Joseph Ossai, Samuel Cosmi earn AP All-America honors
AUSTIN, Texas — Two Texas Longhorns, one from the UT offense and one from the defense, earned Associated Press All-America honors Monday. Junior JACK Joseph Ossai was named to the AP first team, while offensive tackle Samuel Cosmi was named to the third team.
Neither will suit up Tuesday when the Longhorns face Colorado in the Valero Alamo Bowl; they are among six UT players who have opted out of their remaining eligibility so they can begin preparing for the 2021 NFL Draft.
The AP honors for Ossai and Cosmi are the first for either from any of the five All-America teams that are widely recognized: the AP, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Sporting News and the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF).
A team captain who started all nine games before opting out, Ossai was a first-team All-Big 12 honoree and was named a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award (given annually to the national defensive player of the year) and earned honorable mention from the league’s coaches as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year.
He collected 55 tackles, 16.0 tackles for loss, five sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, two pass breakups and two quarterback hurries. His 16 tackles for loss were the most in the Big 12 and second-most nationally at the end of the regular season; he had at least one in eight of the nine games in which he played this season, including six in UT’s road win over then -No. 6 Oklahoma State.
Also a captain in 2020, Cosmi was a unanimous first-team All-Big 12 honoree and earned honorable mention as the Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year from the league’s coaches.
He started the first eight games of the season, during which he led the team in total first down/touchdown blocks (25), total knockdown blocks (28) and total intimidation/dominant blocks (12).
