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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Willis First Team All-America
12/12/2005 | Football
Dec. 12, 2005
Oxford, Miss. - Ole Miss linebacker Patrick Willis joined an elite group of Rebel football players Monday when he was selected first team All-America by CollegeFootballNews.com.
Willis, a 6-2, 230-pound junior from Bruceton, Tenn., is the 42nd Ole Miss player to earn first team All-America recognition since the school first fielded a football team in 1893. He had earlier been selected second team All-America by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, SI.com, and Rivals.com.
"Although playing with a number of injuries most of the season, Patrick Willis exhibited a degree of toughness not often found in football," said Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron. "He has truly earned the title of first team All-America and we are proud of the way he continues to represent Ole Miss and his teammates."
Willis battled through his junior season with a broken middle finger on his right hand, a sprained left knee, a right mid-foot injury and a partial AC joint separation of his right shoulder. He underwent successful surgery to his right foot last Friday.
Of the 42 Ole Miss players to earn first team All-America honors, seven were named on two occasions - tackle Frank (Bruiser) Kinard, 1936-37; end Barney Poole, 1947-48; tackle Jim Dunaway, 1961-62; tackle Jim Urbanek, 1966-67; quarterback Archie Manning, 1969-70; punter Bill Smith, 1985-86; and offensive lineman Everett Lindsay, 1991-92.
Prior to Monday's selection of Willis, the last Ole Miss players to make first team All-America were quarterback Eli Manning and kicker Jonathan Nichols, both in 2003.
Last week, Willis was selected Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year by CollegeFootballNews.com and Scout.com. CollegeFootballNews.com also selected Willis to its All-SEC team, while naming him as the top linebacker in the conference and the league's No. 2 player (behind Auburn's Kenny Irons) regardless of position.
He also has been named first team All-SEC by The Associated Press, the SEC Coaches and Scout.com.
Monday's CollegeFootballNews.com All-America release said, in part: "Willis might not have been a one-man gang for the Ole Miss defense, but he certainly held his own with 90 solo stops despite being unable to properly wrap up for most of the second half of the season thanks to a club on his right hand to protect a broken finger. There were few more consistent defenders, and none that showed more toughness fighting through a variety of problems to crank out double-digit stops in almost every game."
Willis finished the regular season as the nation's leader in solo tackles (9.00) and ranked No. 5 in the nation in total tackles (12.80). He also led the Southeastern Conference in tackles (12.8).
A finalist for the Cellular South Conerly Trophy (awarded to Mississippi's top football player), Willis was a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which goes to the nation's Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year.
As for the 2005 season, Willis' defensive statistics for the Rebels included 128 total tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss (-42), three QB sacks (-28), two caused fumbles, one fumble recovery, three passes defensed, two QB pressures and one pass interception.
2005 CollegeFootballNews.com All-America
First Team Offense QB - Vince Young, Jr., Texas RB - Reggie Bush, Jr., USC RB - Jerome Harrison, Sr., Washington State WR - Dwayne Jarrett, Soph., USC WR - Jeff Samardzija, Jr., Notre Dame TE - Vernon Davis, Jr., Maryland OT - Justin Blalock, Jr., Texas OG - Max Jean-Gilles, Sr., Georgia OT - Davin Joseph, Sr., Oklahoma OT - Marcus McNeill, Sr., Auburn OT - Eric Winston, Sr., Miami
First Team Defense DE - Elvis Dumervil, Sr., Louisville DT - Haloti Ngata, Jr., Oregon DE - Darryl Tapp, Sr., Virginia Tech DT - Claude Wroten, Sr., LSU LB - Chad Greenway, Sr., Iowa LB - A.J. Hawk, Sr., Ohio State LB - Patrick Willis, Jr., Ole Miss S - Greg Blue, Sr., Georgia SS - Michael Huff, Sr., Texas S - Ko Simpson, Soph., South Carolina CB - Jimmy Williams, Sr., Virginia Tech
First Team Special Teams PK - Mason Crosby, Jr., Colorado P - Ryan Plackemeier, Sr., Wake Forest KR - Felix Jones, Fr., Arkansas PR - Maurice Drew, Jr., UCLA
