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Warrick tabbed again Four FSU players anchor AP All-America team
Posted: Tuesday December 14, 1999 10:01 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Florida State is No. 1 in All-America football players as well as No. 1 in the rankings. Wide receiver Peter Warrick and kicker Sebastian Janikowski led a foursome of Seminoles selected Monday for The Associated Press' All-America team, a squad which also features Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne. Noseguard Corey Simon and offensive guard Jason Whitaker were the other Florida State players chosen, while Penn State had three defensive stars on the team -- linebackers LaVar Arrington and Brandon Short and end Courtney Brown. Warrick, Janikowski and Simon were the only repeats from last year's team. Joe Hamilton, Georgia Tech's record-setter who threw for 3,060 yards and 27 touchdowns, was the top choice at quarterback, beating out Virginia Tech freshman Michael Vick, who made the second team. Hamilton, the Heisman runner-up, was second nationally in total offense with 3,798 yards -- 345.2 yards per game. Warrick, a Heisman front-runner before his arrest on theft charges and two-game suspension, still caught 71 passes for 934 yards and had 12 TDs in nine games. The 6-foot, 190-pound senior also produced TDs passing, rushing and returning punts for the Seminoles (11-0), who play for the national title in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4 against Vick's No. 2 Hokies (11-0). Dayne, who broke Ricky Williams' major college career rushing record, ran for 1,834 yards and 19 touchdowns in leading Wisconsin (9-2) to the Big Ten Conference title and a Rose Bowl matchup against Stanford. Dayne, who has 6,397 career yards, also was the AP College Player of the Year, and won the Maxwell and Doak Walker awards. The Big Ten was the top conference with seven players on the team, which consisted of 21 seniors and five juniors. The Atlantic Coast Conference was next with six players. Dayne was joined in the backfield by Virginia's Thomas Jones, who ran for 1,798 yards and 16 touchdowns; Warrick's partner at wideout was Stanford's Troy Walters, who caught 74 passes for a Pacific-10 Conference record 1,456 yards and 10 TDs. Walters won the Biletnikoff award as the nation's top receiver. James Whalen of Kentucky was the tight end after a season of 90 catches, 1,019 yards and 10 TDs. His 90 catches set and NCAA major-college mark for single-season receptions by a tight end. Arizona's Dennis Northcutt, who led the nation in punt returns and ran two back for TDs, was the all-purpose player. Northcutt caught 88 passes for 1,422 yards and eight TDs, and was second in the nation in all-purpose yards at 187.42 per game. Janikowski, the Groza award winner as the top kicker, was the nation's third leading scorer, hitting 23 of 30 field goals and all 47 extra point attempts for 116 points. Also, 57 of his 83 kickoffs went for touchbacks. Joining Whitaker on the offensive line were Outland Trophy winner Chris Samuels of Alabama, Chris McIntosh of Wisconsin and Cosey Coleman of Tennessee. Ben Hamilton of Minnesota was the center. Penn State dominated the defense with Arrington, Short and Brown. Arrington, the Butkus award winner as the nation's top linebacker, had nine sacks, two fumble recoveries and two blocked field goals. Short led the Lions with 103 tackles and had four sacks and a blocked kick. Brown, a 6-5, 265-pound senior, had 55 tackles, including a school-record 29 for losses, and 13 1/2 sacks. He also forced three fumbles and intercepted a pass. The other linemen were Corey Moore of Virginia Tech, Casey Hampton of Texas and Florida State's Simon. Moore, the leader of Virginia Tech's third-ranked defense and Lombardi award winner as the nation's top lineman, led the Big East with 17 sacks for 150 yards in losses. Moore also won the Nagurski trophy as the country's top defensive player. Simon had 84 tackles, 21 for losses, and four sacks for a Seminoles defense that allowed just 15.8 points and 98.8 yards rushing per game. Kansas State's Mark Simoneau and Tennessee's Raynoch Thompson joined Arrington and Short at the linebacker spots. Simoneau had 91 tackles and 6 1/2 sacks; Thompson had 85 tackles and three interceptions. The secondary was made up of record-setting Deltha O'Neal of California, Mike Brown of Nebraska, Tyrone Carter of Minnesota and Brian Urlacher of New Mexico. O'Neal set an NCAA record by returning four interceptions for TDs and finished the season with nine, tied for first in the nation. He returned one interception 100 yards for a score and also had a 100-yard kickoff return for a TD. Urlacher, 6-4, 240, averaged 14 tackles per game, led the Mountain West Conference with five forced fumbles and recovered three fumbles. He also was used as a receiver and caught seven passes -- six for TDs. Carter, who led the Golden Gophers with 127 tackles, won the Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back. The punter was Shane Lechler of Texas A&M. Lechler averaged 46.45 yards on 60 punts.
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