Fera and Jeffcoat Named to Walter Camp All-America Team
Texas place-kicker Anthony Fera and defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat have been named to the Walter Camp All-America Team which was announced Thursday night by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
Both Fera and Jeffcoat were first team selections. Fera, who was joined on the first team by place-kicker Robert Aguayo of Florida State, becomes the first UT All-America kicker since 1986, when Jeff Ward was named to the American Football Coaches Association All-America team.
After connecting on 20 of 22 field goals this season, Fera is also just the second Texas place-kicker to make the Walter Camp All-America Team, along with Russell Erxleben in 1978. He’s also just the fourth specialist, punter or kicker to make first team All-America (also Erxleben, Ward, and PK Happy Feller – Sporting News in 1970).
A Lou Groza Award finalist, Fera matched Phil Dawson’s school record with 15 consecutive field goals made this season. The senior has kicked in big moments all year, connecting on 14 of 15 attempts when the score was within seven points and 6 of 7 in three-point games.
Named the Ted Hendricks Award winner on Wednesday, Jeffcoat ranks third in the FBS in sacks (1.0 per game) and fifth among defensive linemen in fumbles recovered (0.25 pg). With a team-high 80 tackles, he is the only defensive lineman in the FBS to lead his team in that category. Jeffcoat also has a team-best 21 tackles for loss and 18 quarterback pressures.
Jeffcoat ranks tied for third on Texas' career TFL list with 59 and eighth in sacks with 26.5. His 12 sacks this season are the second most by a Longhorn in the last 29 seasons (Alex Okafor – 12.5 in 2012). He is the fifth Texas defensive end named a Walter Camp first team All-American and first since Brian Orakpo in 2008.
About the Walter Camp All-America team: Walter Camp, “The Father of American Football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. The Walter Camp All-America team is the nation’s oldest college football All-America squad.
(Via UT Athletics / Texassports.com)
