-Courtesy of Penn State University
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., January 17, 2007 – Three Penn State standouts have accepted invitations to play in the 58th Senior Bowl on Saturday, January 27.
Tackle Levi Brown, tailback Tony Hunt and linebacker Paul Posluszny will represent the Nittany Lions in the contest. The game will kick at 4:00 p.m. (et) and air on NFL Network.
The NFL Network also will have daily coverage of Senior Bowl practices from Jan. 22-25.
A total of six Nittany Lions will play in 2007 all-star games. Defensive tackle Jay Alford, tackle Ed Johnson and end Tim Shaw played in last Sunday’s Hula Bowl.
Penn State’s best offensive lineman in the past 10 years, the 6-5, 328-pound Brown started 45 of the last 48 games of his outstanding career. The lone returning starter on the offensive line entering the 2006 season, Brown earned second team All-America honors for the second consecutive year, from the Walter Camp Football Foundation and The Sporting News. A two-time All-Big Ten selection, the Norfolk, Va., standout was a dominating presence. A 2006 co-captain with Posluszny, the former Granby High School standout helped Tony Hunt become just the sixth Nittany Lion to compile a pair of 1,000 yard rushing seasons, with eight 100-yard games this past season. Hunt gained 3,320 career yards, second-best in Penn State annals, and finished the 2006 season with 1,386 yards, sixth-best in school season history.
Brown capped his collegiate career by helping the Nittany Lions gain 380 yards in a 20-10 win over No. 17 Tennessee in the Outback Bowl. Penn State primarily ran to the left side behind Brown, gaining 183 yards on 40 attempts, including 158 yards from Hunt. Brown earned his degree in labor and industrial relations in 3 1/2 years, graduating in December 2005. He earned his second degree, in psychology, last month.
Hunt quietly earned his place among Penn State’s long line of illustrious running backs. A starter in the last 29 games of his brilliant career, his abilities as a ball-carrier, receiver and blocker led Joe Paterno to laud Hunt as one of the best all-around backs he has ever coached. A powerful athlete who gets stronger as he gets into the flow of the game, Hunt concluded his career with another superb effort, earning MVP honors in the 2007 Outback Bowl. He for 158 yards on a career-high tying 31 carries (5.1 avg.) in the Nittany Lions’ 20-10 win over No. 17 Tennessee. The 158 yards were the second-highest of his career (167 vs. Temple) and the second-highest by a Nittany Lion in a bowl game (186, Blair Thomas vs. BYU in 1989 Holiday Bowl). The Alexandria, Va. product finished his career with 3,320 yards, just 78 yards behind career leader Curt Warner.
Hunt received second-team All-Big Ten honors, for the second consecutive season, and averaged 106.6 ypg, good for third in the Big Ten. He ran for 1,386 yards and 11 touchdowns, good for 12th in the nation, and ranking him sixth all-time at Penn State for season rushing yards. His 88 career receptions are the most by a PSU running back and tied for 10th overall. His 4,231 career all-purpose yards position him fourth in school history. The former T.C. Williams High School standout is only the sixth back at Penn State to record a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Hunt rushed for 100 or more yards 15 times in his career, including eight century-breaking games in 2006 (all eight 130-plus yards). His 25 career rushing touchdowns are tied for eighth on the school’s career list.
Posluszny was the 2005 and ’06 Bednarik Award winner, presented to the nation’s top defensive player by the Maxwell Football Club. The 2005 Butkus Award winner as the nation’s top linebacker, he also was a finalist for the 2006 Butkus and Rotary Lombardi Awards and the Lott Trophy. A 2006 Associated Press and Walter Camp Football Foundation first team All-American, Posluszny joins Dennis Onkotz (1968-69), Shane Conlan (1985-86) and LaVar Arrington (1998-99) as Nittany Lion linebackers that have earned first team All-America accolades twice.
Posluszny again was the steely-eyed guiding force in helping the Penn State defense finish 2006 ranked in the top 15 nationally in rushing (87.5 ypg, 7th), scoring (14.4 ppg, 9th), total defense (284.5 ypg, 15th) and pass efficiency defense (105.9 rating, 14th) and sacks (40, T-sixth). A starter in the last 37 games of his superlative career, Posluszny is the first Nittany Lion to lead the team in tackles three times and to post three 100-tackle seasons. The tough and tenacious player led Penn State with 116 tackles (69 solo), which ranked No. 3 in the Big Ten, and had 9.5 TFL, 3.0 sacks, two forced fumbles and four pass breakups.
The Aliquippa native led Penn State in tackles eight times this season, including each of the last three regular season games. He is one of six Nittany Lions to receive All-Big Ten honors three times. Posluszny also is a two-time first team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American and was selected the 2006 Academic All-American of the Year among Division I football players. He and guard Jeff Hartings (1994-95) are the only Nittany Lions to earn first team All-America and Academic All-America honors twice. The former Hopewell High School standout graduated in December 2006, in 3 1/2 years, with a degree in finance and a 3.54 cumulative grade point average.
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