A pair of freshmen defensive backs have been named mid-season freshman All-American by The Athletic.
Gophers redshirt freshmen safety Kerry Brown and true freshmen safety Koi Perich were both named to the Freshmen All-American team by the outlet this week.
Brown this season is third on the Gophers with 32 tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss. The Naples, Florida native also has two interceptions and one pass deflection this season.
"Kerry Brown is an electric player. He's not the biggest guy. You walk by him and you probably walk right by him not thinking he's a Big 10 football player. But he practices so hard," Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck said earlier this season. "He's an unbelievable person, I told all of you this team is so fun to coach."
Perich, a true freshmen after Esko, Minnesota has emerged as not just one of the best true freshmen in the country but potentially one of the best safeties in the country overall. The former top-100 prospects only has 10 tackles this season but also has four interceptions and one forced fumble.
"You know, from the start as a true freshman coming in June, I think no matter what we saw, what he did in training camp and even in the summer, and you're like, alright, we got to find ways to be able to get him on the field," Fleck said about Perich in September.
"He's a sponge. He loves to learn. He loves the game. So it's not like, oh well, yeah, he's a freshman. I can only spoon feed him. I mean, we can. We can give it to him with the shovels, if he can handle it. And as of right now, he can handle it by the shovels, and we're going to continue to do that and get to the bulldozer part," he added.
"He just absorbs it all. And I'm proud of him for that, because that's really difficult to do, and he's really humble, and I give him credit for that too. He knows how much he's got to learn and how far he needs to go, but, you know, he made some plays for us, hopefully continues to do that as the season goes on."
With the help of Brown and Perich, the Gophers defense has kept opposing offenses to just 139.6 passing yards per game this season, which ranks top five in the country.
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