Nov. 17, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - November 17, 2011 - Penn State sophomore guard John Urschel (Williamsville, N.Y.) has been selected to the Capital One Academic All-District® Football Team as selected by CoSIDA. He will be eligible for consideration for the Academic All-America® Team.
A mathematics major, Urschel has earned a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in each of his first four semesters. Urschel, who earned his first career start in the win against Indiana in 2010, has appeared in all 10 games this season at guard or on special teams. The 2010 Academic All-Big Ten honoree has helped the No. 21 Nittany Lions gain more than 350 yards of offense in seven games and helped Penn State rush for 231 yards in a 13-3 victory against Iowa on Oct. 8.
The Capital One Academic All-District® Football Team was selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30 on a scale of 4.00 and have achieved sophomore athletic eligibility.
The Nittany Lion football team has had a least one first-team ESPN Academic All-American® in each of the past seven seasons. Penn State leads the nation 15 Academic All-Americans® over the past five years (13 first-team selections).
Penn State's 49 Academic All-Americans® all-time rank No. 3 in the nation among Football Bowl Subdivision programs.
No. 21 Penn State (8-2, 5-1) is atop the Big Ten Leaders Division and visits Ohio State (6-4, 3-3) Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (ABC/ESPN) in a pivotal division game. The Nittany Lions would clinch no worse than a tie for the division title with a win in Columbus.
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