December 22, 2011

Still more All-America honors for Benford and Schweitzer

Tennessee Tech seniors Tim Benford and Scott Schweitzer on Thursday added yet another honor to their list of post-season awards, this time earning third-team All-America status from Phil Steele's College Football.

View the 2011 Phil Steele's All-America team (PDF)

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Tech seniors Tim Benford and Scott Schweitzer on Thursday added yet another honor to their list of post-season awards, this time being named to the 2011 Phil Steele Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) All-American Team. Both were listed as third-team selections.

Benford, the OVC Offensive Player of the Year, helped Tennessee Tech to its first OVC Championship since the 1975 season and its first-ever berth in the FCS playoffs this year. In 11 games he caught 65 passes for 923 yards and five touchdowns despite facing numerous double and triple teams all season long. He finished his career with 217 receptions and 3,104 receiving yards, both of which rank second in OVC history. He was named a second-team All-American by the Sports Network earlier this week.

Schweitzer was part of a Golden Eagle offensive line that helped Tennessee Tech to a share of the OVC Championship, its first Conference crown since 1975. Tech also earned the OVC's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs and hosted Central Arkansas in the first round. He started all 11 games this season and 42 of 45 games during his career at three different positions on the offensive line. Schweitzer was a third-team All-American by both the Associated Press and Sports Network earlier this month.

The two were among seven Ohio Valley Conference players named to this year's All-America Team which represents most of the major conferences.

Other OVC honorees were Matt Denham (RB, Eastern Kentucky), Casey Brockman (QB, Murray State), Emory Attig (DT, Eastern Kentucky), Blake Peiffer (LB, Southeast Missouri) and CJ Estelle (PR, UT Martin).

Golden Eagles named All-America

Tech has had 28 players named All-America a total of 51 times by the Associated Press (AP), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Walter Camp (WC),The Football News (FN), Kodak (K), The Sports Network (TSN), Don Hansen's Football Gazette (DHFG), Phil Steele's Football (PSF), Teamlink.com (TLC) and College Sports Madness.com (CSM):

1939   Holmes Neal, T (AP)
1939   Creed McClure, G (AP)
1952   Tom Fann, T (AP)
1959   Tommy Hackler, E (AP)
1960   Tommy Hackler, E (AP)
1961   Dave Baxter, T (AP)
1969   Larry Schreiber, RB (AP)
1971   Jim Youngblood, LB (AP/AFCA)
1972   Jim Youngblood, LB (AP/AFCA)
1974   Elois Grooms, DE (AFCA)
1976   Ed Burns, OT (AP/AFCA)
1979   Steve Davis, P (FN)
1980   Wayne Anderson, PK (AFCA)
1987   Thomas Squires, LB (FN)
1989   Ryan Weeks, PK (AP/K/TSN)
1996   Robert Taylor, CB (AP/WC/TSN)
1998   Branon Vaughn, DE (TSN/DHFG)
1999   Branon Vaughn, DE (TLC)
1999   David Collett, PK (TLC/AP)
1999   Wes Gallagher, OG (AP)
1999   Joshua Symonette, DB (AP/TLC)
2000   Joey Bishop, OC (DHFG)
2000   D.J. Bleisath, DE (DHFG)
2000   Chad Evitts, LB (DHFG/AP/TSN)
2000   Troy Grant, DB (DHFG)
2000   Andrew McGraw, OG (DHFG)
2001   Joey Bishop, OC (DHFG)
2001   D.J. Bleisath, DE (AP/TSN/DHFG/WC)
2004   Frank Omiyale, OT (DHFG)
2004   Brandon Shelby, DB (DHFG)
2007   Larry Shipp, WR/RS (AP/TSN)
2010    Tm Benford, WR (TSN)
2011    Scott Schweitzer, OG (CSM/AP/TSN/PSF)
2011    Tim Benford, WR (TSN/PSF)