Alabama Crimson Tide players take home several major college football awards

As Alabama prepares for Monday’s national championship game, several Crimson Tide players were honored with individual awards at the Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday.

As expected, Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith won the Fred Biletnikoff Award (best recipient), while quarterback Mac Jones (Davey O’Brien), left-back Alex Leatherwood (Outland) and returning Najee Harris (Doak Walker) also won theirs The award honored outstanding seasons.

Here is the list of the individual awards whose winners were announced on Thursday:

Davey O’Brien Award: Jones, an All-American Associated Press first-team, threw for 4,036 yards with 36 touchdowns and only four interceptions. Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, who finished ahead of Jones in the Heisman Trophy voting, and Florida’s Kyle Trask were also finalists.

Fred Biletnikoff Award: It was fitting that Smith, who became the first major recipient to win the Heisman since Desmond Howard won it at Michigan in 1991, also took home the Biletnikoff. The other two finalists, Ole Miss’ Elijah Moore and Florida’s Kyle Pitts, were also finalists. Smith has caught 105 passes for 1,641 yards with 20 touchdowns with the championship game still to play.

Doak Walker Award: Harris ran for 1,387 yards (6.1 yards per carry) with the nation’s best 24 touchdowns. He combined 303 yards in Alabama’s last two wins against Florida in the SEC championship (178) and Notre Dame in the college football playoff semifinals (125). Breece Hall, Iowa, the nation’s premier rusher, and Clemson’s Travis Etienne were also finalists.

Outland Trophy: Leatherwood is the third member of the Crimson Tide to win Outland since 2016, along with Quinnen Williams (2018) and Cam Robinson (2016). Leatherwood, one of the NFL’s top left-wing players, beat Notre Dame’s Liam Eichenberg and Iowa’s Daviyon Nixon. Last season’s winner, Oregon’s Penei Sewell, signed out ahead of the season.

Chuck Bednarik Award: Tulsa’s Zaven Collins won the Nation’s Best Defensive Player award ahead of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah of Notre Dame and Patrick Surtain II of Alabama. In eight games, Collins ended with 53 tackles, 11.5 tackles against loss, four sacks and four interceptions. Collins also received the Bronko Nagurski Award two weeks ago.

Lou Groza Award: Miami’s Jose Borregales was named the nation’s best kicker after a near-perfect season. He converted 20 of 22 field goals – including 2 of 2 from more than 50 meters – and converted all 37 extra point attempts. Alabama’s Will Reichard and BYU Jake Oldroyd were the other finalists.

Ray Guy Award: Georgia Tech’s Pressley Harvin III made history as the first African American to win the Nation’s Best Punter award. He averaged 48.0 yards per punt and 18 of his 45 punts were knocked down within the opponent’s 20 yard line. He knocked out Georgia’s Jake Camarda and Miami’s Lou Hedley.