He was joined in the backfield by Missouri's Cody Schrader, a sixth-year running back and former Division II player who leads the nation at 124.9 rushing yards per game.
The other sixth-year player of the AP first team was North Carolina State linebacker Payton Wilson, who won the Chuck Bednarik Award as national defensive player of the year.
Kansas State guard Cooper Beebe, edge rushers Laiatu Latu from UCLA and Jalen Green from James Madison, and Texas defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat were the other fifth-year players to make the first team.
College players who were in school during the 2020 pandemic season were granted an extra year of eligibility and they are still making their presence felt around the country.
Eleven more fifth-year players made the second and third teams and there were eight sixth-year players selected to those teams, including Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., the Heisman runner up. Penix and the second-ranked Huskies face No. 3 Texas in the College Football Playoff's Sugar Bowl semifinal on Jan. 1.
Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt and Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. were selected first-team All-Americans for the second straight year. Beebe and Georgia tight end Brock Bowers moved up from second team last season to first this year.
Miami’s Graham Nicholson, the Lou Groza award winner as the nation’s top kicker, was selected to the first team.
No. 5 Alabama led all teams with three first-team All-Americans, all on the defensive side: cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold and linebacker Dallas Turner.
The Crimson Tide, seeded fourth in the College Football Playoff, faces No. 1 Michigan in the Rose Bowl semifinal on Jan. 1.
First-team All-Americans (by conference)
SEC — 9.
Big Ten — 6.
Pac-12 — 4.
Big 12 — 3.
ACC — 1.
MAC — 1.
Sun Belt — 1.
Independent — 2.
The AP All-America team was selected by a panel of 18 college Top 25 poll voters.
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
Quarterback — Jayden Daniels, fifth-year, LSU.
Running backs — Ollie Gordon II, second-year, Oklahoma State; Cody Schrader, sixth-year, Missouri.
Tackles — Joe Alt, third-year, Notre Dame; Olu Fashanu, fourth-year, Penn State.
Guards — Cooper Beebe, fifth-year, Kansas State; Zak Zinter, fourth-year, Michigan.
Center — Jackson Powers-Johnson, third-year, Oregon.
Tight end — Brock Bowers, third-year, Georgia.
Wide receivers — Malik Nabers, third-year, LSU; Marvin Harrison Jr., third-year, Ohio State; Rome Odunze, fourth-year, Washington.
All-purpose player — Travis Hunter, second-year, Colorado.
Kicker — Graham Nicholson, third-year, Miami (Ohio).
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
Edge rushers — Laiatu Latu, fifth-year, UCLA; Jalen Green, fifth-year, James Madison.
Interior linemen — T'Vondre Sweat, fifth-year, Texas; Jer'Zahn Newton, fourth-year, Illinois.
Linebackers — Payton Wilson, sixth-year, North Carolina State; Edgerrin Cooper, fourth-year, Texas A&M; Dallas Turner, third-year, Alabama.
Cornerbacks — Cooper DeJean, third-year, Iowa; Kool-Aid McKinstry, third-year, Alabama.
Safeties — Malaki Starks, second-year, Georgia; Xavier Watts, fourth-year, Notre Dame.
Defensive back — Terrion Arnold, third-year, Alabama.
Punter — Tory Taylor, fourth-year, Iowa.