USC's Claridge, Gibson Make All-PAC-10 First Team
November 29, 1999 | Football
Nov. 29, 1999
LOS ANGELES -- USC offensive tackle Travis Claridge and safety David Gibson were named to the All-Pac-10 first team, while wide receiver Kareem Kelly was named the conference's Freshman of the Year.
USC defensive tackle Ennis Davis made the All-Pac-10 second team, while six Trojans made honorable mention: center Eric Denmon, offensive tackle Brent McCaffrey, linebacker Zeke Moreno, tailback Chad Morton, defensive tackle Ryan Nielsen and linebacker Markus Steele.
Flanker Troy Walters of Stanford and cornerback Deltha O'Neal of California were named Pac-10 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year. Tyrone Willingham of Stanford was named Coach of the Year. The award winners are selected by the Pac-10 head football coaches.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR TROY WALTERS OF STANFORD: Walters, a senior from College Station, Tex., is a record-setting performer on Stanford's Pac-10 champion team. He established Pac-10 career records in both receptions with 245 and receiving yards with 3,995. Walters also established a new Pac-10 single-season record for receiving yardage with 1,456 yards this season. He ranked second in the nation in receiving yardage at 132.4 yards per game. His 1999 stats show 74 receptions for 1,456 yards (19.7) and 10 touchdowns. Walters is the first player in Stanford history to record two 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He also was involved in the longest passing play in Pac-10 history when he went 98 yards for a touchdown on a pass from Joe Borchard against UCLA this season. Walters also ranks sixth in the Conference in all-purpose yards at 170.6 per game.
Walters was a unanimous All-Conference selection by the league's head coaches and has already been named first-team All-America by the Football Writers Association of America. He is one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation's top receiver. Walters also is a three-time member of the Pac-10 All-Academic Team and carries a 3.21 grade point average in Communications.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR DELTHA O'NEAL OF CALIFORNIA: O'Neal, a senior from Milpitas, Calif., also established himself as a record-setter with his performance this year. He led the Pac-10 and tied for the national lead in interceptions with nine, returning an astounding four of them for touchdowns. The four interceptions returned for touchdowns established new NCAA and Pac-10 single-season records. His career total of five interceptions returned for scores also is a Pac-10 career record and ties the NCAA career record. In addition to returning four interceptions for touchdowns, O'Neal also had both a kickoff return and a punt return for touchdowns. Included was a 100-yard interception return against Oregon and a 100-yard kickoff return against Stanford. In addition to leading the league in interceptions, he led the Pac-10 in kickoff returns at 29.2 yards per return. O'Neal was named Pac-10 Player of the Week four times this season, twice on defense and twice on special teams. He was a unanimous All-Pac-10 selection as a cornerback and also was named first-team All-Conference return specialist. O'Neal also has been named first-team All-America by the Football Writers Association of America.
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR KAREEM KELLY OF USC: Kelly, from Long Beach, Calif., led USC in receiving yardage and established Trojan freshman receiving records, despite starting just two games. He caught 54 passes for 902 yards (16.7), which ranked him sixth and fourth, respectively, in the Pac-10. He had four touchdown receptions. Kelly had at least one reception in every game and had a total of four 100-yard receiving games.
COACH OF THE YEAR TYRONE WILLINGHAM OF STANFORD: Willingham, in his fifth year as head coach at Stanford, led the Cardinal to the Pac-10 championship and its first Rose Bowl berth since the 1971 season. Stanford was picked to finish eighth in the pre-season polls. Willingham has led the Cardinal to three bowl berths in his five seasons at the helm. He also was selected Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1995.
NOTES ON THE 1998 ALL-PAC-10 FOOTBALL TEAM
Selection Procedures: The All-Pac-10 Team is selected by the Pac-10 head football coaches. 0
By School: Pac-10 champion Stanford placed the most players on the first team with seven selections. Arizona State was next with six, followed by California with five.
By Class: Of the 25 first-team selections, 18 are seniors, 6 are juniors, one is a sophomore. No freshmen made the first team.
Repeaters: Three first-team choices are repeat selections from last year's first team--running back Trung Canidate of Arizona, offensive tackle Travis Claridge of USC and linebacker Sekou Sanyika of California. In addition, flanker Troy Walters was first-team as a return specialist on the 1997 All-Pac-10 Team.
Double Trouble: Deltha O'Neal of California was named as a first-team cornerback and return specialist.
Classroom Stars: Three players were named first-team on the the All-Conference and the All-Academic football teams. Pulling that difficult double was the Stanford duo of center Mike McLaughlin (3.12, Economics) and flanker Troy Walters (3.21, Communications) and Oregon State offensive guard Aaron Koch (3.63, Philosophy/Liberal Studies).
1999 ALL-PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL TEAM
First Team Offense, Second Team Offense
QB Todd Husak, Sr., Stanford, QB Marques Tuiasosopo, Jr., Washington
RB Trung Canidate, Sr., Arizona, RB Ken Simonton, So., Oregon State
RB Reuben Droughns, Sr., Oregon, RB J.R. Redmond, Sr., Arizona State
WR Dennis Northcutt, Sr., Arizona, WR Danny Farmer, Sr., UCLA
WR Troy Walters, Sr., Stanford, WR DeRonnie Pitts, Sr., Stanford
TE Todd Heap, So., Arizona State, TE Brandon Manumaleuna, Jr., Arizona
OL Mike McLaughlin, Sr., Stanford, OL Chad Ward, Jr., Washington
OL Travis Claridge, Sr., USC, OL Kurth Connell, Sr., Washington
OL Jeff Cronshagen, Sr., Stanford, OL Bruce Wiggins, Jr., Arizona
OL Marvel Smith, Jr., Arizona State, OL Josh Beckett, Sr., Oregon
OL Aaron Koch, Sr., Oregon State, OL Steven Grace, So., Arizona
OL Jason White, Sr., Oregon State
First Team Defense, Second Team Defense
DE Andre Carter, Jr., California, DE Larry Tripplett, So., Washington
DT Willie Howard, Sr., Stanford, DT Joe Tafoya, Jr., Arizona
DT Jacob Waasdorp, Jr., California, DT Ennis Davis, Jr., USC
DE Erik Flowers, Sr., Arizona State, DE Kenyon Coleman, Jr., UCLA
OLB Sekou Sanyika, Sr., California, OLB Steve Gleason, Sr., Washington State
ILB Peter Sirmon, Sr., Oregon, ILB Marcus Bell, Sr., Arizona
OLB Adam Archuleta, Jr., Arizona State, OLB Riall Johnson, Sr., Stanford
DB Deltha O'Neal, Sr., California, DB Dennis Weathersby, Fr., Oregon State
DB Michael Fletcher, Sr., Oregon, DB Hakim Akbar, So., Washington
DB David Gibson, Sr., USC, DB Jermaine Smith, Sr., Washington
DB Courtney Jackson, Sr., Arizona State, DB Justin Wilcox, Sr., Oregon
First Team Specialists, Second Team Specialists
PK Mike Biselli, Jr., Stanford, PK Rian Lindell, Sr., Washington State
P Nick Harris, Jr., California, P Kurtis Doerr, Jr., Oregon
RS Deltha O'Neal, Sr., California, RS Michael Fletcher, Sr., Oregon
ST Emory Brock, Sr., Stanford, ST Deitrich Moore, Sr., Oregon
AP J.R. Redmond, Sr., Arizona State
RS=return specialist
ST=special teams player (non-kicker or return man)
AP=all-purpose player
Unanimous: Five players were named on the first team ballots of all 10 coaches. Wide receivers Dennis Northcutt of Arizona and Troy Walters of Stanford were unanimous choices, as was the California trio of cornerback Deltha O'Neal, defensive end Andre Carter and punter Nick Harris.
Honorable Mention
ARIZONA: Greg Payne Jr., SS, Sr., Da Shon Polk, OLB, Sr., Keith Smith, QB, Sr.
ARIZONA STATE: Kendrick Bates, TE, Sr., Kareem Clark, CB, Sr., Delvon Flowers, TB, Jr., Junior Ioane, DT, Sr., Victor Levya, OT, Jr., Scott Peters, OG, So.
CALIFORNIA: Pete Destefano, FS, Sr., Kevin Doherty, C, Sr., Chidi Iwuoma, CB, Jr., Keith Miller, ILB, Sr., Mawuko Tugbenyoh, DE, Sr.
OREGON: Josh Frankel, PK, Sr., Tony Hartley, FL, Sr., Brandon McLemore, FS, Sr., Terry Miller, DE, Sr., Deke Moen, OG, Sr., Saul Patu, DE, Jr., Matt Smith, MLB, Jr.
OREGON STATE: Shawn Ball, DT, Sr., Calvin Carlyle, FS, So., Terrence Carroll, SS, Jr., Keith DiDomenico, C, Jr., Jonathan Jackson, MLB, Sr., Imani Percoats, FL, Sr., Darnell Robinson, OLB, Jr.
STANFORD: Ruben Carter, CB, So., Andrew Currie, NT, Sr., Eric Heitmann, OG, So., Tim Smith, SS, Sr., Marc Stockbauer, ILB, Sr.
UCLA: Ken Kocher, DT, So., Ryan Nece, OLB, So., Ryan Roques, CB, Sr., Robert Thomas, MLB, So.
USC: Eric Denmon, C, Jr., Brent McCaffrey, OT, Jr., Zeke Moreno, MLB, Jr., Chad Morton, TB, Sr., Ryan Nielsen, DT, So., Markus Steele, OLB, Jr.
WASHINGTON: John Anderson, PK, Fr., Gerald Harris, WR, Sr., Jabari Issa, DT, Sr., Jeremiah Pharms, OLB, Jr., Lester Towns, ILB, Sr., Anthony Vontoure, CB, So., Curtis Williams, FS, Jr.
WASHINGTON STATE: Kareem Anderson, P, Sr., Deon Burnett, RB, Fr., Rob Meier, DT, Jr., Billy Newman, FS, So., Nian Taylor, FL, Sr.
