Nick Bolton Named SEC Defensive Player of the Week

After his stellar performance in Saturday’s 38-7 win against West Virginia, Missouri sophomore linebacker Nick Bolton was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week today, and rightfully so.

In the Tigers’ dominating victory, Bolton rose to the occasion and it seemed like he was EVERYWHERE— finishing with 10 total tackles and three tackles for loss. He also had two interceptions (!!), with one going for a pick-six. Those interceptions, by the way, just so happened to be the first of Bolton’s young career, and he became the first Missouri linebacker with two interceptions in a game since Kentrell Brothers in 2015 (against Arkansas State), and the first with at least one going for a pick-six since Sean Weatherspoon in 2008 (against Illinois).

“Our card said takeaways equal victory so we made that a focus point this week,” Bolton said after the game on Saturday, referencing the business card-style cards given out to team members last week. After starting the season with a negative-three turnover differential, Missouri turned that around with a positive-three turnover against West Virginia.

Bolton definitely did his part, and it was an all-around impressive defensive performance from Missouri on Saturday. Let’s hope this is the Missouri defense we see as the season goes on.

Here are the rest of the SEC Players of the Week awards for Week 2.