The All-American teams are starting to disperse. We'll start with Sports Illustrated's, because I saw it first.
The marquee name on their three-deep is Western Michigan wide receiver Jordan White, who made second team. This is absolutely deserved. He led the FBS in catches and yards. Second in touchdowns. Hands like glue. Any awards list that doesn't include White in their first three teams is a fraudulent list and shall not be recognized as a valid list.
The honorable mentions:
NIU quarterback Chandler Harnish
Temple running back Bernard Pierce
Toledo wide receiver Eric Page (as both WR and PR)
Miami wide receiver Nick Harwell
OHIO offensive lineman Joe Flading
Buffalo linebacker Khalil Mack
Temple punter Brandon McManus
Thoughts on the honorable mentions: Drew Nowak was an interesting omission from the entire list, given that he was the MAC Defensive Player of the Year. Then again I thought Nowak was a bubble choice for the award in the first place, deferring instead to Mack for the honor, therefore maybe this isn't such an omission after all. But you'd think with 120 teams the writers would scan the conference-specific honors and adjust accordingly.
And now for my weekly rant about Brandon McManus being supplanted by BGSU's Brian Schmiedebusch. McManus did a great job as his first full year as the all-time punter for Temple. No question. And if you look at the straight numbers, McManus averaged a mere 20 inches punt more than Mr. S. But without question, Schmiedebusch did better this year. Look, I made a graph:
| Avg. Punt |
Punts/ Game |
Long | Percent Touchbacks |
Percent Fair caught |
Percent Inside 20 |
Percent Over 50 |
|
| McManus | 45.89 | 3.8 | 65 | 24.4% | 0.4% | 33.3% | 33.3% |
| Schmiedebusch | 45.32 | 4.8 | 81* | 14.0% | 19.3% | 31.6% | 33.3% |
* - That 81-yarder was not only the longest in FBS, it was also indoors.
So that's my argument. I'll drop the subject. For now.
Phil Steele also posted his four All-American teams. Highlights:
Jordan White (third team WR)
Drew Nowak, Western Michigan (third team DL)
Eric Page (third team "all-purpose", defined by Steele as "excelling in at least two different categories")
Bernard Pierce (fourth team RB)
Trevor Olson, Northern Illinois (fourth team OL)
And that's all I've found for now. (Don't bother looking at the ESPN or Walter Camp All-American teams. Buncha rubes.)