University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Place Two On C-USA First Team, 10 Overall
12/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Houston, Texas - Senior defensive end Phillip Hunt and senior offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer on Tuesday were named to the Conference USA First Team, as selected by the league's 12 head coaches.
The Cougars placed four players on the Second Team, including sophomore quarterback Case Keenum, redshirt freshman wide receiver Tyron Carrier and a pair of seniors, strong safety Kenneth Fontenette and tight end Mark Hafner.
Senior offensive guard Michael Bloesch, senior linebacker Cody Lubojasky, junior punter Chase Turner and true freshman running back Bryce Beall were Honorable Mention.
Hunt is wrapping up his final season as a Cougar and is leaving his mark on the UH record books in the process. A First-Team pick in 2007, Hunt picked up were he left off from last season, leading Conference USA in sacks with 11 and is second in tackles for loss 16.5. Hunt was the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week after recording three sacks in the Cougars' 44-38 win at SMU.
Just two years removed from major back surgery and five years removed from moving to this country, Vollmer staked himself as one of the top linemen in the Conference USA and has started the last 25 games at tackle for the Cougars. The Cougars' offense is No. 1 in the nation with 575.1 yards per game, second in passing at 414.1 ypg and eighth in scoring at 41.2 points per game.
Grabbing hold of the starting job in training camp, Keenum proved to his skeptics that he could adjust to Houston's new passing attack, leading the nation in both total offense (416.1 ypg) and passing yards (397.3 ypg.) Keenum has established career highs in every passing and total offense category and trails only Oklahoma's Sam Bradford in touchdown passes (48 to 43.) He was twice named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week and has thrown for at least 300 yards in a school-record 13 consecutive games.
Carrier has proved he is more than a track guy, establishing UH freshman records in both receptions (75) and receiving yards (977), and he is attempting to become the first freshman in Cougar history to reach 1,000 yards receiving. Carrier also returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown against Tulsa and ended the evening with almost 300 all-purpose yards.
Speaking of breaking records, Hafner etched his name into the Houston record books as well, setting tight end records with his 85 receptions for 892 yards and 11 touchdowns. Twice named the John Mackey Award Tight End of the Week, Hafner finished the regular season in the nation's Top 10 in receptions by a tight end and receptions per game.
As for Fontenette, he grabbed Second-Team accolades for the second consecutive season, serving as the UH defensive captain as a senior. Fontenette racked up a team-leading 89 tackles and had nine pass break-ups and one interception. He was a preseason All-Conference USA selection and has started 49 consecutive games.
Like Vollmer, Bloesch has been a vital cog in the UH offensive juggernaut in 2008. A starter in 35 consecutive bowl games, Bloesch will join just a handful of Cougar players to have played in four bowl games in their Houston careers.
Add Lubojasky to the same group as Bloesch, and the steady linebacker enters the final game of his career just three tackles shy of 300 for his career. A starter in 50 games in his career, Lubojasky has recorded 74 total tackles in 2008, including four for losses as well as four pass break-ups.
Punting for an offense that doesn't need to punt much, Turner still boomed a school-record 45.6 yards per punt; however, since he didn't average the NCAA requisite of 3.6 punts per game, his name did not show up in the weekly stats but one time during the regular season. Despite this, Turner's average was slightly less than the league leader and his total would've placed him fourth nationally in punting average.
Bursting on to the scene as a true freshman, Beall set UH freshman rushing marks with his 1,112 yards and 12 touchdowns rushing, averaging 6.3 yards per carry and 92.7 yards per game. Beall also tacked on 30 receptions for 404 yards and an additional four scores, and he topped the 100-yard plateau five different times in 2008...all Cougar wins.
Beall also was a member of the Conference USA All-Freshman squad and was joined by Carrier-at three different positions (wide receiver, punt returner, kick returner)-guard/tackle Chris Thompson and linebacker Marcus McGraw.
Thompson started the first seven games of the season at left guard before a bout of appendicitis sidelined him for two weeks. Upon his return, he was shifted to right tackle and flourished at that spot as well.
Starting as a true freshman at linebacker, McGraw exhibited the linebacker skills sought after by first-year head coach Kevin Sumlin and his staff. McGraw started all 12 games and is second on the team in tackles with 88 stops, including 35 unassisted, 5.5 for losses and five pass break-ups.
The Cougars return to action on Dec. 31, traveling to Fort Worth to face Air Force in a rematch in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. Kickoff is slated for 11 am and will be broadcast on ESPN.
---www.UHCougars.com---
