Ciante Evans

Honors & Awards

• First-Team All-Big Ten (Coaches, 2013)
• Second-Team All-Big Ten (Media, BTN, 2013)
• Nebraska Season Record for TFLs by a Defensive Back (11, 2013)
• Nebraska Season Record for Sacks by a Defensive Back (3.0, 2013)
• Nebraska Game Record for TFLs by a DB (5, 2013)
• Nebraska Team Captain (2013)
• Jim Thorpe Award Watch List (2013)
• First-Team All-Big Ten (CBS, ESPN, 2012)
• Third-Team All-Big Ten (Phil Steele, 2012)
• Honorable-Mention All-Big Ten (Coaches, 2012)
• Nebraska Student-Athlete HERO Leadership Award (2013)
• Brook Berringer Citzenship Team (2013)

Senior defensive back Ciante Evans was a key member of the Nebraska secondary each of the four years of his Nebraska career. He capped his highly productive career with an All-Big Ten season in 2013.

One of four team captains in 2013, Evans provided leadership for a young Husker defense that has made great strides throughout the season. The 5-11, 190-pound Evans started every game, and was one of the most versatile defenders Nebraska has had in Bo Pelini’s tenure as head coach. The Texas native has the ability to line up at cornerback, but spent much of his time in the nickel role for the Blackshirts, and his knowledge of the defensive scheme makes him a natural at that spot.

Evans’ outstanding play in 2013 was recognized, as he was a first-team All-Big Ten pick by the league’s coaches and a second-team selection by the media.

Evans’ versatility was evident by looking at his stat line. He is tied for the team lead with four interceptions, including two against Southern Miss, one of which he returned for a touchdown. He also has six pass break-ups to help Nebraska rank third in the Big Ten in opponent pass completion percentage.

Evans has 45 total tackles, with three games of at least five tackles, including a season-high eight tackles each against Michigan State and Northwestern. He also ranked among the Big Ten leaders with 11 tackles for loss, all in conference play, and he added three sacks for 28 yards. Evans had five tackles for loss against Northwestern, setting a Nebraska defensive back game record.

Both the 11 tackles for loss and three sacks established Nebraska season position records for defensive backs. Evans’ 15 career tackles for loss were just two shy of the defensive back position record of 17 by Mike Brown.

2013 (Senior)
Wyoming: Recorded his second career interception in the fourth quarter that ended a Wyoming drive in Nebraska territory... added three tackles to push his career total to 101. Southern Miss: Had a 22-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter and added an interception in the third quarter of the game to set up an NU touchdown... two interceptions gave Evans three picks this year and four in his career... interception return for a touchdown was the second of Evans’ career, as he also had an INT for a score against Idaho State in 2012... marked the first time a Nebraska player has had two interceptions in a game since Matt O’Hanlon had three interceptions against Oklahoma in 2009. UCLA: Produced five tackles after notching four total tackles through the first two games of the season... added a pass break-up, his third of the year. SDSU: Started against the Jackrabbits and finished with one solo tackle. Illinois: Played in his 40th career game and made his 25th career start... produced one sack for 11 yards, forced a fumble that was recovered, totaled two TFL’s for 14 yards, had one pass break-up and one QB hurry that led to Jason Ankrah’s third-quarter interception. Purdue: Produced one tackle in the 44-7 road win... helped limit the Boilermakers to 184 yards passing. Minnesota: Made four tackles, including three solo stops. Northwestern: Produced a season-high eight tackles... recorded five TFLs for 23 yards, setting a career high... five TFLs were the most for a Husker in 2013 and the most by a Nebraska player since defensive end Eric Martin had five TFLs for 16 yards in 2012 against Idaho State. Michigan: Was all over the field against the Wolverines... produced four tackles, three solo, including a pair of TFLs for three yards... also added his fifth pass break-up of the season. Michigan State: Made his 30th career start in his 45th career game at NU... tied four other Huskers for the team lead in tackles with eight... had an eight-yard sack in the second quarter, his 10th tackle for loss of the season... added a TFL later in the game to give him 11 TFLs on the season, the most ever by a Nebraska defensive back, surpassing the previous record of nine TFLs by cornerback Al Larson in 1969... all 11 TFLs came in Big Ten Conference play. Penn State: Intercepted a Christian Hackenberg pass in the third quarter for his fourth interception of the season and the fifth interception of his career... also finished the game with three tackles. Iowa: Made a pair of tackles in his final appearance at Memorial Stadium. Georgia: Evans capped his career with a tackle and a pass breakup in NU’s win... defense limited Georgia to one touchdown in six red zone trips.

2012 (Junior)
Evans started 12 of 14 games and finished the season with 56 tackles, including 38 solo stops. He had six games with five or more tackles and ranked second on the team with eight pass breakups, while adding one sack, two tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries. He made the most of his first career interception, returning a pick against Idaho State 29 yards for a touchdown.

Evans had a pair of pass breakups and had five solo tackles at UCLA. A week later, he made a then-career-high seven tackles against Arkansas State and added a pass breakup. In addition to his interception for a touchdown against Idaho State, Evans had two tackles and a pass breakup. 

Evans made three tackles each against Wisconsin and Ohio State and had a breakup against Northwestern. He had six tackles, including four solo stops, against Michigan and made his first career sack in the third quarter. He also added a two-yard tackle for loss against the Wolverines.

Against Penn State, Evans had a career-high 10 tackles and added a hurry. He made six solo tackles and registered his second career sack against Minnesota in a 38-14 win. Evans added five tackles in the regular-season finale at Iowa. He closed the year with three solo stops against Georgia. 

2011 (Sophomore)
Evans played in all 13 games with seven starts and finished with 33 overall tackles, including 17 solo stops. Evans had five or more tackles three times, and added three pass breakups and a tackle for loss.

Evans had a season-high six tackles against both Fresno State and Washington, and had a breakup against the Bulldogs. He had four tackles, including three solo stops, at No. 7 Wisconsin, then had single tackles against both Ohio State and Minnesota. He added a PBU against the Gophers. Evans made two tackles against Michigan State, then had five stops in a loss to Northwestern. He had one tackle each in the final three regular-season games, including a TFL against Iowa. He notched three solo tackles in the Capital One Bowl against South Carolina. 

2010 (Freshman)
Evans was the top backup to Dennard and Prince Amukamara, playing in eight games with a start at Iowa State. Evans, who came on after Dennard suffered an early injury against Missouri, had four tackles and pair of breakups in the key Big 12 North victory. On the year, Evans totaled nine tackles, including six solo stops.

Before Nebraska (Juan Seguin HS)
Evans was a standout defender for Coach Carlos Lynn at Juan Seguin High School in Arlington, Texas. As a senior, Evans made 46 tackles, while adding three interceptions and breaking up seven passes to help his team reach the state playoffs. For his efforts, Evans was a first-team all-district pick as a senior, while also being named to the Dallas Morning News' first-team all-area squad. He was also a second-team Class 4A all-state pick in 2009.

Evans also enjoyed a standout junior season when he made 28 tackles and had four interceptions to earn first-team all-district honors. Evans was ranked among the top 50 cornerbacks in the nation by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. The Dallas Morning News listed him as the No. 35 overall prospect in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and among the top 70 players in the state of Texas, while SuperPrep and Rivals.com both ranked him among the state's top 100 overall prospects.

Evans was also a standout for the Cougars' basketball team as he helped the squad to the regional semifinals in Class 5A as a senior after averaging double figures as a junior.

Evans only visited Nebraska, but had numerous offers including Oklahoma State, Kansas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and TCU.

Personal
Ciante is the son of Cedric and Tonia Evans and was born on Oct. 14, 1992. Evans is a business administration major. Evans has volunteered his time with Husker Heroes and team hospital visits.

Evans' Career Statistics

	.	Tackles			.	.	Fum.	.	.	.	QB
Year	G/S	UT	AT	TT	TFL	Sacks	C-R	BK	PBU	INT	Hry.
2010	8/1	6	3	9	0-0	0.0-0	0-0	0	2	0	0
2011	13/7	17	16	33	1-3	0.0-0	0-0	0	3	0	0
2012	14/12	38	18	56	3-20	2.0-18	0-0	0	8	1	4
2013	13/13	31	14	45	11-49	3.0-28	1-0	0	6	4	1
Totals	48/33	92	51	143	15-72	5.0-46	1-0	0	19	5	5

 

Single-Game Highs
» Tackles - 10 vs. Penn State (2012)
» Solo Tackles - 6 vs. Minnesota (2012), vs. Michigan State (2013)
» Tackles for Loss - 5 vs. Northwestern (2013)
» Sacks - 1 vs. Michigan (2012), at Minnesota (2012), vs. Illinois (2013), vs. Northwestern (2013), vs. Michigan State (2013)
» Pass Breakups - 2 vs. Missouri (2009), at UCLA (2012)
» Interceptions - 2 vs. Southern Miss (2013)