Dec. 17, 2009
ATLANTA – Sporting News Magazine announced its Football All-Conference teams Thursday, and four Yellow Jackets headline the ACC list. Juniors Sean Bedford and Demaryius Thomas, and senior Cord Howard are on the offensive team and junior Derrick Morgan on the defense.
Tech’s three offensive selections were the most by any team in the conference.
Morgan — who was named All-America by the same magazine Tuesday — has 12.5 sacks on the season, which ranks first in the ACC and sixth nationally. He is just the seventh player in Tech history to record 10 or more sacks in one season. He has 18.0 tackles for loss, which ranks second in the ACC and tied for 18th nationally.
The conference’s Defensive Player of the Year continues to earn awards after being named an All-American by the Associated Press, AFCA and by the Walter Camp Foundation. He was also a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award which goes to the nation’s top college defensive end.
The lone senior on the list was Howard, who for the second time in as many years landed a spot on the All-ACC squad voted on by the league’s media. The Phenix City, Ala. native also earned honorable mention All-America honors from Sports Illustrated, and was a third team selection by Phil Steele Magazine.
Howard along with junior center Sean Bedford formed a line that has helped the Jackets rank second in the nation in rushing with 307.2 yards per game. Bedford was named ACC Offensive Lineman of the week twice this season, and was a first team All-ACC selection at the season’s end.
Earlier this week Georgia Tech earned its first offensive AP All-American since Calvin Johnson in 1996, when wide receiver Demaryius Thomas was named to the third team.
Thomas has 46 receptions for 1154 yards and eight touchdowns. He averages 25.1 yards per reception, the second-highest average nationally and the highest average in Georgia Tech and ACC history.
