Dec. 25, 2011
BATON ROUGE, La. -
Louisiana Tech, after a record-setting season that saw the Bulldogs claim a WAC Championship a bid to the Poinsettia Bowl, placed seven football players on the all-Louisiana Teams including six players on the first team.
Wide receiver Quinton Patton was named the state's Newcomer of the Year. A first-team receiver section as well, Patton joined the Tech team and caught 74 passes for 1,135 yards and 10 touchdowns. The first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection had five 100-plus receiving yard games. Patton had five receptions for 115 yards in the fourth quarter alone as Tech rallied from 17 down in the final 13 minutes to win 24-20 over Nevada.
One of three Louisiana players to win a national award is all-Louisiana first team punter is Ryan Allen who was named the Ray Guy Award winner. Allen, who averaged 46.3 yards per punt, was first in the nation in punts inside the 20 (37) and punts inside the 10 (20). The junior's punting average was third in the country.
Kris Cavitt and Stephen Warner highlighted the offensive line selections while representing Tech's opportunistic defense was defensive lineman Matt Broha and linebacker Adrien Cole on the first team and defensive back Terry Carter on the second team.
The Bulldogs finished the 2011 campaign 8-5 (7-1 WAC) and won the school's first WAC title in a decade.
The ballot for voting was put together by the state sports information directors from football schools based on play through the end of the regular season (Dec. 3) and the ballot was submitted to a panel of LSWA members. Under new rules this year, sports information directors could not vote for their own players, but also had to cast a vote if they nominated players. Media members could vote for any players they wished.
For complete coverage of Bulldog Football, follow @LATechPWalsh on Twitter or visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.
LSWA ALL-LOUISIANA COLLEGE FOOTBALL
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
POS/NAME, SCHOOL/CL/HOMETOWN/NOTES
OL/Sanford Banks, Grambling/Jr./Columbus, Ga./First Team All-SWAC
OL/Will Blackwell, LSU/Sr./West Monroe, La./1st Team All-SEC; 2nd Team A-A
OL/Kris Cavitt, Louisiana Tech/Sr./Mansfield, Texas/First Team All-WAC
OL/Alex Hurst, LSU/Jr./Barlett, Tenn./First Team All-SEC
OL/Stephen Warner, Louisiana Tech/Jr./Ruston, La./First Team All-WAC
TE/LaDarius Green, Louisiana-Lafayette/Sr./Pensacola, Fla./First Team All-SBC, 7 TDs
WR/Quinton Patton, Louisiana Tech/Jr./LaVargne, Tenn./First Team All-WAC, 1,135 yds, 10 TDs
WR/Reuben Randle, LSU/Jr./Bastrop, La./First Team All-SEC, 904 yds, 8 TDs
RB/Orleans Darkwa, Tulane/So./Nashville, Tenn./Second Team All-C-USA, 924 yards, 13 TDs
RB/Spencer Ware, LSU/So./Cincinnati, Ohio/Second Team All-SEC, 700 yards, 8 TDs
QB/Blaine Gauthier, Louisiana-Lafayette/So./Mabank, Texas/Second Team All-SBC; 2,488 yds, 20 TDs
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
POS/NAME, SCHOOL/CL/HOMETOWN/NOTES
DL/Matt Broha, Louisiana Tech/Sr./Baton Rouge/First Team All-WAC, 42 TT, 7.5 Sacks
DL/Ken Dorsey, ULM/Sr./New Orleans, La./First Team All-SBC, 49 TT, 13.5 TFL, 4.5 Sacks
DL/Barkevious Mingo, LSU/So./West Monroe, La./Second Team All-SEC, 41 TT, 8.0 Sacks
DL/Sam Montgomery, LSU/So./Greenwood, S.C./First Team All-SEC, First Team A-A, 9.0 Sacks
LB/Adrien Cole, Louisiana Tech/Sr./Mobile, Ala./WAC Defensive POY, 121 TT, 2 sacks, 1 Int (TD)
LB/Cliff Exama, Grambling State/Grad./N. Miami Beach, Fla./SWAC Defensive POY, 129 TT, 17 TFL
LB/Trent Mackey, Tulane/Jr./Port Sulphur, La./First Team All-C-USA, 145 TT, 4.5 sacks, 1 Int (TD)
DB/Malcolm Bronson, McNeese/Jr./Jasper, Texas/First Team All-SLC, 90 TT, 3 Int (1 TD)
DB/Morris Claiborne, LSU/Jr./Shreveport, La./Thorpe Award, First Team All-SEC, A-A, 6 Ints
DB/Tyrann Mathieu, LSU/So./New Orleans, La./Bednarik Award, Heisman Finalist, SEC Def. POY
DB/Eric Reid, LSU/So./Geismar, La./Second Team All-SEC, 65 TT, 2 Int.
FIRST TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
POS/NAME, SCHOOL/CL/HOMETOWN/NOTES
PK/Drew Alleman, LSU/Jr./Lafayette, La./Second Team All-SEC, 16-18 FGs, 62-of-63 PATs
P/Ryan Allen, Louisiana Tech/Jr./Salem, Ore./Ray Guy Award, First Team All-WAC, 46.3 avg.
RS/Tyrann Mathieu, LSU/So./New Orleans, La./Heisman Finalist, 26 punt ret, 420 yds, 2 TD
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Blaine Gauthier, Louisiana-Lafayette
Voting - Gauthier 15, Reuben Randle 7, Quinton Patton 4, Darnell Williams 2
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Tyrann Mathieu, LSU
Voting - Mathieu 24, Adrien Cole 2, Cliff Exama 1, Trent Mackey 1
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - Brad Wing, LSU
Voting - Wing 18, Alonzo Harris 5, Robert Kelley 3, Jordan Wells 2
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR - Quinton Patton, Louisiana Tech
Voting - only nominee
COACH OF THE YEAR - Les Miles, LSU
Voting - Miles 16.5, Mark Hudspeth 9.5, Sonny Dykes 1, no vote 1
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
OL - Leonardo Bates, Louisiana Lafayette (Jr., New Orleans, La.); Chris Faulk, LSU (So., Slidell, La.); Ben Feibel, Louisiana College (Sr., Shreveport, La.); Josh Penton, Southeastern La. (Sr., Spendora, Texas); Alec Savoie, McNeese (Jr. Lafayette, La.).
TE - Justin Aldredge, Northwestern State (Sr., Natchitoches, La.)
WR - Javone Lawson, Louisiana-Lafayette (Jr., New Orleans, La.); Mario Louis, Grambling (Sr., New Orleans, La.)
RB - Michael Ford, LSU (So. Leesville, La.); Dawrence Roberts, Grambling (So., Clearwater, Fla.)
QB - Kolton Browning, ULM
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL - Michael Brockers, LSU (So., Houston, Texas); Desmund Lighten, McNeese (Sr., Monroe, La.); Dezman Moses, Tulane (Sr., Willingboro, N.J.); Bernard Smith, Louisiana-Lafayette (Sr., Atlanta, Ga.).
LB - Ryan Baker, LSU (Sr., Grand Ridge, Fla.); Lance Kelley, Louisiana-Lafayette (Sr., Lafayette, La.); Derek Rose, Northwestern State (Jr., New Orleans, La.)
DB - Dwight "Bill" Bentley, Louisiana-Lafayette (Sr., Pahokee, Fla.); Terry Carter, Louisiana Tech (Sr. West Monroe, La.); Bobby Felder, Nicholls State (Sr. McComb, Miss.); Darius Prelow, ULM (Sr., Shreveport, La.)
SECOND TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
K - Brett Baer, Louisiana-Lafayette (Jr., Brandon, Miss.)
P - Brad Wing, LSU (Fr., Melbourne, Australia)
RS - Chika Madu, Nicholls (Sr., Norman, Okla.)
HONORABLE MENTION
WR-Darnell Williams, Louisiana College (Sr., Gulfport, Miss.); LB - Jamie Payton, Southern (Sr., Baton Rouge, La.)
