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Jan. 27, 2009
IUP senior linebacker Terrence Jackson and junior cornerback Akwasi Owusu-Ansah were named to the D2Football.com All-America team while sophomore kicker Craig Burgess earned the same honor from the Don Hansen Football Gazette. Jackson was named to the D2Football.com first team and Owusu-Ansah was on the second team. Burgess was a second team selection by the Football Gazette. Jackson was previously named to the American Football Coaches Association and Associated Press All-America teams. Jackson was the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year and a first team all-conference pick for the third straight year and was the Rookie of the Year and second team all-conference as a freshman in 2005. A member of the East team at the Cactus Bowl in Kingsville, Texas, earlier this month, Jackson led the Crimson Hawks in tackles with 69 and added 11 tackles for loss and two sacks. He ranked 11th in the PSAC with an average of 7.7 tackles per game and added 11 tackles for loss, two sacks and three pass breakups. Jackson played in 40 of 42 games during his career and finished with totals of 271 tackles, 38 tackles for loss, six sacks and five interceptions. During the 2008 season, he spearheaded an IUP defense that ranked second in the nation in scoring (11.4), fifth in rushing (76.1) and fourth in total (235.7) defense. Only two of IUP's 10 opponents scored more than 20 points and the Crimson Hawks allowed an average of only 3.5 yards per play. Owusu-Ansah (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone) intercepted eight passes this season and led the PSAC while ranking second nationally with an average of 0.80 per game. He fell one shy of the school record for most picks in a season and had seven in the final four games of the year, including three versus Gannon and two each versus Mercyhurst and Kutztown. No IUP player had a three interception game since Reece Brown did so in a playoff victory over Virginia Union in 1991. Owusu-Ansah added a 74-yard interception return for a touchdown in the opener at C.W. Post. Adding in his 10 pass breakups, Owusu-Ansah defended 18 opponent aerials on the year, the fourth-highest mark in the nation. Burgess was 16 of 22 in the field goal department in 2008 and converted all 46 of his extra point attempts, the most without a miss in one season in school history. He tied for second in the nation in field goals per game with 1.60 and his 72.7 percent success rate was second in the conference. Burgess also led the PSAC and was 14th nationally in scoring with 9.40 points per game. His 16 field goals were just two shy of the IUP single-season record set by Mike Geary in 1993 and matched by Jon Ruff two years later, and he tied the school record with four field goals versus Gannon. He is sixth in school history with 22 career field goals. Burgess' nine PATs versus Millersville and Clarion set a new school record, and he is 76 for 77 in his career. |
