Tulsa’s Tyler Smith Named FWAA Freshman All-American
1/18/2021 9:29:00 AM | Football
TULSA, Okla. –– University of Tulsa red-shirt freshman offensive lineman Tyler Smith was named to the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-America Team, it was announced today.
Smith, a 6'5", 322-pounder from Fort Worth, Texas, started all nine of Tulsa's games at left tackle in 2020. Smith red-shirted in 2019, but saw action in four games, including starting assignments in Tulsa's wins against UCF and East Carolina.
Smith helped lead Tulsa to a 6-3 overall record, a bowl appearance for the first time since 2016 and an offensive average of 414.1 yards per game.
A first-team American Athletic Conference selection, Smith played every offensive snap in seven games for the Hurricane this season. He had a high grade of 94-percent on 72 snaps in the AAC Championship Game against the No. 6-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats. Smith also played every snap in games against #11 Oklahoma State, #11 UCF and No. 19-ranked SMU.
This year's FWAA Freshman All-America team is the 20th team since its inception. Smith is the sixth Tulsa player to be named to the FWAA Freshman Team, and just the second offensive player.
The last player named to the FWAA all-rookie team was linebacker Zaven Collins in 2018. Other past Tulsa recipients are linebacker Nick Bunting (2003), athlete/receiver Damaris Johnson (2008), safety Marco Nelson (2010) and linebacker Craig Suits (2014).
