Ed Oliver Named The Sporting News All-American
12/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON â€" Houston freshman defensive tackle Ed Oliver has been named to The Sporting News' All-America Team the organization announced Wednesday. The Houston native was the lone freshman on the 2016 first team.
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Oliver, The American Athletic Conference's Rookie of the Year and one of only two unanimous picks to the league's all-conference team, finished the regular season second in The American and ninth nationally with 19.5 tackles for loss, and led all defensive linemen nationally with nine pass breakups. Playing out of the tackle spot on a three-man line, he finished the year fourth nationally among all defensive linemen with 43 solo tackles and was 16th among all defensive linemen nationally with 61 total tackles.
Oliver's 61 tackles led all freshmen in The American, regardless of position, and all freshmen defensive linemen nationally. His five sacks led all freshmen in The American while his nine pass breakups ranked fourth in the league, regardless of position. Oliver also led Houston and finished second in The American with three forced fumbles, a number that ranked second nationally among freshmen.
The freshman is the first player from the Houston program to earn first team All-America honors since center Ben Fricke earned first team honors from the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) in 1997.
The honor comes one day after Oliver was named the winner of the 2016 Bill Willis Award, presented annually to the nation's top defensive lineman by the Touchdown Club of Columbus.
Oliver was one of two players from The American named to The Sporting News team, joining East Carolina wide receiver Zay Jones.
