Georgia announces team awards from senior gala

Maurice Smith came to Georgia in search of playing time.

His one and only season at Georgia ended as a permanent captain of the 2016 team. Smith joined Nick Chubb, Sony Michel and Brandon Kublanow as the final team captains for this past season's squad, which were announced at the senior gala on Sunday.

Smith spent his first three seasons at Alabama but decided to transfer since he hadn't seen the field a whole lot on the defensive side of the ball.

The transfer process got messy but ended up working out for Smith. It marks the second season in a row a one-year transfer student-athlete was named a permanent captain as Jake Ganus earned that honor in 2015.

Smith finished the regular season with 44 tackles and two interceptions. The highlight of his year came against Auburn, when he scored Georgia's only touchdown on a returned interception in a 13-7 victory.

Michel shared offensive MVP honors with Chubb, which gives him that award for the second consecutive season.

Here are the awards from this year's senior gala:

Team Captains

Maurice Smith, Brandon Kublanow, Nick Chubb, Sony Michel

Vince Dooley Offensive MVP

Nick Chubb, Sony Michel

Vince Dooley Defensive MVP

Maurice Smith, Roquan Smith

Vince Dooley Special Teams MVP

Isaiah McKenzie

Charley Trippi Award (most versatile player)

Lorenzo Carter

Frank Sinkwich Award (most toughness)

Greg Pyke, Dominick Sanders

David Jacobs Award (overcoming adversity)

Devon Gales

Leon Farmer Strength and Conditioning Award

Nick Chubb

Up Front Award – Offense

Brandon Kublanow, Isaiah Wynn

Up Front Award – Defense

John Atkins, Trenton Thompson

Newcomer of the Year Award

Jacob Eason, Isaac Nauta, David Marshall, Tyrique McGhee, Julian Rochester, D’Andre Walker

Most Improved Player Award

Lamont Gaillard, Javon Wims, Davin Bellamy, Natrez Patrick, Aaron Davis, Rodrigo Blankenship

Community Service Award

Jeb Blazevich

Senior Scholar Award

Billy Seward

This story was originally published December 6, 2016 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Georgia announces team awards from senior gala."