Gerod Holliman tied an NCAA record with 14 interceptions this season and was rewarded with the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back.
In 1968, Al Worley of Washington made 14 interceptions to set an NCAA Division I record.
Now, 46 years later, Worley has company on the top line of the FBS record book after safety Gerod Holliman of Louisville led the nation with 14 picks this season.
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Holliman, a sophomore from Miami, was named Thursday night as the winner of the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back at the College Football Awards show.
Holliman did not have an interception in 11 games as a redshirt freshman in 2013, so he sort of came out of nowhere this season.
He had three picks in a win at Boston College on Nov. 8 and had three two-interception games as well for the Cardinals.
Louisville will play Georgia in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 30.
The other finalists were Alabama safety Landon Collins and Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu.
The Jim Thorpe Award is presented annually to the nation’s top defensive back, voted on by the Jim Thorpe Association. Thorpe was an Olympic champion, college and pro football star and major-league baseball player voted the top athlete of the first half of the 20th century.
Darqueze Dennard of Michigan State was last year’s winner.
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