Panthers Land Five on All-Big East Football Team
11/29/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Panthers Land Five on All-Big East Football Team
11/29/2000
PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh All-America wide receiver Antonio Bryant has been named tri-Big East Offensive Player of the Year, while five Panthers were named to the All-Big East team, the conference has announced. The selections were made by the league's head coaches, who are not permitted to vote for their own players.
Bryant shares the offensive award with Miami's Santana Moss and Virginia Tech's Lee Suggs. He is the first Panther to earn Big East Player of the Year honors since running back Billy West was the league's offensive MVP in 1994.
Pittsburgh had three players earn first-team All-Big East honors, including Bryant, junior defensive end Bryan Knight and senior center Jeff McCurley. Second-team honorees included sophomore linebacker Gerald Hayes and junior free safety Ramon Walker.
Bryant (Miami, Fla./Northwestern) leads the nation in receiving with an average of 130.2 yards per game. He set a Big East record this past year with 1,302 total receiving yards and had 68 receptions and 11 touchdowns. A finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, Bryant was recently named an All-American by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).
Knight (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph's) paced the Big East in tackles for losses (26 for minus 141 yards) and was second with 11.5 sacks. A Football News All-American (second team), Knight's 26 tackles for losses set a conference record. He finished the season with 74 total stops.
McCurley (Enon Valley, Pa./Mohawk) was an instrumental figure in the Panthers' high-powered offense this season. A four-year starter, he has played in every game (45) since arriving at Pittsburgh in 1997 and has a streak of 41 consecutive starts.
Hayes (Paterson, N.J./Passaic County Technical Institute) earned second-team honors after leading the Panthers with 104 tackles. His average of 10.4 tackles per game ranked third among Big East players. Hayes had six double-figure tackle performances this year, including a career-high 16 at Syracuse.
Walker (Akron, Ohio/Buchtel) was named All-Big East for the second straight year. He logged 56 tackles despite being injured for a three-game stretch late in the season. Walker helped key Pittsburgh's 12-0 victory over Penn State when he forced a Nittany Lion fumble in Panther territory to end a second-half scoring threat.