Blanding Becomes 4th Hoo Headed to Senior Bowl

Dec. 11, 2017

Charlottesville, Va. – Virginia senior free safety Quin Blanding (Virginia Beach, Va.) has accepted an invitation to the 2018 Reese’s Senior Bowl. He becomes the fourth Cavalier who will compete in the college all-star game scheduled for Jan. 27 in Mobile, Ala., at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The game will be televised by the NFL Network.

Blanding joins teammates quarterback Kurt Benkert (Cape Coral, Fla.), defensive end Andrew Brown (Chesapeake, Va.) and linebacker Micah Kiser (Baltimore, Md.), who had previously been named to the team’s roster.

Blanding ranks No. 2 in the ACC and No. 15 in the nation with 121 tackles. His 121 tackles and 10.1 tackles per game leads the nation’s defensive backs. His four interceptions rank No. 3 in the ACC and No. 23 in the nation. Blanding is Virginia’s all-time career tackle leader with 479 stops, which ranks No. 10 all-time in ACC history and No. 1 among ACC defensive backs. Blanding finished the 2014, 2015 and 2016 seasons No. 2 in the ACC in tackles and is on pace to do so for a fourth time. He finished behind Kiser in 2015 and 2016.

Blanding was named a first-team All-ACC safety for the third year in a row and was a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award. Blanding is also the Touchdown Club of Richmond’s Defensive Back of the Year for the third year in a row. He has been named to six All-America teams by various media outlets and organizations this year.

The Senior Bowl is the nation’s most unique football game and football’s premier senior showcase event. It annually features the country’s best senior collegiate football players and top NFL draft prospects on teams representing the North and South that are coached by the entire coaching staffs of two National Football League teams. Only college seniors and fourth-year junior graduates are eligible for the game. Fourth-year junior graduates must have graduated by the December prior to the game to be eligible.