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Jovan Belcher Collects Second All-America Honor this Postseason
Jan. 7, 2008
ORONO, Maine - University of Maine junior defensive end Jovan Belcher garnered his second All-America honor on Monday as he was named to The Sports Network All-America Third-Team, as announced by the news agency. Belcher was named an Associated Press Second-Team All-American last month. It marks the fourth-straight year that at least one Black Bear has garnered All-America honors and the second-straight year a Black Bear has earned multiple All-America honors from several news agencies. The announcement continues the string of post-season accolades that Belcher has garnered over the last three months. In late November, he was named to the 2007 All-CAA First-Team and followed that two weeks later by being named to the 2007 New England Football Writers Association Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) All-Star Team.
In his first season at defensive end, Belcher quickly became a force in the CAA and was one of the most feared players in the league during the final four weeks of the season. Belcher switched from linebacker -- where he started the previous two seasons -- to end in the spring and embraced the move by finishing with a career-high 85 tackles this season (second most on the team). More importantly, Belcher recorded 17.0 tackles for loss, including 10.0 sacks. He became just the seventh player in program history to register at least 10 sacks in a season. Belcher was a key force for Maine in the final four weeks of the season, which saw the Black Bears go 3-1 during that stretch. He made at least two tackles behind the line of scrimmage in each of the four games, while totaling a career-high 4.0 sacks in the season finale at New Hampshire. That performance marked the third time during the season he made at least two sacks in a game (3.0 at Villanova, 9/15; 2.0 at Northeastern, 10/28). Belcher was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Week two-straight weeks (Nov. 5 & Nov. 12), thus becoming the only player in the league this season to earn the defensive award on back-to-back occasions.
He finished the season ranked first in the CAA in sacks per game (0.91) and tackles for loss per game (1.55), and tied for 22nd in tackles per game (7.7). Belcher ranked seventh in the nation in sacks and 16th in tackles for loss. Belcher's average of 0.91 sacks per game ranked 18th in ALL OF DIVISION I college football. Belcher is the 32nd All-American in program history. The 32 Black Bear All-Americans have produced 35 All-America honors in program history. Belcher is the sixth Maine defensive lineman to be named an All-American, which is tied for the most of any position in school history. Belcher's honors mark the second-straight season a Black Bear defensive end earned All-America honors, as Matt King was a consensus First-Team All-American in 2006. King dawned the No. 9 uniform during the 2006 season and passed it down as a legacy number to Belcher prior to the beginning of this past season. For more information on Maine Black Bear football, please visit www.GoBlackBears.com(,) the official site of the University of Maine Athletic Department. |
