Four Ponies earn preseason all-conference honors

[PonyPride]

Four Mustangs tabbed preseason All-C-USA
Haywood, Rogers, Sturdivant and Henderson honored
May 30, 2006

DALLAS (SMU) - Four members of the SMU football team have been named preseason All-Conference USA by Blue Ribbon College Football, the organization announced Tuesday, May 30. Seniors Adrian Haywood, Justin Rogers and Joe Sturdivant and sophomore Jessie Henderson were all honored in the magazine's 2006 season preview.

Haywood, a defensive tackle who earned third-team All-C-USA honors lasts season, led Conference USA with 11 tackles-for-loss in league play. He had all 11 of those stops-for-loss in the last five weeks of the season. He earned Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week accolades for his performance in the season finale after notching nine tackles and an
interception in the win over UTEP.

At defensive end, Rogers earned second-team All-C-USA honors a year ago and shared SMU Defensive MVP honors with Rolando Humphrey and Sturdivant. He led Conference USA in sacks with seven and ranked in the top 10 in tackles-for-loss and forced fumbles.

Sturdivant, a second-team 2005 All-C-USA honoree, was SMU Defensive Co-MVP along with Humphrey and Rogers. He was twice named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week and was the only defensive player in the league to win the honor multiple times in 2005. He led the Mustangs in tackles and pass breakups and ranked first in passes defended (14) and was fourth in stops (112) in Conference USA. His 112 tackles were 33 more than his closest teammate, and he had nine or more tackles in nine games.

Henderson was co-winner of the James Bradley "New Mustang" award for consistent play along with DeMyron Martin. A standout kick returner, he was a third-team CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-American and a third-team All-C-USA pick. He led Conference USA and ranked 13th in the NCAA with a 27.6 ypr average. He returned a kick 88 yards for a TD against Tulane and recorded 179 yards on just four returns against the Green Wave - the third-best single-game effort in SMU history. In total, his 663 KOR yards on the year ranked fourth best all-time at SMU in a single season.

SMU opens its 2006 season On Sept. 2, when the Mustangs travel to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech.


BLUE RIBBON COLLEGE FOOTBALL YEARBOOK ALL-CONFERENCE USA TEAM

OFFENSE
Pos. - Player - School - Ht. - Wt. - Cl.
WR - Aundrae Allison - East Carolina - 6-1 - 192 - Sr.
WR - Vincent Marshall - Houston - 5-8 - 175 - So.
OL - Cedric Gagne-Marcoux - UCF - 6-3 - 280 - Sr.
OL - George Batiste - Southern Miss - 6-5 - 309 - Sr.
OL - Travis Cooley - Southern Miss - 6-2 - 282 - Sr.
OL - Jeff Perrett - Tulsa - 6-7 - 329 - Sr.
OL - SirVincent Rogers - Houston - 6-5 - 305 - Sr.
QB - Paul Smith - Tulsa - 6-2 - 193 - Jr.
RB - Kevin Smith - UCF - 6-1 - 195 - So.
RB - Marcus Thomas - UTEP - 6-1 - 215 - Jr.
TE - Shawn Nelson - Southern Miss - 6-5 - 225 - So.

DEFENSE
Pos. - Player - School - Ht. - Wt. - Cl.
DL - Larry McSwain - UAB - 6-1 - 255 - Sr.
DL - Justin Rogers - SMU - 6-4 - 265 - Sr.
DL - Adrian Haywood - SMU - 6-3 - 280 - Sr.
DL - Alex Obomese - UTEP - 6-3 - 245 - Sr.
LB - Nick Bunting - Tulsa - 6-1 - 230 - Sr.
LB - Jeremy Jones - UTEP - 6-1 - 235 - Sr.
LB - Wade Koehl - Houston - 6-2 - 230 - Sr.
DB - Wesley Smith - Memphis - 6-3 - 194 - Sr.
DB - Joe Burnett - UCF - 5-11 - 180 - So.
DB - Nick Graham - Tulsa - 5-11 - 191 - Sr.
DB - Joe Sturdivant - SMU - 6-2 - 210 - Sr.

SPECIALISTS
Pos. - Player - School - Ht. - Wt. - Cl.
K - Darren McCaleb - Southern Miss - 5-11 - 165 - Sr.
KR - Jessie Henderson - SMU - 5-9 - 175 - So.
P - Michael Gibson - Memphis - 6-2 - 210 - Sr.
PR - Joe Burnett - UCF - 5-11 - 180 - So.

[PerunaPunch]

Looks like we've finally earned a measure of respect.

When was the last time we had 4 players who were preseason first team All-Conference selections?

It's nice to know somebody is expecting good things from our team besides the Mustang faithful.

[35straight]

Congrats to those guys. After the way we finished last year, those name should have been on the All-Conf. list for 05. Atleast we are starting to get some much deserved recognition. Go Stangs.

[Bergermeister]

Being fair and biased, I would have included Bobby Chase.

[PonyGirl]

DeMYRON MARTIN!

[BringBackThePonies03]

That is a lot for a team that hasn't had a winning record in how long? Well, that won't be true for much longer, and for Martin and Chase no need to worry, this is just the preseason predictions, after the season is over their talent will speak for itself.

[Hoop Fan]

what i like is that we have two defensive linemen on there. Very unusual for SMu in recent years.

[PonyGirl]

Damn right.
If all goes well, all six of those could be considered for all-conference honors, and maybe a surprise or two (Reggie Carrington?)
I doubt we'd get six or seven on there, but if we have a good year, our guys certainly will get a lot of attention.

[BUS]

Hoop Fan

The BIG MEN are getting some respect. Oh Yeah Baby.

That is what PB had to fix and he has.

I really want to see two replacements for each, this recruiting season.

[Hoop Fan]

getting Haywood as a juco was big. Need more like him i agree.

[MrMustang1965]

Congratulations to the FOUR HORSEMEN of S.M.U.!!!

[PonySnob]

What does "Blue Ridge College Football" do? Who are they?

[DallasDiehard]

I don't know much about the guy from Central Florida, but DeMyron Martin is better than the UTEP guy, in my opinion, and should have been included on the list.
Congratulations to the Big Four!