Nicholas Petit-Frere has been named one of six semifinalists for this year’s Outland Trophy.
The Ohio State left tackle is joined on the list of semifinalists by four other offensive linemen – Alabama left tackle Evan Neal, N.C. State left tackle Ikem Ekwonu, Kentucky right tackle Darian Kinnard and Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum – as well as Georgia nose tackle Jordan Davis. While the Outland Trophy is awarded to college football’s best interior lineman, players at all offensive line positions are eligible. Finalists for the award will be announced Tuesday.
In his second season as a full-time starter for the Buckeyes and his first as Ohio State’s left tackle, Petit-Frere has been a stalwart up front for the Buckeyes’ top-ranked offense. According to Pro Football Focus, Petit-Frere has allowed just one sack on 360 pass-blocking snaps, while he‘s also graded out substantially better as a run blocker than he did in 2020.
Ohio State has four previous winners of the Outland Trophy: Jim Parker (1956), Jim Stillwagon (1970), John Hicks (1973) and Orlando Pace (1996).
Petit-Frere joins a list of national award semifinalists for the Buckeyes that also includes C.J. Stroud (Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award and Walter Camp Award), TreVeyon Henderson (Doak Walker Award and Walter Camp Award), Chris Olave (Biletnikoff Award), Noah Ruggles (Lou Groza Award) and Bradley Robinson (Patrick Mannelly Award).
