Big-time football seems to suit Tracy just fine
Cole Tracy seems to be adapting well to big-time college football.
The LSU kicker, who transferred to the Tigers after three years at Division II Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., has played in eight games at LSU and has now been named the SEC special teams player of the week four times after picking up the latest for his four field goals against Mississippi State.
That set an SEC record for the number of times a player has won the award in a single season.
Meanwhile, safety Grant Delpit was named the SEC defensive player of the week.
Both also learned Monday they’ll be playing in prime time next week when CBS announced that it will televise the LSU-Alabama game on Nov. 3 in Tiger Stadium at 7 p.m.
It was the second straight week that Tracy has won the honor, as he was 5-5 on field goals last week in the 36-16 win over Georgia. He is the first kicker in LSU history to connect on nine field goals in a two-game span.
He also won the weekly honor after his LSU debut against Miami, when he tied the school record with a 54-yard field goal, and against Auburn when his field goal on the final play won the game 22-21.
He leads the nation with 21 field goals and has missed only twice this season — both from 53 yards out.
Delpit, who along with cornerback Greedy Williams was named a finalist Monday for the Thorpe Award for the nation’s top defensive back, led the LSU defense that held Mississippi State to one field goal last week.
He had 10 tackles, two interceptions and a key sack in the 19-3 win over the Bulldogs.
The Tigers have an open date this week before the showdown with No. 1-ranked Alabama next week.
It will mark the eighth straight season the game has been shown in primetime, dating back to the famed 2011 “Game of the Century.”
7 p.m., Nov. 3 TV CBS
FILE – In this Oct. 6, 2018, file photo, LSU place kicker Cole Tracy (36) kicks a field goal against Florida during the first half of an NCAA college football game, in Gainesville, Fla. LSU (6-1, 3-1 SEC) takes on Mississippi State (4-2, 1-2) on Saturday, Oct. 20. If the game is a close, defensive struggle, LSU likes its chances with kicker Cole Tracy, a transfer from Division II Assumption College. He is 17-for-19 on field goals this season and 5-for-5 last week. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)