Dec. 15, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - Penn State consensus All-American Devon Still (Wilmington, Del.) has been selected a Sporting News first-team All-American.
The list of first-team All-America honors has reached 10 for the dominant defensive tackle. The 6-5, 310-pound senior previously had been selected a first-team All-American by: Associated Press, Walter Camp Football Foundation, Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, SI.com, FoxSportsNext.com/Scout.com, Pro Football Weekly and Yahoo! Sports.
Penn State's 96th first-team All-American, Still is the 82nd Penn State football student-athlete to earn first team All-America recognition, a total of 96 times, dating back to W.T. (Mother) Dunn's selection to the Walter Camp All-America squad in 1906.
A co-captain, Still is the Nittany Lions' 22nd first team All-American since starting Big Ten Conference competition in 1993 (26 total selections). Penn State has earned 10 first team All-America honorees since 2005. Still is the sixth Penn State defensive lineman to earn first-team All-America accolades since 2002.
A starter in 24 games the past two seasons, Still was selected the 2011 Big Ten Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year and the conference's Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year.
The former Howard Tech standout was a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy, presented to the nation's top defensive player. Still also was a finalist for the Outland Trophy, awarded to the nation's premier interior lineman.
For the season, Still is second in the Big Ten in solo tackles for loss (15.0) and is tied for third in overall TFL (17.0-minus 77), leading a Penn State defense that ranks in the Top 10 nationally in scoring, total, pass and pass efficiency defense. Still is among the conference leaders with 4.5 sacks (minus-36) and has recorded 55 tackles, with one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and a pass break-up.
No. 22 Penn State and Wisconsin tied for the Big Ten Leaders Division title with 6-2 records. The Nittany Lions (9-3) will play No. 19 Houston (12-1) in the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas on Jan. 2 in the first bowl game of 2012. Penn State's 27 bowl wins are No. 3 nationally and 43 bowl visits are good for No. 8 in the nation. The Nittany Lions lead all Big Ten teams in bowl victories and winning percentage (65.1, 27-14-2 record) and are No. 2 in bowl appearances.
Playing in a New Year's bowl game for the sixth time in the last seven years, tickets for Penn State's clash with Houston are on sale at www.GoPSUsports.com or by calling 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Penn State will conclude finals week on Friday. The Nittany Lions will return to practice Friday for the contest with the Cougars.