Freeman Named Finalist for Rimington Award

Dec. 5, 2011

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson center Dalton Freeman has been named one of six finalists for the Dave Rimington Award. The honor goes to the top center in college football. Freeman, a junior, is the first Clemson center to be named a finalist since 2001 when Kyle Young was named. Young was also a finalist in 2000.

The six finalists are Freeman, Grant Garner of Oklahoma State, Ben Jones of Georgia, Peter Konz of Wisconsin, David Molk of Michigan and William Vlachos of Alabama. Konz and Freeman are the only juniors and the rest are seniors.

Freeman was named first-team All-ACC center for this season, the first Clemson center named first-team All-ACC since Young was named in 2000. Freeman has started all 13 games this year and 35 of 39 games played over his three-year career. He has played 977 snaps this year, more than any player on the Clemson team.

A starter on two Clemson Atlantic Division championship teams, Freeman is a big reason Clemson ranks in the top 30 in the nation in passing offense, total offense and scoring offense. With one game left, Clemson has already established a school record for total offense (5728), passing yards (3702), and total points (437), and has the second most touchdowns in school history with 54.

Clemson won its first ACC title since 1991 with a 38-10 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday night.

Freeman is the third Clemson player named as a finalist for a position award. Tight end Dwayne Allen is a finalist for the John Mackey Award and defensive end Andre Branch is a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award. Earlier on Monday, Head Coach Dabo Swinney was named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.