Over the weekend Aztecs running back Rashaad Penny learned he finished 5th in the Heisman Trophy balloting, which is a tremendous feat for a non-power conference player that most of the country never even saw play because the majority of his games started at 10:30 p.m. on the East Coast.
While the Heisman voters and Doak Walker Award (best running back) voters didn’t get it there seem to be enough educated college football people in America to restore hope.
On Monday, Penny was named to two more All-America teams. The San Diego State superstar was honored as a first-team All-American by both the Associated Press and the Football Writers Association of America.
Entering bowl season Penny leads the nation with 2.027 rushing yards and 2,698 all-purpose yards. If Penny can gain 302 all-purpose yards (on rushing, receiving and kick/punt returns) in the Aztecs bowl game against Army he’ll become just the 4th player in FBS history to top 3,000 in a single season. The others are also running backs: Western Kentucky’s Antonio Andrews, Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey, and Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders (who only needed 11 games to do it).
Here's a list of the All-American and All-Conference teams Penny has been named to so far:
Associated Press First-Team All-American
FWAA First-Team All-American
Sports Illustrated First-Team All-American
All-American First-Team All-American
Bleacher Report First-Team All-American
Walter Camp Second-Team All-American
SB Nation Second-Team All-American
Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year
Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year
All-Mountain West First Team (running back)
All-Mountain West First Team (returner)
Pro Football Focus All-Mountain West First Team (running back)
