College Sporting News Tabs Russell and Edwards All-Americans
1/22/2011 5:45:00 PM | Football
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The College Sporting News named Georgia Southern sophomore defensive lineman Brent Russell (Comer, Ga.) and junior punter Charlie Edwards (Tifton, Ga.) to its annual list of Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) All-Americans on Thursday, January 20th. The CSN All-America squad featured the "Sweet 63," representing the number of scholarships available to teams at the FCS level. All 14 FCS conferences and 37 different teams were represented on CSN's 63-player squad.
The CSN All-America team differs from all other honor squads in that it is designed like an actual team that could take the field and play in an actual game. The list includes quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, a full defense and a complete special teams unit.
Russell, a finalist for the 2010 Buck Buchanan Award for the top defensive player in the FCS, also earned first team All-America accolades from the Walter Camp Football Foundation, Associated Press and Phil Steele Publications. He finished the season with 71 total tackles, including 18.5 tackles for loss to place him in a tie for 38th nationally. His 8.0 total sacks in 2010 ranked 50th in the NCAA statistics rankings.
The CSN All-America selection is the first for Edwards for the 2010 season. Edwards led the Southern Conference in punting with a 41.0 yards per punt average and helped the Eagles maintain the top national ranking in net punting.
Both Russell and Edwards earned first team All-SoCon honors from the league's coaches and media association.
Eastern Washington's Beau Baldwin was named Coach of the Year in a close vote over Georgia Southern first-year Head Coach Jeff Monken and three other coaches.
