Christopher Smith named semifinalist for Jim Thorpe Award
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia super-senior safety Christopher Smith was named a semifinalist for the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award on Monday, one of 12 players in the country to earn the honor, continuing a tradition of Bulldog defensive backs to be in contention for the prestigious award. Last year safety Lewis Cine was a semifinalist while in 2019 safety J.R. Reed was one of three finalists for the award. The year before that, cornerback Deandre Baker won the 2018 award becoming the first Bulldog to do so.
Other semifinalists include Trevon Flowers of Tennessee, Emmanuel Forbes of Mississippi State, Erick Hallett of Pittsburgh, Tre’Vious Hodges-Tomlinson of TCU, Antonio Johnson of Texas A&M, Clark Phillips of Utah, Joey Porter of Penn State, Lathan Random of Ohio State, Bentlee Sanders of Nevada, Jason Taylor of Oklahoma State and Devon Witherspoon of Illinois.
On the season, Smith has 21 tackles including three tackles for loss. He is tied for the team-high in interceptions with two and has forced a fumble for a defense that ranks second nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 9.1 points per game. Smith has twice been a captain for the Bulldogs and is going to have to play some of his best football down the stretch for Georgia as it takes on a tough closing stretch in the SEC with rival Florida awaiting this Saturday, No. 3 Tennessee in a de-facto SEC East Championship the following Saturday all before back to back road trips to Mississippi State and No. 19 Kentucky.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was asked about the importance of Smith to this football team on Monday and had this to say:
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“Well, first off, he was a really good prospect in high school. He played corner, he played safety. He could do it all. He came here. We flirted with him at corner and safety. He kind of played wherever we needed him to play. And he’s done that ever since coming here. He’s taken reps for two to three years at corner, he’s taken the safety, he’s played nickel star. I mean, he’s one of these versatile DBs that can kind of do it all because he understands leverages. He knows where his help is. He’s an instinctive football player. And we’re lucky to have him and really proud of the way he’s — you know, he didn’t have success right away. He’s one of the guys that truly became a better football player through development, practice habits, learning the system. And he had some good players in front of him when he first got here. And he’s been able to work his way into a good football player.”
Smith and the top-ranked Bulldogs take on Florida, led by first-year head coach Billy Napier, this Saturday down in Jacksonville, Fla. Kickoff time from TIAA Bank Field is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS. This will be the 101st meeting according to Georgia with the Bulldogs holding a 54-44-2 advantage all-time including a 34-7 win over the Gators last season.
