|
Pac-10 Sending 14 To Under
Armour Senior Bowl
West Coast conference
will send talented group of draft prospects that includes eight players
from USC’s Pac-10 Champions, first-team All-Americans, the league’s
defensive player of the year and many of its premier offensive stars.
 MOBILE, Ala. (January
13, 2008) --
The Under Armour Senior Bowl is a national event, with a roster that
annually represents the best senior NFL draft prospects from schools
throughout the country.
With 22 players coming from SEC schools,
12 from the Big 12, 18 from the ACC and 11 from the Big Ten, bowl
officials on Sunday confirmed that nationwide representation with the
announcement that 14 players from the Pac-10 will bring their talents to
Mobile for the January 26 contest.
Heading the group are eight players from
USC’s Pac-10 and Rose Bowl champs, a total that marks the highest number
of players from one school in the Senior Bowl since nine Auburn Tigers
played in the 1988 game.
|
USC quarterback
John David Booty
|
USC All-American defensive lineman
Sedrick Ellis
|
USC stars in this year’s Senior Bowl
include a pair of defensive linemen – All-American tackle Sedrick Ellis,
the Pac-10’s Defensive Player of the Year, and All-Pac-10 defensive end
Lawrence Jackson, who led the Trojans with 17 tackles for loss and 8.5
sacks.
A pair of offensive linemen are also in
the group, as tackle Sam Baker, the third player in USC history to be
named first-team All-American three straight years, will be joined in
Mobile by Drew Radovich, a starter at both guard and tackle for the
Trojans during his career.
USC tight end Fred Davis, the 2007 Mackey
Award winner, set a school record with 62 catches for 881 yards and
caught seven for 87 and a touchdown in the Rose Bowl.
|
USC tight end
Fred Davis
|
USC offensive lineman
Drew Radovich |
Linebacker Keith Rivers, a first-team
All-American and All-Pac-10 pick who led the Trojans with 44 solo
tackles; running back Chauncey Washington, who led the Trojans in
rushing each of the past two seasons with 969 yards in 2007, and
quarterback John David Booty, who passed for 2,361 yards and 23 TD’s
this season despite missing three games with a broken finger, round out
the group.
Booty closed out his career in fine
fashion with an MVP performance in the Rose Bowl, throwing for 255 yards
and three TD’s against Illinois and set a Rose Bowl record for career TD
passes with seven. He also finished fifth all-time at USC with 6,125
career passing yards, and his 55 career TD passes ranks fourth.
The USC contingent will also be very
familiar with their Senior Bowl head coach, as Oakland Raiders head
coach Lane Kiffin and his Raiders staff will coach their North team
during Senior Bowl Week. Kiffin was an assistant coach with USC from
2001-2006 before being named the youngest head coach in NFL history, at
age 31, with the Raiders in January of 2007.
|
California All-Pac10 running back
Justin Forsett |
California defensive back
Thomas DeCoud
|
Other Pac-10 stars in the 2008 game
include a trio of California Bears. Running back Justin Forsett, a
first-team All-Pac-10 choice who finished second in the conference in
rushing with 1,546 rushing yards, led the league with 15 TD’s.
Defensive back Thomas DeCoud was the
team’s Defensive MVP who led the team with 116 total tackles, and wide
receiver Lavelle Hawkins led the team with 72 catches for 872 yards.
Arizona State’s offensive lineman Mike
Pollak was a first-team All-Pac-10 pick who won the team’s prestigious
Pat Tillman Valor Award, while a pair of first-team All-Americans will
represent Oregon State.
|
Oregon State offensive lineman
Roy Schuening
|
Arizona State All-Pac 10 offensive lineman
Mike Pollak |
Guard Roy Schuening was a first-team
ESPN.com and Pro Football Weekly All-American this season who started a
school record 49 straight games for the Beavers, while kicker Alexis
Serna won the 2005 Lou Groza Award, presented to the nation’s best
kicker, and set a school record with 383 points which is second all-time
in Pac-10 history.
Tickets to the contest sell for $24, $18
and $12 each and are currently on sale at all area Food World stores,
the Senior Bowl ticket office in the Riverview Plaza Hotel in downtown
Mobile, by calling 251-432-4109 or ordered through the bowl’s website at
www.seniorbowl.com.
Pac-10 Players in the 2008 Under Armour
Senior Bowl
-
Arizona State:
Mike Pollak, OL
-
California:
Thomas DeCoud, DB; Justin Forsett, RB; Lavelle Hawkins, WR
-
Oregon State:
Roy Schuening, OL; Alexis Serna, K
-
USC: Sam Baker,
OL; John David Booty, QB; Fred Davis, TE; Sedrick Ellis, DL;
Lawrence Jackson, DL; Drew Radovich, OL; Keith Rivers, LB; Chauncey
Washington, RB
|
