July 10, 2017
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech sophomore B-back Dedrick Mills is one of 85 student-athletes on the initial watch list for the 2017 Maxwell Award, the Philadelphia-based Maxwell Football Club announced on Monday.
The Maxwell Award has been given to America’s College Player of the Year since 1937.
Mills led Georgia Tech with 771 rushing yards and 13 total touchdowns (12 rushing, one receiving) in just nine games as a true freshman last season. Despite playing at least four fewer games than his nearest competitors, his 12 rushing touchdowns were tied for third nationally among all freshmen. If he had played in enough games to meet the minimum for inclusion in NCAA per-game stats, he would’ve ranked second among all freshmen nationally in scoring (8.7 ppg) and fourth among freshmen in rushing (85.7 ypg).
He opened his collegiate career by scoring the game-winning touchdown with 35 seconds to go in the Yellow Jackets’ 17-14 victory over Boston College and closed his freshman campaign by being named TaxSlayer Bowl MVP after rushing for 169 yards and a touchdown in Tech’s 33-18 postseason triumph over Kentucky. He was named ACC Rookie of the Week twice (Sept. 17 vs. Vanderbilt, Oct. 1 vs. Miami), becoming the first Jacket to earn the award multiple times since Calvin Johnson in 2004.
Of the 85 student-athletes on the official Maxwell Award watch list, Mills is one of only 16 sophomores.
Semifinalists for the 81st-annual Maxwell Award will be named on Oct. 30 and three finalists will be unveiled on Nov. 20. The winner of the 2017 Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 7. The formal presentation of the award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala on March 9, 2018 in Atlantic City, N.J.
Mills and the Yellow Jackets open the 2017 campaign on Monday, Sept. 4 versus Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at brand-new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta. Season tickets, which include a seat for the highly anticipated opener against Tennessee at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and Flex Packs, which allow fans to purchase tickets for any three, four, five or six games at Bobby Dodd Stadium – including the Nov. 25 showdown versus archrival Georgia – are on sale now.
Click HERE for more information and to purchase 2017 Georgia Tech football tickets online.
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