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Matt King Finishes Sixth in Buchanan Award Voting
Dec. 15, 2006 ORONO, Maine - The awards continued to mount for Matt King (Stoughton, Mass.) on Friday as he finished sixth in the voting with 112 points (4 first-place votes) for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is presented annually to the nation's most outstanding defensive player. In addition to the high finish, King, a senior defensive end, was also recently named an Associated Press First-Team All-American. It marks the second-straight year the AP recognized a Black Bear on its team, as offensive lineman Ben Lazarski made the 2005 AP third-team. The two most recent achievements are just a sampling of the awards King has won this post-season. He has also been named a First-Team All-American by the AFCA and Walter Camp Foundation, been invited to play in the Inta-Juice College Football All-Star Game on Jan. 13 (11 a.m., on ESPN2), and been named a First-Team All-Atlantic 10 selection. 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 three players from the Atlantic 10 Conference to be named a finalist for the Buchanan Award, 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 average 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). King joined former linebacker and All-American Stephen Cooper as the only two Black Bears to be named finalists for the Buchanan Award. Cooper finished fifth in the voting in 2002 with 119 points, including seven first-place votes. Cooper is currently playing linebacker for the San Diego Chargers.
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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