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Post-Season Honors Continue to Pile Up for Matt King
Dec. 12, 2006 ORONO, Maine - The post-season honors continued to roll in for senior defensive end Matt King (Stoughton, Mass.) on Tuesday, as he was named a First-Team All-American by both the AFCA and Walter Camp committees, while also being invited to play in the Inta-Juice College Football All-Star Game in Houston, Texas on Jan. 13. In addition to the three new honors, King has also been named a First-Team All-Atlantic 10 selection and a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award (nation's most outstanding defensive player) this post-season. The winner of the Buchanan Award will be announced this Thursday in Chattanooga, Tenn., on the eve of the I-AA/FCS national championship. The Inta-Juice All-Star Game will be played on Jan. 13, in Houston, Texas, and will be aired nationally on ESPN2 at 11 a.m. King becomes the second Black Bear to be invited to an all-star game this season, joining Daren Stone (Lockport, N.Y.), who will play in the Hula Bowl on Jan. 14, in Honolulu, Hawai'i, at 8 p.m. (EST) on ESPN. King finished the regular season ranked second in the nation in quarterback sacks with an average of 1.05 a game. His 11.5 sacks this season were the second most for a single season in school history and was only bettered by Todd Williamson's 13 in 1996. King's double-digit sack total was just the sixth in school history. King, who was one of just two players from the Atlantic 10 Conference to be named to be named an AFCA All-American, led the conference in sacks. He was also just one of nine players in all of Division I football (I-A and I-AA) to finish the regular season by averaging at least 1.05 sacks a game. King also totaled 18.0 tackles for loss this season, which led the A-10 and ranked sixth in the nation (1.64 a game). He recorded at least one tackle for loss in all 11 games this season, including four with at least 2.5. His season-best was a 3.5 tackle for loss performance in a 30-3 victory over Northeastern on Nov. 4. That performance enabled King to be named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week. Another highlight of the 2006 season was his first quarter sack of Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan, which came in front of several family members and friends. King concluded his career by making at least one tackle for loss in 14-straight games. He did so in the first three games of the 2005 season, including a 3.5 TFL performance against Richmond in the third game of the season (Sept. 17). However, during that game, King suffered a hand injury which sidelined him the rest of the season. A senior tri-captain for the Black Bears this season, King helped anchor a defense which finished the regular season ranked first in the nation in rush defense (63.91), second in total defense (229.91), third in sacks (3.45), fifth in tackles for loss (7.64) and seventh in scoring defense (13.09).
Maine finished the 2006 season with a 6-5 record, marking the program's first winning campaign since the 2003 season. The Black Bears entered the national top 25 polls midway through the season, making the school's first appearance in the rankings in nearly two seasons. Maine finished the regular season ranked No. 24 in The Sports Network I-AA Top 25 poll.
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