COLUMBIA, Mo. – Four Mizzou Football standouts earned Freshman All-SEC honors, as voted on by the league’s 14 coaches, announced Thursday by the SEC office. Earning a spot on the team were C Trystan Castillo (Webb City, Mo.), TE Albert Okwuegbunam (Springfield, Ill.), AP/KR Larry Rountree III (Raleigh, N.C.) and DE Tre Williams (Columbia, Mo.).

Castillo made an immediate impact in his freshman season, starting all 12 games at center, the first Mizzou freshman to accomplish that since current Arizona Cardinal Evan Boehm in 2012. He was part of a Mizzou offensive line group that leads the nation in tackles for loss allowed (2.83 per game), a mark that is on pace to be the best ever in college football since the NCAA began archiving the state; Mizzou set the mark a year ago (2.90). Castillo’s O-Line also allows just 1.00 sack per game, the SEC’s top mark and the nation’s seventh-best. He also consistently graded as one of Mizzou’s top pass protectors and run blockers, helping the Tigers average 511.5 yards of total offense per game, the seventh-best mark nationally.

Okwuegbunam, who was on both the coaches and Associated Press All-SEC Second Team, led all tight ends and all freshmen nationally in touchdown grabs (11) and finished the season as the top graded TE in the SEC, according to Pro Football Focus. His 11 TDs ranked ninth nationally among all players and led the SEC while resetting Mizzou’s freshman record, which was nine originally held by Jeremy Maclin. A native of Springfield, Ill, he had five games with multiple receiving touchdowns as he emerged as one of the nation’s top red zone threats midway through the season – he had 20 of his 25 catches and 10 of his 11 touchdowns over the final eight games of the season.

Rountree was named Freshman All-SEC at all-purpose and kick returner. He led Mizzou in all-purpose yards with 1,106, averaging 92.2 per game and 8.2 yards per play. He ran for the third-most rushing yards by a freshman in Mizzou history, accumulating 629 yards on 112 carries, averaging 5.62 yards per attempt, while scoring six times. He also had 21 kickoff returns for 457 yards, averaging 21.76 per return.

Williams emerged as a key part of Mizzou’s third down defense package and posted 16 tackles in his first year as a contributor along the defensive line. He tallied 4.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks, including a career-high 2.0 vs. Tennessee.

— Mizzou Athletics —