After establishing a new career-high with three sacks against Florida Atlantic, UF’s Zachary Carter was named the SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week, the league office announced on Tuesday.
Georgia’s Jordan Davis also received the honor.
“I’ve got to give credit to my back end,” Carter said after the Florida Atlantic game. “They did a great job covering tonight, helping me get back there. Especially my guys inside for giving me that push. It was just one of those games. I was feeling it tonight, and I’m excited for this year. I’m planning on having a big year. I’m excited.”
Carter’s three sacks totaled 25 yards in losses, and one of them resulted in the Gators’ first takeaway of the season. It was the first time that a Gator recorded three sacks in a game since Jonathan Greenard did so against Florida State in 2019.
Carter tied for the second-most sacks and the second-most tackles-for-loss (three) in the country in week one.
“The other things that show up is his ability to set the edge of the defense, his ability to be stout in the run game, then, obviously, when he’s one-on-one, that’s a mismatch in our favor, and that’s really what you try to create every week, is guys like him getting those one-on-ones,” defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said.
“Not only did he make plays and production, but he was a good teammate to other guys with his energy, his leadership, coaching guys. He didn’t really play probably midway through the third quarter on — there was really no reason to play him — but he was in the game working the game and helping some of the guys we’re going to need from a depth standpoint get the coaching they needed.”
The redshirt senior from Tampa now has 12.5 career sacks and 20.5 tackles-for-loss.
Carter was named to the Preseason All-SEC First Team by both the media and the league’s coaches. He was also named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week in 2020 after making a then-career-best 1.5 sacks against South Carolina.
Here’s the complete list of SEC weekly award recipients:
Offensive Player of the Week
Bryce Young, QB, Alabama
Defensive Player of the Week
Christopher Smith, S, Georgia
Special Teams Player of the Week
Will Reichard, PK, Alabama
Defensive Linemen of the Week
Jordan Davis, NG, Georgia
Zachary Carter, DL, Florida
Offensive Linemen of the Week
Kenyon Green, OL, Texas A&M
Luke Fortner, C, Kentucky
Freshmen of the Week
Debo Williams, LB, South Carolina
Caden Costa, PK, Ole Miss