COLUMBIA, Mo. – A trio of Mizzou Football standouts were named Freshman All-Americans by Sporting News on Wednesday (Dec. 16). DT Terry Beckner, Jr. (East St. Louis, Ill.), DE Walter Brady (Florence, Ala.) and P Corey Fatony (Franklin, Tenn.) were the three Mizzou players selected to the Freshman All-America Team. Mizzou’s three Freshman All-Americans are tied for the most among any team in the nation with Alabama.
Beckner was one of the nation’s most dominant freshmen as a DT before being sidelined by injury on the first play vs. BYU on Nov. 14. In what turned out to be just nine games worth of work, Beckner tallied 27 total tackles (13 solo) while tallying eight tackles-for-loss and three sacks. His eight TFLs were the most among Mizzou interior linemen and he was playing his best football before getting hurt vs. BYU. In the previous four games prior to BYU, Beckner tallied five of his eight TFLs, 18 (10 solo) of his 27 tackles and all three of his sacks. He was one of eight true freshmen to see the field for Mizzou in 2015.
As good as Beckner was along the defensive line, Brady may have been the most productive freshman defensive lineman in the nation in 2015. He tied for the team lead in sacks (seven) and was second on the team with 12.5 tackles for loss with an interception, two pass break-ups, seven quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery. His seven sacks led all freshmen nationally and he ranked eighth in the SEC in that category. His 12.5 TFLs ranked 14th in the SEC and no freshman in the SEC had more sacks or TFLs than Brady. He was a Hendricks Award Watch List honoree midway through 2015.
Fatony, who earned the team’s Special Forces Player of the Year, was tremendous as the team’s starting punter. Fatony set the Mizzou single season record with 81 punts, passing a record that had stood at Mizzou since 1995. He was named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List and was the Ray Guy National Player of the Week following Mizzou’s game against Florida (Oct. 10) in which he punted nine time while averaging 47.8 yards per punt with a career-long of 61 yards, pinning the Gators inside the 20 four times with three kicks over 50 yards. He finished the season ranked first among freshmen nationally in net punting, averaging 42.9 yards per punt.
— Mizzou Athletics —