Tech's Morgan an All-American

By Doug Roberson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia Tech defensive end Derrick Morgan and Georgia punter Drew Butler were named first team AFCA All-Americans, the American Football Coaches Association announced Thursday.

Morgan, a junior, was named the ACC's defensive player of the year Wednesday. He leads the ACC and ranks sixth nationally in sacks (12.5) and is three sacks shy of breaking the school's single-season record of 15 sacks by Pat Swilling in 1985.

He is the fifth Tech player in the past five years to be named All-American by various sources, joining MichaelJohnson (AFCA) in 2008, punter Durant Brooks (multiple) in 2007, and wide receiver Calvin Johnson (multiple) in 2005 and 2006.

2009 AFCA Coaches’ All-America Team

Offense

WR Golden Tate, Notre Dame

WR Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati

TE Dennis Pitta, BYU

OL Mike Johnson, Alabama

OL Russell Okung, Oklahoma State

C Chris Hall, Texas

OL Trent Williams, Oklahoma

OL Mike Iupati, Idaho

QB Colt McCoy, Texas

RB Mark Ingram, Alabama

RB Toby Gerhart, Stanford

Defense

DL Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska

DL Jerry Hughes, TCU

DL Jared Odrick, Penn State

DL Derrick Morgan, Georgia Tech

DL Brian Price, UCLA

LB Rolando McClain, Alabama

LB Greg Jones, Michigan State

DB Eric Berry, Tennessee

DB Joe Haden, Florida

DB Javier Arenas, Alabama

DB Earl Thomas, Texas

Specialists

P Drew Butler, Georgia

PK Kai Forbath, UCLA

AP C.J. Spiller, Clemson

Team Background: The teams now chosen for each of the AFCA’s five divisions evolved from a single 11-player squad in 1945. From 1945 until 1967, only one team was chosen. From 1967 through 1971, two teams, University Division and College Division, were selected. In 1972, the College Division was split into College I and College II. In 1979, the University Division was split into two teams — Division I-A and Division I-AA. In 1996 the College I and College II teams were renamed Division II and Division III respectively. The AFCA has selected an NAIA All-America Team since 2006.