Davis Sports Deli's All-Interview Team


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Davis Sports Deli's All-Interview Team By: Joshua Fischman 2007-08 Bowl Season: All-Interview Team This college football season we had the great pleasure of interviewing a number of incredible Division 1 athletes in late December and early January. Now that Bowl Season is over and the hangover from LSU's national championship has dissipated, it's a good time to recognize those athletes. Toward that end, Joshua Fischman has created the Davis Sports Deli All-Interview Team; a summation of the accomplishments of those who interviewed with us. We hope you enjoy Joshua's summary. QB Andrew Hatch - The transfer student from Harvard only played in one game this season, but he won a national championship. Hatch is the only D1 National Champion on the Davis Sports Deli's All-Interview team. QB Chris Turner - Turner emerged as the Terps' starting QB in the fifth game of the season and has been great ever since. In his first collegiate campaign, Turner led his team in every passing category, had seven games of 200+ passing yards and two games with multiple TDs. In the Emerald Bowl, Turner threw two quick TDs but his receivers and the Terrapin's running game ultimately lost the game for Maryland. Turner threw two interceptions in that game, but both of them should have been caught by Maryland receivers. RB Andre Dixon - Dixon led the Huskies in rushing yards this season. He also averaged 5 yards per carry, had four games of 100+ rushing yards and ran for 167 yards in an upset win over nationally-ranked South Florida. Dixon rushed for 19 yards on only 7 carries in UConn's loss to Wake Forest in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. RB Terrance Ganaway - The true freshman was Houston's second-leading rusher, averaging 5 yards per carry and rushing for 6 touchdowns. In a 20-13 Texas Bowl loss, Ganaway only had one carry and did not gain a yard. Next season Ganaway figures to be the starting running back for the Cougars. RB Anthony Harding - Harding, Fresno State's fourth-leading rusher, finished the Humanitarian Bowl with 46 yards on 11 carries. RB Brad Lester - This junior was Auburn's second-leading rusher in 2007. In 2006 Lester led the team in rushing touchdowns, with 9. In the team's bowl win over Clemson, Lester rushed for 57 yards and had 24 receiving yards, as well. RB Luke Lippincott - The Wolfpack's leading rusher finished 18th in the nation with 1,420 rushing yards and 17th in the nation with 15 rushing TDs. He did all this with a robust 5.3 yards per carry. Nevada's offensive leader also led the team in rushing TDs, accumulated eight games of 100+ rushing yards, two games of 200+ rushing yards and five multi-TD games (including one game with 5 TDs and another with 4). The redshirt junior also led the 2006 Wolfpack with 9 rushing TDs. In the New Mexico Bowl, Lippincott carried the ball 10 times for 40 yards; Nevada lost. RB Dimitri Nance - The sophomore led the Arizona St. Sun Devils in rushing touchdowns, with 7, and scored 3 TDs in a big win over Cal. Nance was also Arizona St.'s third-leading rusher. In ASU's bowl loss to the Texas Longhorns, Nance rushed for only 2.7 yards per carry -- for a total of 48 yards -- and had 21 receiving yards. WR Donnie Avery - Only two players in the nation had more receiving yards than Avery's 1,456 this season. He led Houston in every receiving and kick returning category and had seven games of 100+ receiving yards. That includes the game against Rice in which he exploded for 346 total yards and 2 TDs on 12 receptions. Despite losing in his bowl game, Avery (a senior) went out in style, with 10 receptions for 120 yards. WR Dorien Bryant - Bryant led Purdue in receiving yards and receiving TDs, with 936 and 8 respectively. In addition, the NFL-bound receiver had over 1,000 kick return yards this season for the Boilermakers. Bryant also led the team in every receiving and kickoff returning category in 2005 and 2006. In the Boilermakers' high-scoring bowl win, Bryant accumulated 65 yards receiving and had a 35-yard punt return. WR/FB Charles Clay - The freshman had 1,024 receiving yards and 7 receiving touchdowns in 2007, yet finished third on his team (Tulsa) in both categories. Clay was also the team's third-leading rusher. In Tulsa's 63-7 GMAC Bowl thrashing of Bowling Green, Clay scored a receiving TD, caught 11 passes for 69 yards and ran for 49 yards on 8 carries (including one run of 19 yards). WR Jacoby Ford - Ford was Clemson's third-leading receiver and rusher. He was a key player on special teams, as well. The speedster also led the Tigers in punt return yards and punt return touchdowns in 2006. Unfortunately, Ford missed the Chick-fil-A Bowl with an ankle injury. In his absence, Clemson lost by 3 points in overtime. WR Dominick Goodman - Goodman led the Cincinnati Bearcats in receiving yards this season and caught 8 touchdown passes. In 2006, Goodman led Cincy in receiving TDs. Additionally, he led the team in kickoff return yards in '05 and '06. The junior WR had 2 touchdown catches and 95 receiving yards in Cincinnati's 31-21 bowl victory, but he was ripped off when the MVP was not awarded to him for the second straight year. WR Terrance Jeffers - UConn's leader in every receiving category, Jeffers was held to just 11 receiving yards in the Huskies' bowl loss to Wake Forest. WR Scotty McKnight - McKnight led the Buffaloes in receiving this season, which is a product of the connection he has developed with fellow redshirt Cody Hawkins (Colorado's QB). In Colorado's 30-24 Independence Bowl loss to Alabama, McKnight caught four passes for 67 yards. WR Carlton Mitchell - This WR led South Florida in all receiving categories...as a redshirt freshman. Mitchell caught zero passes in his team's Sun Bowl loss. His presence on the field was negated by talented DBs Walt Thurmond and Jairus Byrd of Oregon. WR Tiquan Underwood - This former high school quarterback led the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in receptions, catching 7 touchdown passes and totaling 1,100 yards receiving. Underwood also had six games of 100+ receiving yards (one of which was a huge 248-yard, 2-TD performance in the team's season opener). In Rutgers' International Bowl victory, Underwood scored a touchdown and went for 72 yards receiving. DB Walt Thurmond III - The speedy sophomore had 5 interceptions for the Oregon Ducks this season. In his team's Sun Bowl blowout of South Florida, Walt scored his first collegiate touchdown, on an interception return. DB Jamar Wall - With 5 interceptions, the sophomore had half of Texas Tech's interception total for the season. In their 31-28 Gator Bowl upset victory over Virginia, Wall -- and the rest of the Red Raiders' secondary -- limited the Cavaliers to fewer than 100 passing yards on the day. 2007 All-Interview Team Leaders (by category) Passing yards, passing TDs and completions: Chris Turner (1,958 yds; 7 TD; 153 comp) Carries: Luke Lippincott (267 carries) Rushing Yards: Luke Lippincott (1,420 yds) and Andre Dixon (823 yds) Rushing TDs: Luke Lippincott (15 TD) and Dimitri Nance (7 TD) Receptions: Donnie Avery (91 rec), Dorien Bryant (87 rec) and Dominick Goodman (68 rec) Receiving yards: Donnie Avery (1,456 yds), Dorien Bryant (936 yds) and Domnick Goodman (836 yds) Receiving TDs: Dorien Bryant (8 TD), Donnie Avery (7 TD) and Terrence Jeffers (5 TD) Interceptions: Jamar Wall (5 INT) Defensive TDs: Walt Thurmond III (2 TD) Solo Tackles: Walt Thurmond III (75 tackles) Pass Deflections: Walt Thurmond III (18 def) Fumble Recoveries: Walt Thurmond III (1 FR) Kickoff Return Yards: Dorien Bryant (1,007 yds) Kickoff Return TDs: Dorien Bryant (2 TD) and Donnie Avery (1 TD) All-Interview Team Results (Bowl Season 2007-08) December 22: PapaJohn's.com Bowl - Cincinnati (Dominick Goodman) 31-21 W v. Southern Miss New Mexico Bowl - Nevada (Luke Lippincott) 23-0 L v. New Mexico December 26: Motor City Bowl - Purdue (Dorien Bryant) 51-48 W v. Central Michigan December 27: Holiday Bowl - Arizona St. (Dimitri Nance) 52-34 L v. Texas December 28: Texas Bowl - Houston (Donnie Avery & Terrance Ganaway) 20-13 L v. TCU Emerald Bowl - Maryland (Chris Turner) 21-14 L v. Oregon St. December 29: Meineke Car Care Bowl - Connecticut (Andre Dixon & Terence Jeffers) 24-10 L v. Wake Forest December 30: Independence Bowl - Colorado (Scotty McKnight) 30-24 L v. Alabama December 31: Humanitarian Bowl - Fresno St. (Anthony Harding) 40-28 L v. Georgia Tech Sun Bowl - Oregon (Walt Thurmond III) 56-21 W v. South Florida (Carlton Mitchell) Chick-fil-A Bowl - Auburn (Brad Lester) 23-20 W v. Clemson (Jacoby Ford) January 1: Gator Bowl - Texas Tech (Jamar Wall) 31-28 W v. Virginia January 5: International Bowl - Rutgers (Tiquan Underwood) 52-30 W v. Ball State January 6: GMAC Bowl - Tulsa (Charles Clay) 63-7 W v. Bowling Green January 7: BCS Championship Game - LSU (Andrew Hatch) 38-24 W v. Ohio St. Cumulative Season Stats: All-Interview Team Passing Stats: 1,966 passing yds; 7 TDs; 7 INTs; 154-253 comp./att. Rushing Stats: 4,959 yds rushing on 1,046 carries; 4.74 yds/carry; 39 rushing TD; 16 games of 100+ rushing yds (8 by Lippincott, 4 by Dixon, 2 by Harding); 10 multi-TD games (5 by Lippincott) Receiving Stats: 8,168 receiving yds on 602 receptions; 13.6 yds/catch; 59 receiving TD; 24 games of 100+ receiving yds (7 by Avery, 6 by Underwood, 3 each by Bryant, Goodman & Clay); 11 multi-TD games (2 each by Avery, Bryant, Goodman & Underwood) Defensive Stats: 157 tackles (103 by Thurmond); 24 passes defensed (18 by Thurmond); 14 tackles for losses (all by Thurmond); 10 interceptions (5 each by Thurmond & Wall); 93 interception return yds (84 of them by Thurmond); 1 forced fumble (Thurmond); 1 fumble recovery (Thurmond); 25 fumble return yds; 2 defensive TD (both by Thurmond); 1 blocked punt (Thurmond) Return Stats: 2,288 kickoff return yds on 91 returns (25.1 yds/return); 3 kickoff return TD; 214 punt return yds on 30 punt returns (7.1 yds/return) Cumulative Bowl Stats: All-Interview Team Passing Stats: 205 passing yds; 2 TD; 2 INT; 17-29 comp/att Rushing Stats: 225 rushing yds on 63 carries; 3.6 yds/carry; 0 rushing TD; 0 100+ rushing yd games Receiving Stats: 544 receiving yds on 47 receptions; 11.6 yds/catch; 4 receiving TD (2 by Goodman); 0 100+ receiving yd games (though Goodman fell just short with 95 yds); 1 multi-TD game (Goodman) Defensive Stats: 1 INT; 1 defensive TD Return Stats: 66 kickoff return yds on 3 returns (22 yds/kick return); 34 punt return yds on 2 returns (17 yds/punt return) Conclusions In all, our interviewees had nine wins and ten losses in their respective bowl games. From December 31st on, our players went 7-2. All four of our players who found the end zone won their bowl games (Charles Clay, Dominick Goodman, Walt Thurmond III and Tiquan Underwood). Maryland QB Chris Turner threw for 2 TDs, but his team lost despite his impressive first quarter performance. The running backs we interviewed did not perform very well in their bowl games. Not one rushed for a TD (and we interviewed five RBs). Cumulatively, they only averaged 3.57 yards per carry. Possible explanations for their lack of success include: relative youth and inexperience in bowl games. Each of these running backs was also matched against a quality team; while players at other teams had some easy games on their respective schedules.

2007-08 Bowl Season: All-Interview Team

This college football season we had the great pleasure of interviewing a number of incredible Division 1 athletes in late December and early January. Now that Bowl Season is over and the hangover from LSU's national championship has dissipated, it's a good time to recognize those athletes. Toward that end, Joshua Fischman has created the Davis Sports Deli All-Interview Team; a summation of the accomplishments of those who interviewed with us. We hope you enjoy Joshua's summary.

QB Andrew Hatch - The transfer student from Harvard only played in one game this season, but he won a national championship. Hatch is the only D1 National Champion on the Davis Sports Deli's All-Interview team.

QB Chris Turner - Turner emerged as the Terps' starting QB in the fifth game of the season and has been great ever since. In his first collegiate campaign, Turner led his team in every passing category, had seven games of 200+ passing yards and two games with multiple TDs. In the Emerald Bowl, Turner threw two quick TDs but his receivers and the Terrapin's running game ultimately lost the game for Maryland. Turner threw two interceptions in that game, but both of them should have been caught by Maryland receivers.

RB Andre Dixon - Dixon led the Huskies in rushing yards this season. He also averaged 5 yards per carry, had four games of 100+ rushing yards and ran for 167 yards in an upset win over nationally-ranked South Florida. Dixon rushed for 19 yards on only 7 carries in UConn's loss to Wake Forest in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

RB Terrance Ganaway - The true freshman was Houston's second-leading rusher, averaging 5 yards per carry and rushing for 6 touchdowns. In a 20-13 Texas Bowl loss, Ganaway only had one carry and did not gain a yard. Next season Ganaway figures to be the starting running back for the Cougars.

RB Anthony Harding - Harding, Fresno State's fourth-leading rusher, finished the Humanitarian Bowl with 46 yards on 11 carries.

RB Brad Lester - This junior was Auburn's second-leading rusher in 2007. In 2006 Lester led the team in rushing touchdowns, with 9. In the team's bowl win over Clemson, Lester rushed for 57 yards and had 24 receiving yards, as well.

RB Luke Lippincott - The Wolfpack's leading rusher finished 18th in the nation with 1,420 rushing yards and 17th in the nation with 15 rushing TDs. He did all this with a robust 5.3 yards per carry. Nevada's offensive leader also led the team in rushing TDs, accumulated eight games of 100+ rushing yards, two games of 200+ rushing yards and five multi-TD games (including one game with 5 TDs and another with 4). The redshirt junior also led the 2006 Wolfpack with 9 rushing TDs. In the New Mexico Bowl, Lippincott carried the ball 10 times for 40 yards; Nevada lost.

RB Dimitri Nance - The sophomore led the Arizona St. Sun Devils in rushing touchdowns, with 7, and scored 3 TDs in a big win over Cal. Nance was also Arizona St.'s third-leading rusher. In ASU's bowl loss to the Texas Longhorns, Nance rushed for only 2.7 yards per carry -- for a total of 48 yards -- and had 21 receiving yards.

WR Donnie Avery - Only two players in the nation had more receiving yards than Avery's 1,456 this season. He led Houston in every receiving and kick returning category and had seven games of 100+ receiving yards. That includes the game against Rice in which he exploded for 346 total yards and 2 TDs on 12 receptions. Despite losing in his bowl game, Avery (a senior) went out in style, with 10 receptions for 120 yards.

WR Dorien Bryant - Bryant led Purdue in receiving yards and receiving TDs, with 936 and 8 respectively. In addition, the NFL-bound receiver had over 1,000 kick return yards this season for the Boilermakers. Bryant also led the team in every receiving and kickoff returning category in 2005 and 2006. In the Boilermakers' high-scoring bowl win, Bryant accumulated 65 yards receiving and had a 35-yard punt return.

WR/FB Charles Clay - The freshman had 1,024 receiving yards and 7 receiving touchdowns in 2007, yet finished third on his team (Tulsa) in both categories. Clay was also the team's third-leading rusher. In Tulsa's 63-7 GMAC Bowl thrashing of Bowling Green, Clay scored a receiving TD, caught 11 passes for 69 yards and ran for 49 yards on 8 carries (including one run of 19 yards).

WR Jacoby Ford - Ford was Clemson's third-leading receiver and rusher. He was a key player on special teams, as well. The speedster also led the Tigers in punt return yards and punt return touchdowns in 2006. Unfortunately, Ford missed the Chick-fil-A Bowl with an ankle injury. In his absence, Clemson lost by 3 points in overtime.

WR Dominick Goodman - Goodman led the Cincinnati Bearcats in receiving yards this season and caught 8 touchdown passes. In 2006, Goodman led Cincy in receiving TDs. Additionally, he led the team in kickoff return yards in '05 and '06. The junior WR had 2 touchdown catches and 95 receiving yards in Cincinnati's 31-21 bowl victory, but he was ripped off when the MVP was not awarded to him for the second straight year.

WR Terrance Jeffers - UConn's leader in every receiving category, Jeffers was held to just 11 receiving yards in the Huskies' bowl loss to Wake Forest.

WR Scotty McKnight - McKnight led the Buffaloes in receiving this season, which is a product of the connection he has developed with fellow redshirt Cody Hawkins (Colorado's QB). In Colorado's 30-24 Independence Bowl loss to Alabama, McKnight caught four passes for 67 yards.

WR Carlton Mitchell - This WR led South Florida in all receiving categories...as a redshirt freshman. Mitchell caught zero passes in his team's Sun Bowl loss. His presence on the field was negated by talented DBs Walt Thurmond and Jairus Byrd of Oregon.

WR Tiquan Underwood - This former high school quarterback led the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in receptions, catching 7 touchdown passes and totaling 1,100 yards receiving. Underwood also had six games of 100+ receiving yards (one of which was a huge 248-yard, 2-TD performance in the team's season opener). In Rutgers' International Bowl victory, Underwood scored a touchdown and went for 72 yards receiving.

DB Walt Thurmond III - The speedy sophomore had 5 interceptions for the Oregon Ducks this season. In his team's Sun Bowl blowout of South Florida, Walt scored his first collegiate touchdown, on an interception return.

DB Jamar Wall - With 5 interceptions, the sophomore had half of Texas Tech's interception total for the season. In their 31-28 Gator Bowl upset victory over Virginia, Wall -- and the rest of the Red Raiders' secondary -- limited the Cavaliers to fewer than 100 passing yards on the day.

2007 All-Interview Team Leaders (by category)

Passing yards, passing TDs and completions: Chris Turner (1,958 yds; 7 TD; 153 comp)
Carries: Luke Lippincott (267 carries)
Rushing Yards: Luke Lippincott (1,420 yds) and Andre Dixon (823 yds)
Rushing TDs: Luke Lippincott (15 TD) and Dimitri Nance (7 TD)
Receptions: Donnie Avery (91 rec), Dorien Bryant (87 rec) and Dominick Goodman (68 rec)
Receiving yards: Donnie Avery (1,456 yds), Dorien Bryant (936 yds) and Domnick Goodman (836 yds)
Receiving TDs: Dorien Bryant (8 TD), Donnie Avery (7 TD) and Terrence Jeffers (5 TD)
Interceptions: Jamar Wall (5 INT)
Defensive TDs: Walt Thurmond III (2 TD)
Solo Tackles: Walt Thurmond III (75 tackles)
Pass Deflections: Walt Thurmond III (18 def)
Fumble Recoveries: Walt Thurmond III (1 FR)
Kickoff Return Yards: Dorien Bryant (1,007 yds)
Kickoff Return TDs: Dorien Bryant (2 TD) and Donnie Avery (1 TD)

All-Interview Team Results (Bowl Season 2007-08)

December 22:
PapaJohn's.com Bowl - Cincinnati (Dominick Goodman) 31-21 W v. Southern Miss
New Mexico Bowl - Nevada (Luke Lippincott) 23-0 L v. New Mexico

December 26:
Motor City Bowl - Purdue (Dorien Bryant) 51-48 W v. Central Michigan

December 27:
Holiday Bowl - Arizona St. (Dimitri Nance) 52-34 L v. Texas

December 28:
Texas Bowl - Houston (Donnie Avery & Terrance Ganaway) 20-13 L v. TCU
Emerald Bowl - Maryland (Chris Turner) 21-14 L v. Oregon St.

December 29:
Meineke Car Care Bowl - Connecticut (Andre Dixon & Terence Jeffers) 24-10 L v. Wake Forest

December 30:
Independence Bowl - Colorado (Scotty McKnight) 30-24 L v. Alabama

December 31:
Humanitarian Bowl - Fresno St. (Anthony Harding) 40-28 L v. Georgia Tech
Sun Bowl - Oregon (Walt Thurmond III) 56-21 W v. South Florida (Carlton Mitchell)
Chick-fil-A Bowl - Auburn (Brad Lester) 23-20 W v. Clemson (Jacoby Ford)

January 1:
Gator Bowl - Texas Tech (Jamar Wall) 31-28 W v. Virginia

January 5:
International Bowl - Rutgers (Tiquan Underwood) 52-30 W v. Ball State

January 6:
GMAC Bowl - Tulsa (Charles Clay) 63-7 W v. Bowling Green

January 7:
BCS Championship Game - LSU (Andrew Hatch) 38-24 W v. Ohio St.

Cumulative Season Stats: All-Interview Team

Passing Stats: 1,966 passing yds; 7 TDs; 7 INTs; 154-253 comp./att.

Rushing Stats: 4,959 yds rushing on 1,046 carries; 4.74 yds/carry; 39 rushing TD; 16 games of 100+ rushing yds (8 by Lippincott, 4 by Dixon, 2 by Harding); 10 multi-TD games (5 by Lippincott)

Receiving Stats: 8,168 receiving yds on 602 receptions; 13.6 yds/catch; 59 receiving TD; 24 games of 100+ receiving yds (7 by Avery, 6 by Underwood, 3 each by Bryant, Goodman & Clay); 11 multi-TD games (2 each by Avery, Bryant, Goodman & Underwood)

Defensive Stats: 157 tackles (103 by Thurmond); 24 passes defensed (18 by Thurmond); 14 tackles for losses (all by Thurmond); 10 interceptions (5 each by Thurmond & Wall); 93 interception return yds (84 of them by Thurmond); 1 forced fumble (Thurmond); 1 fumble recovery (Thurmond); 25 fumble return yds; 2 defensive TD (both by Thurmond); 1 blocked punt (Thurmond)

Return Stats: 2,288 kickoff return yds on 91 returns (25.1 yds/return); 3 kickoff return TD; 214 punt return yds on 30 punt returns (7.1 yds/return)

Cumulative Bowl Stats: All-Interview Team

Passing Stats: 205 passing yds; 2 TD; 2 INT; 17-29 comp/att

Rushing Stats: 225 rushing yds on 63 carries; 3.6 yds/carry; 0 rushing TD; 0 100+ rushing yd games

Receiving Stats: 544 receiving yds on 47 receptions; 11.6 yds/catch; 4 receiving TD (2 by Goodman); 0 100+ receiving yd games (though Goodman fell just short with 95 yds); 1 multi-TD game (Goodman)

Defensive Stats: 1 INT; 1 defensive TD

Return Stats: 66 kickoff return yds on 3 returns (22 yds/kick return); 34 punt return yds on 2 returns (17 yds/punt return)

Conclusions

In all, our interviewees had nine wins and ten losses in their respective bowl games. From December 31st on, our players went 7-2.

All four of our players who found the end zone won their bowl games (Charles Clay, Dominick Goodman, Walt Thurmond III and Tiquan Underwood). Maryland QB Chris Turner threw for 2 TDs, but his team lost despite his impressive first quarter performance.

The running backs we interviewed did not perform very well in their bowl games. Not one rushed for a TD (and we interviewed five RBs). Cumulatively, they only averaged 3.57 yards per carry. Possible explanations for their lack of success include: relative youth and inexperience in bowl games. Each of these running backs was also matched against a quality team; while players at other teams had some easy games on their respective schedules.