 
Vote Jamaal Charles for All-America Player of the Week
Texas junior RB Jamaal Charles has been named one of four nominees for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week award after setting career highs with 290 yards on 33 carries and scoring three TDs in a 28-25 victory over Nebraska. Charles joins N.C. State WR Donald Bowens, Hawaii QB Colt Brennan and Colorado CB Terrence Wheatley on the ballot list. Fans can go to until 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday to submit their votes. There is no limit on fan voting, and each vote counts as one entry into a sweepstakes to win a trip to the 2008 BCS National Championship game in New Orleans, La. The winner will be announced Nov. 1 during Thursday's ESPN College Football Primetime Presented by Applebee's college football game between Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. Behind Charles' career-high 290-yard rushing day (No. 4 on the UT all-time single-game list), the Horns rushed for a season-high 364 yards on 48 carries (7.6 ypc). The 290 rushing yards were the most by any player ever against the Huskers, surpassing the 247 yards by Oklahoma's Billy Simms in 1979. The 290 yards pushed Charles over 1,000 rushing yards (1,012) for the first time in his UT career and he became the 21st Longhorn to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Charles rushed for 237 second-half yards, just four yards less than Hodges Mitchell's UT record of 241 yards in a half versus Kansas in 2000. Charles rushed for 216 yards and three TDs in the fourth quarter alone. The 216 yards in a quarter were a UT record and just six yards shy of the NCAA mark for rushing yards in a quarter (222, Corey Dillon vs. San Jose State, 1996). With Texas trailing 17-9 with 13:13 left in the game, Charles ignited the Horns final surge by capping a four-play, 74-yard drive with a 25-yard TD run that pulled Texas to within 17-15. Charles' two rushes on that drive accounted for 50 yards. He followed up that effort with a spectacular, career-long 86-yard TD run, which is tied for the fifth-longest run in UT history, two possessions later that gave the Horns their first lead since the second quarter at 21-17. Charles completed his scoring onslaught with a 40-yard TD run that put UT up, 28-17, with 3:34 remaining. All totaled, his three TDs came during a 9:39 fourth quarter stretch that saw Charles run for 196 yards on nine carries (21.1 ypc). The AT&T All-America Player of the Week program will continue throughout the season, with the nominees being revealed each Sunday on ESPN SportsCenter at 9 a.m. ET and on the Web at . AT&T customers can visit AT&T's wireless NCAAź Football Portal on their handsets to view video highlights of each week's candidates, retrieve photos, check scorecards, track their favorite teams and download school ringtones. In December, four finalists for the AT&T All-America Player of the Year award will be announced during a one-hour special on ABC Sports when the Football Writers Association of America All-America team will also be announced. Fans will then get a chance to say who the best player in the nation is by voting for the AT&T All-America Player of the Year up until the Bowl Championship Series. Voting ends on Jan. 4 and the winner will be announced during the BCS National Championship game on FOX on Jan. 8.
|
|
