Kentucky senior linebacker Josh Allen, junior running back Benny Snell Jr., senior offensive guard Bunchy Stallings and senior safety Darius West have earned midseason All-America honors from various media outlets this week.
Allen, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound linebacker from Montclair, New Jersey, has earned first-team honors from the Associated Press, ESPN.com, Pro Football Focusand The Athletic. In six games, he had totaled 37 tackles for the Wildcats and currently leads the Southeastern Conference and ranks 10th nationally in tackles for losses with 10.5. He also is among the nation’s leaders in sacks with six. His 20.5 career sacks ranks third on the UK’s career list.
Allen has been named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week three times, the most recent after recording eight tackles, four tackles for loss (-19), including a career-best three quarterback sacks (-17), one fumble caused and one quarterback hurry in the win over South Carolina.
Snell, a 5-11, 223-pound running back of Westerville, Ohio, earned second-team honors from the AP and The Athletic after rushing for 699 yards and scoring eight rushing touchdowns in the first half of the season. Snell leads the SEC and ranks ninth nationally in rushing yards per game (116.5) and is tied for second in the league and seventh nationally in rushing TDs (eight). He also ranks in the SEC’s top three in all-purpose yards per game (124.3), total rushing yards (699), and rushing TDs per game (1.3).
With 3,123 career rushing yards, Snell is just the third player in school history with 3,000 or more rushing yards, joining Sonny Collins and Moe Williams. He scored a school-record 40 career touchdowns in just 31 games, becoming the second-fastest player in SEC history to accomplish that feat.
Stallings, a 6-3, 305-pound guard from McComb, Mississippi, has helped the Wildcats rush for 223.5 yards per game, which ranks third in the SEC and 26th nationally. He has been named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week after wins over No. 25 Florida and No. 14 Mississippi State and was named a second-team midseason All-American by ESPN and The Athletic.
Darius West, a native Lima, Ohio, was a second-team midseason All-America choice by The Athleticas the 6-2, 210-pound safety leads No. 14/17 Kentucky in tackles (47), interceptions (3) and pass breakups (five). His three interceptions, all against SEC opponents, ranks ninth nationally and ties for the league lead. West is coming off a magnificent game vs. Texas A&M, where he scored a touchdown on a 40-yard fumble return, grabbed an interception, and led the Wildcats with 10 tackles.
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Susan Lax
