Tulsa Football Gets Seven Selections to All-Conference Team and Five Named to All-Freshman Team
Irving, Texas –– The University of Tulsa had five players named to the first- and second-team all-Conference USA teams as voted on by the league’s coaches, it was announced today by the Conference USA office. One of those Golden Hurricane players earned all-conference honors for three different positions.
Conference USA’s top-ranked scoring offense, rushing offense and total offense had just one player named to the all-league first team. The Hurricane offense has scored 39.7 points per game, totaled 503.5 yards and rushed for 219.3 yards. Tulsa also ranked third in passing offense, throwing for 284.2 yards per game.
Quarterback G.J. Kinne (Gilmer, Texas) was Tulsa’s lone selection to the first-team offense, while freshman safety Marco Nelson (Glenpool, Okla.) as the only Hurricane to earn first-team defensive accolades. Nelson was the only C-USA freshman to earn first-team honors. The nation’s leader in all-purpose yards, junior Damaris Johnson (Norco, La.), was selected as the league’s first-team punt return specialist.
Johnson also earned second-team honors at the receiver position and as a kickoff return specialist. Junior offensive guard Clint Anderson (Allen, Texas) and senior punter Michael Such (Allen, Texas) were also second-team selections.
Tulsa had 10 players earn honorable mention merits, while five freshmen were named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team. Tulsa tied Southern Miss and UCF for the most rookies named to the freshman all-conference team.
The first-team quarterback, G.J. Kinne, ranks first in C-USA for total offense (322 ypg) and second for pass efficiency (141.8) and passing yards per game (275.6 ypg) has completed 60-percent of his passes for 3,307 yards and 28 TDs, while rushing for a team-leading 557 yards and seven touchdowns.
The newcomer Marco Nelson totaled 81 tackles to rank second on the team this year, while his six interceptions tied for the team lead. He ranks second in C-USA and sixth in the NCAA for interceptions. Nelson was named the Walter Camp Foundation National and C-USA Defensive Player of the Week for his performance at Houston with seven tackles and three pick-offs.
Damaris Johnson returned 22 punts for 274 yards for a 12.5-yard average to rank 19th in the nation for punt return yardage. He leads both the C-USA and NCAA in all-purpose yards with a 191.8-yard average this season. Johnson earned second-team honors as a receiver while catching 53 passes for 771 yards and three touchdowns, and second-team merits as a kick returner. He
became the C-USA and NCAA career leader for kickoff returns this season and currently has 3,308 career kick return yards.
Two Allen, Texas products, senior punter Michael Such has averaged 42.9 yards per game on 42 punts to rank third among Conference USA punters, while offensive guard Clint Anderson has been one of the leaders on Tulsa’s offensive front that has guided the Hurricane offense that ranks fifth nationally in total offensive yards. He has graded over 80-percent in 10 games this season.
The C-USA Freshman Team recognized two players on offense and three players on defense for the Hurricane. The offensive selections include receiver Thomas Roberson (Tulsa, Okla.) and Stetson Burnett (Lawton, Okla.), while Tulsa’s all-freshman team defensive performers are linebackers Shawn Jackson (Tulsa, Okla.) and Cody Wilson (Broken Arrow, Okla.) and safety Marco Nelson (Glenpool, Okla.)
Roberson started 8 contests and had 28 catches for 304 yards, one TD and a 10.9 average per reception, while offensive-mate Burnett started nine games while helping the offensive front pave the way for the league’s top rushing, scoring and total offense unit.
On defense, Nelson is among the Conference USA leaders in three statistical categories. He is tied with teammate Dexter McCoil for most interceptions with six, while ranking eighth for passes defended with 10 and 20th for tackles with 81. Jackson has totaled 80 tackles and team-highs of 12.5 stops for -56 yards and 5.5 sacks for -37 yards, while Wilson had 20 tackles for the Hurricane.
Tulsa also had 10 players, including eight on defense and two on offense, who earned honorable mention all-Conference USA accolades. The offensive players are H-Back Charles Clay (Little Rock, Ark.) and tackle Tyler Holmes (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), while three defensive lineman and linebackers and two defensive backs were also received honorable mention merits. On the defensive front, sophomore Cory Dorris (Jenks, Okla.), junior Tyrunn Walker (New Iberia, La.) and senior Odrick Ray (Athens, Texas) earned honors, while Tulsa’s linebacker corps of senior Tanner Antle (Foyil, Okla.), junior Curnelius Arnick (Dallas, Texas) and freshman Shawn Jackson (Tulsa, Okla.) were also honorable mention selections. Junior cornerback John Flanders (Midwest City, Okla.) and sophomore safety Dexter McCoil (Lutcher, La.) rounded out Tulsa’s honorable mention selections.
2010 C-USA FOOTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
QB- G.J. Kinne, Sr., Tulsa
RB- Bryce Beall, Jr., Houston
RB- Zach Line, So., SMU
OL- Kelvin Beachum, Jr., SMU
OL- Matt McCants, Jr., UAB
OL- Jah Reid, Sr., UCF
OL- Willie Smith, Sr., East Carolina
OL- Chris Thompson, Jr., Houston
OL- Cameron Zipp, Sr., Southern Miss
TE- Johdrick Morris, Sr., Southern Miss
WR- Dwayne Harris, Sr., East Carolina
WR- Patrick Edwards, Jr., Houston
WR- Aldrick Robinson, Sr., SMU
DEFENSE
DL- Vinny Curry, Jr., Marshall
DL- Bruce Miller, Sr., UCF
DL- Cheta Ozougwu, Sr., Rice
DL- Taylor Thompson, Jr., SMU
LB- Ja’Gared Davis, So., SMU
LB- Mario Harvey, Sr., Marshall
LB- Jamon Hughes, Sr., Memphis
DB-Philip Davis, Sr., Tulane
DB-Kemal Ishmael, So., UCF
DB-Marco Nelson, Fr., Tulsa
DB-Josh Robinson, So., UCF
SPECIAL TEAMS
K- Danny Hrapmann, Jr., Southern Miss
P- Kyle Martens, Jr., Rice
KR-Quincy McDuffie, So., UCF
PR- Dwayne Harris, Sr., East Carolina
PR- Damaris Johnson, Jr., Tulsa
LS- Brandon Long, Sr., Rice
SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
QB- Austin Davis, Jr., Southern Miss
RB- Orleans Darkwa, Fr., Tulane
RB- Ronnie Weaver, Jr., UCF
OL- Clint Anderson, Jr., Tulsa
OL- Rod Huntley, Sr., UTEP
OL- Dominik Riley, Sr., Memphis
OL- Chad Schofield, Sr., Marshall
OL- Isaiah Thompson, Sr., Houston
TE- Lee Smith, Sr., Marshall
WR-Cole Beasley, Jr., SMU
WR-Lance Lewis, Jr., East Carolina
WR-Damaris Johnson, Jr., Tulsa
DEFENSE
DL- Anthony Gray, Sr., Southern Miss
DL- Elliott Henigan, Jr., UAB
DL- Cordarro Law, Jr., Southern Miss
DL- Darius Nall, Jr., UCF
LB- Trent Mackey, So., Tulane
LB- Marcus McGraw, Jr., Houston
LB- Youri Yenga, Sr., SMU
DB-Travis Bradshaw, Jr., Rice
DB-Emanuel Davis, Jr., East Carolina
DB-Chris Banjo, Jr., SMU
DB-Justin Wilson, Sr., Southern Miss
DB-Travaun Nixon, Jr., UTEP
SPECIAL TEAMS
K- Michael Barbour, Jr., East Carolina
P- Michael Such, Sr., Tulsa
KR- Damaris Johnson, Jr., Tulsa
PR- Patrick Edwards, Jr., Houston
LS- Charley Hughlett, Jr., UCF
2010 C-USA FOOTBALL ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
OFFENSE
QB – Jeff Godfrey, UCF
RB – Kendrick Hardy, Southern Miss
RB – Orleans Darkwa, Tulane
OL – Grant Harner, ECU
OL – Ricky Hart, Memphis
OL – Stetson Burnett, Tulsa
OL – Justin McCray, UCF
OL – Jordan McCray, UCF
TE – Zeke Walters, Southern Miss
WR – Thomas Roberson, Tulsa
WR – Jackie Williams, UAB
DEFENSE
DL – Marques Aiken, Marshall
DL – Khyri Thornton, Southern Miss
DL – Victor Gray, UCF
DL – Germard Reed, UTEP
LB – Efrem Oliphant, Houston
LB – Shawn Jackson, Tulsa
LB – Cody Wilson, Tulsa
DB – Mohammed Seisay, Memphis
DB – Alex Walters, Southern Miss
DB – Deron Wilson, Southern Miss
DB – Marco Nelson, Tulsa
DB – Jordan Ozerities, UCF
SPECIAL TEAMS
K – Chris Boswell, Rice
K – Cairo Santos, Tulane
P – Tom Hornsey, Memphis
KR – Darryl Fields, SMU
TULSA’S HONORABLE MENTION SELECTIONS
OFFENSE
RB/TE- Charles Clay, Sr., Tulsa
OL- Tyler Holmes, Jr., Tulsa
DEFENSE
DL- Cory Dorris, So., Tulsa
DL- Odrick Ray, Sr., Tulsa
DL- Tyrunn Walker, Jr., Tulsa
LB- Tanner Antle, Sr., Tulsa
LB- Curnelius Arnick, Jr., Tulsa
LB- Shawn Jackson, Fr., Tulsa
DB- John Flanders, Jr., Tulsa
DB- Dexter McCoil, So., Tulsa
Updated 12-07-2010
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