The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Okam, Charles earn All-America honors
12.11.2007 | Football
AUSTIN, Texas -- Two Longhorns were selected as part of All-America teams on Monday. Senior DT Frank Okam was selected third-team All-America by The Associated Press and junior RB Jamaal Charles was tabbed honorable mention All-America by SI.com.
Okam and Charles join senior OT Tony Hills as Longhorns named to All-America teams. Hills picked up first-team honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
Okam, who was a member of the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award watch lists before being named first-team All-Big 12 by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and second-team All-Big 12 by The Associated Press and the league's coaches, notched 49 tackles, 10 TFL, five sacks, 16 pressures, four PBD, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 2007. He has led the Texas defense to rank 10th nationally (99.3 ypg) in rush defense this season, after giving up just 61.2 yards per game to rank third nationally last season. In 49 career games (38 starts), Okam has posted 157 tackles, 27 TFL, 10 sacks, 46 pressures, 11 PBD, a forced fumble and five fumble recoveries.
Charles, who was a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award (nation's top RB) and earned first team All-Big 12 honors from The Associated Press and the league's coaches, has carried the ball 231 times for 1,458 yards (No. 5 on UT's single-season list) and 16 TDs (T-No. 9 NCAA/No. 6 on UT's single-season list) this season. His 121.5 yards per game rank 12th nationally and first in the Big 12. His 6.3 yards per carry average ranks eighth nationally. He has rushed for at least 100 yards six times (T-No. 9 on UT's single-season list) and at least 70 yards in 10-of-12 games. Over the last four games, Charles has rushed for 736 yards and eight TDs on 89 carries (8.3 ypc). He scored three TDs in both the Nebraska and Oklahoma State games, marking the first time since Ricky Williams in 1998 that a UT player has run for at least three TDs in consecutive games.
For his career, Charles has posted 3,167 yards (No. 5 on UT's all-time list) on 506 carries (6.3 ypc) and scored 34 TDs (No. 6 on UT's all-time list). He has also caught 47 passes for 528 yards (11.2 ypc) and three TDs. All totaled, he has registered 3,695 tandem yards (rush/rec.), which ranks sixth on UT's all-time list, and 37 TDs (No. 4 on UT's all-time list) on 553 career touches (6.7 ypp).
