Josiah Scott Named Freshman All-American by ESPN.com
12/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. â€" Michigan State cornerback Josiah Scott has been named a first-team Freshman All-American by ESPN.com.
Scott became just the third true freshman position player under Mark Dantonio to start in his collegiate debut, and never looked back, starting in 11 games overall at cornerback during the regular season, the most ever by a freshman position player in the Dantonio era.
The Fairfield, Ohio, native finished the regular season with a team-best nine pass break-ups â€" most among Big Ten freshmen and tied for ninth overall in the conference â€" along with two interceptions, 30 tackles, a forced fumble and one tackle for loss. He was previously selected to the BTN All-Freshman Team and also earned third-team All-Big Ten honors from the media.
Scott was named to the Pro Football Focus National and Big Ten Team of the Week for his performance in the win at No. 7 Michigan, as he recorded three tackles and helped limit the Wolverines to under 200 passing yards. He tied his season high with six stops and had one pass break-up against No. 7 Penn State, and also had six tackles and a season-high three pass break-ups at Northwestern.
In the regular-season finale at Rutgers, Scott recorded his second interception of the season and one pass break-up. He picked off his first career pass in the second game of the year against Western Michigan, and had two pass break-ups in his collegiate debut against Bowling Green. He also forced a fumble in the second half to help preserve MSU's 17-10 win over Iowa in the Big Ten opener.
Scott is the first Spartan cornerback to earn Freshman All-America accolades in the Dantonio era at Michigan State.
Scott and the 16th-ranked Spartans (9-3, 7-2 Big Ten) will face the nation's No. 2 passing offense in the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl on Dec. 28 against No. 18 Washington State (9-3, 6-3 Pac-12).
