Mizzou Football junior linebacker Nick Bolton was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press. Bolton is Mizzou’s first AP All-American since Kentrell Brothers was named a first-team All-American following the 2015 season. Bolton was also named to the All-SEC first team by the league’s coaches and the AP last week.
Bolton, a Butkus Award finalist and Jason Witten Man of the Year semifinalist, is the second linebacker in school history to earn All-America recognition, joining Brothers in 2015. Bolton was routinely one of the best players on the field week-in and week-out in 2020, as his 67 solo tackles lead the conference while his 95 total tackles rank fifth. He also ranks among the SEC’s Top-10 in tackles per game (9.5, seventh) and tackles-for-loss (8.0, 10th).
In addition, he added 2.0 sacks, five pass break-ups and a fumble recovery on the season. He was named the FWAA Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week after Mizzou’s win over LSU (Oct. 10) where he had 11 tackles (nine solo) and three pass break-ups. He was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week after playing every snap of the Tigers win over Kentucky, recording seven tackles and 1.0 TFL. Bolton was named to the SEC Community Service Team on Dec. 16. He recorded a career-high 17 tackles in Mizzou’s game against Tennessee (Oct. 3), a mark which was the most by a Tiger since Sean Weatherspoon had 20 stops in 2008.