
DB: Deandre Baker, Georgia
DB: Greedy Williams, LSU
DB: Richie Grant, UCF
DB: Deionte Thompson, Alabama
Special Teams
RET: Terrence Horne, USF
K: Andre Szmyt, Syracuse
P: Braden Mann, Texas A&M
Players Mentioned
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