UGA linebacker and Montezuma native Roquan Smith has won the Butkus Award, given to the best linebacker in college football. He becomes the first Georgia Bulldog to win the award.
Smith had a stellar performance all year highlighted by his last outing in the SEC Championship game where he recorded 13 total tackles, 10 solo stops, two fumble recoveries and a sack earning the MVP honors for the game.
Smith leads the Dawgs with 113 tackles, 5.5 sacks, and has two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.
He was chosen from the other finalists of Michigan’s Devin Bush, Virginia Tech’s Tremaine Edmunds, Wisconsin’s T.J. Edwards and Clemson’s Dorian O’Daniel, according to an announcement from the Butkus Foundation.
There have been three other Bulldog finalists four different years in recent history, including Leonard Floyd (2015), Jarvis Jones (2011, 2012) and Justin Houston (2010).
Smith is also a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Chuck Bednarik Award.
