GAINESVILLE, FL (352today.com) – The Gators completely dominated their competition on Saturday securing a win over Tennessee, and now they are reaping the benefits of their hard work.
On Tuesday, the Gators football program announced that freshman defensive back Jordan Castell received the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Week Award. This comes after his dominating performance against Tennessee. During Saturday’s game, Castell led the defense with ten tackles overall, four solo tackles, and one pass break up against the Vols.
The Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Week Award stems from the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award. The award is named in honor of former University of Alabama running back Shaun Alexander. According to Gators football, Castell is the first freshman for the Gators this year to receive this honor.
And, it doesn’t stop there. On Monday, the Gators football program announced that Castell was also named SEC Freshman of the Week.
In addition to that, his teammate, Cam Jackson, a defensive lineman for the Gators was named Defensive Lineman of the Week.
Jackson, a University of Memphis transfer, was also a top contributor for the Gators defense Saturday. He accumulated six total tackles with five of those being solo tackles and also recorded one pass break up. According to Florida’s football program, he is the first defensive lineman to receive this SEC weekly honor since Week 1 of the Gators 2022 season.
Both are the most recent Gators to receive SEC honors within the same week since November 14, 2022, when O’Cyrus Torrence and Trevor Etienne were honored, according to Florida.