BATON ROUGE — LSU defensive tackle Chad Lavalais add yet another honor to his already impressive list on Wednesday as the senior has been named the Defensive Player of the Year in the Southeastern Conference, the league office announced.
Lavalais is joined by Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning and Rebel placekicker Jonathan Nichols as individual honors winners for the league, which were voted on by the head coaches in the SEC.
Manning, who was was earlier named SEC Player of the Year by the league’s coaches, was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year. The senior from New Orleans, La., completed 253 of 410 passes for 3,341 yards with 27 TDs and nine interceptions. The AP second-team All-American led the SEC in passing yards and total offensive yards and was third in passing efficiency with a 147.5 rating. Manning helped direct the Rebels to a 9-3 record and a berth in the SBC Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2 against Oklahoma State.
Lavalais, a senior from Marksville, La., is a consensus first-team All-America selection in 2003. He was also named the National Defensive Player of the Year by The Sporting News as well as being a finalist for the Nagurski Award and the Outland Trophy. He was in on 57 total tackles, including 30 solos, with 16 for losses (-85) with seven sacks (-52).
He also had an interception and six pass deflections. Lavalais anchored a Tiger defense that leads the nation in scoring defense and second in the nation in total defense. The SEC Champion Tigers will play Oklahoma in the Nokia Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4 in New Orleans for the National Championship.
Nichols, a recipient of the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best placekicker, earned SEC Special Teams Player of the Year honors. The junior from Greenwood, Miss. leads the SEC in scoring with 117 points, having connected on all 45 PAT attempts and hitting on 24-of-28 field goals this season. He is second in the SEC in field goal percentage (85.7 percent). A third-team All-America selection by the Associated Press this season, Nichols was five-of-eight in field goals longer than 40 yards.
This marks the first year that the SEC has voted on Offense, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Year and adds to the selections last week of Manning as SEC Player of the Year, Ole Miss’ David Cutcliffe as SEC Coach of the Year, Florida’s Chris Leak as SEC Freshman of the Year, Auburn’s Dontarrious Thomas as SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Shawn Andrews of Arkansas as the winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, as the SEC’s best blocker.