Ole Miss DL Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen named second-team All-Americans
Ole Miss defensive linemen Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen are second-team All-Americans, as announced Friday by the American Football Coaches Association.
Nolen is now a five-time All-American following a stellar, one-year stint at Ole Miss. He transferred in from Texas A&M last off-season. The Athletic placed Nolen on the first team, while he earned second-team distinction from both Walter Camp and CBS Sports. He was honorable mention by College Football Network.
Nolen hasn’t announced his intentions for the Gator Bowl. The Rebels (9-3, 5-3 SEC) take on Duke (9-3, 5-3 ACC) on January 2, 2025. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast by ESPN.
“He reminds me of Quinnen Williams that we had at ‘Bama, which was a Top 10 draft pick and elite player,” Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding said of Nolen. “When you have a guy like that, they’ve got to plan for him.
“The good thing about that room is we’ve got several good players in that room.”
Nolen is No. 15 on ESPN analyst Mel Kiper’s NFL Draft ‘Big Board.’ He’s one of two projected first-rounders for the Rebels, according to Pro Football Focus. The other is cornerback Trey Amos. Amos spent just one season at Ole Miss, too. He came over from Alabama.
PFF has Ole Miss EDGE Princely Umanmielen as one of four second-round Rebels. Ole Miss was the only team in FBS to produce six players this season with 10 tackles for loss or more.
Umanmielen was named an All-American as well, his first.
He has 13.0 TFLs, the third-most of all Rebels behind Nolen (14.0) and defensive tackle JJ Pegues (13.5). Umanmielen is the team’s co-leader in sacks (10.5) with second-year breakout EDGE Suntarine Perkins.
Nolen and Umanmielen were among the nine Rebels named All-SEC by the league coaches. .
“I’ve kept my trust in Jesus Christ,” Umanmielen said previously of his season. “I’ve never had injuries before. This year has been trying. I’ve had an ankle injury (and) shoulder injury. It’s been hard.
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“But I’ve kept my faith in God and now I’m OK. I started having a better routine because I could not figure out why I wasn’t playing better. It just wasn’t to my standard, so I just switched something up.”
Nolen is a finalist for the Outland Trophy, awarded each postseason to college football’s best interior lineman. He has 6.5 sacks, three QB hurries and two fumble recoveries. He’s fifth on the team in total tackles (48).
Nolen led all SEC defenders in conference play with 12.0 TFLs.
He tied for fifth at 6.0 sacks. PFF grades Nolen as the No. 5 run stopper nationally (91.7 season grade). He’s second among interior defensive linemen and leads all SEC linemen.
Umanmielen is second in the SEC in sacks and tied for eighth in the nation. He needs just 2.0 more to secure the Ole Miss single-season record.
Umanmielen has 34 total tackles, nine QB hurries, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He registered 8.5 of his 10.5 sacks in SEC play, as well as 10.0 of his 13.0 TFLs.
Umanmielen is as the top-graded EDGE in the SEC, according to PFF. He’s No. 4 overall in the FBS with a season grade of 90.5.
