Okay, so what. This may be a bit of a 'homer' pick. http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/sports/college/?ArID=131494&SecID=55 4 Mountaineers on All-America team 12/13/2006 2:52 PM By: Ralph D. Russo, Associated Press Defensive end Marques Murrell was one of 4 Mountaineers selected to the Associated Press I-AA All-America team. NEW YORK -- No wonder Appalachian State is set to play for its second consecutive I-AA national championship. The Mountaineers have a roster dotted with All-Americans. Appalachian State placed four players on The Associated Press I-AA All-America team released Wednesday, and had two more players make the third team. Defensive end Marques Murrell, safety Jeremy Wiggins and offensive linemen Kerry Brown and Michael Isenhour were selected to the first team, and running back Kevin Richardson, who leads the nation with 27 touchdowns, and tight end Daniel Bettis were third-team picks. No other school had more than two first-teamers or four players on the three teams. The Mountaineers (13-1) face Massachusetts (13-1) in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Friday night. Coastal Carolina's Tyler Thigpen, second in the nation in total offense with 3,952 yards, is the All-American quarterback in a backfield with two Gateway conference runners. Southern Illinois' Arkee Whitlock and Youngstown State's Marcus Mason each has run for more than 1,800 yards. The receivers are New Hampshire's David Ball, who broke Jerry Rice's NCAA record for touchdown receptions this year, and Alex Watson of Northern Arizona. Ball, Hampton linebacker Justin Durant and Murrell repeated as All-Americans. Murrell has 12.5 sacks this season, and left a lasting impression in the 2005 national title game against Northern Iowa. He forced a fumble that linemate Jason Hunter returned for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter of a 21-16 victory. "He's got good foot speed and is a great competitor," Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore said of Murrell. The senior forced six fumbles this season. Moore said NFL teams are looking at the 245-pound Murrell as a possible outside linebacker. Wiggins holds down the back end of a defense allowing 14.7 points per game. The senior safety has 77 tackles, five interceptions and three recovered fumbles. "He's undersized by Division I standards, but he's like a lot of guys that play in the NFL _ 5-9, 5-10 defensive backs who anticipate things well," Moore said. "He's been a key player all along for us. A great leader on and off the field." Richardson leads the nation with 162 points, despite sitting out much of the second half in six Appalachian State blowouts this season. Bettis played both ways for the Mountaineers early in the season, also seeing time at defensive end. "In the last month, he's really come on and had a really big year," Moore said. "He's such a team guy." Joining Brown and Isenhour on the line is Alex Miller of UMass, one of three schools with two first-team All-Americans. Defensive back James Ihedigbo was the Minutemen's other All-American. UMass running back Steve Baylark made the second team. Portland State had offensive lineman Brennan Carvalho and linebacker Adam Hayward selected as All-Americans. McNeese State had receiver/returner Steven Whitehead, the Southland Conference offensive player of the year, picked as the all-purpose player, and defensive end Bryan Smith, who had 12.5 sacks. Offensive tackle Ed McCarthy of Yale was lone Ivy Leaguer to make first team and Montana's Dan Carpenter is the All-American kicker with 113 points and 24 field goals. The rest of the defensive line features the nation's leaders in sacks per game. Southeast Missouri State's Edgar Jones averaged 1.20 sacks per game, and Maine's Matt King 1.05. Cameron Siskowic of Illinois State is the other linebacker. He, Durant and Hayward were defensive players of the year in their respective conferences. Joining Wiggins and Ihedigbo in the secondary is Dre Dokes of Northern Iowa, the nation's leader in interceptions, and Jonathan Brass, who had six picks for UC Davis. All-American punter Breck Ackley of Southern leads the nation with a 45.47-yard average. Northern Arizona's Jason Murrietta is the second team quarterback and San Diego's Josh Johnson, who leads the nation in total offense, is the third team QB. Justice Hairston of Central Connecticut, the nation's leading rusher at 168 yards per game, made the third team.
http://www.goasu.com/football/roster/1576/ Marques Murrell Number: 44 Class: Sr. Hometown: Fayetteville, N.C. High School: Jack Britt Height: 6-2 Weight: 245 Position: DL Birthdate: March 20, 1985 Candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the top defensive player in NCAA Division I-AA football ... first-team preseason all-America selection by The Sports Network ... ranked among ASU’s all-time leaders with 23 career sacks (5th), 42 tackles for loss (8th) and 12 forced fumbles (3rd) ... will look to prove that last year’s All-America campaign was not entirely the result of playing opposite another All-America defensive end in Jason Hunter ... looking to become the first player in ASU’s long line of standout defensive linemen to lead the squad in sacks three-straight seasons ... has added 15 pounds to his six-foot-two frame in the offseaon ... combines exemplary speed and power to frustrate offensive tackles and get to the quarterback or ball carrier. 2005: Consensus first-team All-American ... first-team all-Southern Conference selection ... placed ninth in voting for Buck Buchanan Award ... led the SoCon in sacks (13) and tackles for loss (26.5) ... tied with teammate Jason Hunter for ASU single-season sack record ... was one of just three players to rank among the top 10 nationally in sacks (13; t-9th), tackles for loss (26.5; 5th) and forced fumbles (7; 3rd) ... led Mountaineers in forced fumbles (7), quarterback hurries (8) and fumble recoveries ... came up with perhaps the biggest play in Mountaineer history when he stripped Northern Iowa quarterback Eric Sanders of the ball in the fourth quarter of the 2005 national championship game ... Hunter scooped up the fumble for what turned out to be the winning touchdown of the Apps’ 21-16 triumph ... opened the season in similar fashion, as his sack of Eastern Kentucky quarterback Josh Greco was picked up by Hunter and returned five yards for what turned out to be the decisive points in a 24-16 Mountaineer win ... tallied eight tackles, 3.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two QB hurries in the triumph over EKU ... had seven tackles, 2.5 for loss and a sack in 30-3 rout of nationally ranked Coastal Carolina ... all three of his tackles at The Citadel were behind the line of scrimmage (including two sacks) ... also returned a fumble 89 yards for a touchdown versus the Bulldogs, en route to SoCon Defensive Player of the Week accolades ... had eight tackles and 2 TFL in narrow defeat at nationally ranked Furman ... collected eight tackles and a fumble recovery versus Chattanooga ... earned SoCon Player of the Week honors for the second time with six stops, 2.5 TFL, two sacks and a fumble recovery in 35-7 win over Western Carolina ... registered 22 tackles, including 10 for loss and 3.5 sacks during NCAA Division I-AA playoffs ... forced fumble and subsequent recovery led game-clinching touchdown in first-round win over Lafayette ... had a monster game versus Northern Iowa in national title contest ... in addition to forced fumble that led to winning TD, had nine total tackles, inclduing 5.5 for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles ... named I-AA.org National Weekly All-Star for efforts in title game. 2004: Earned first-team all-SoCon honors from the league’s media and second-team plaudits from the coaches ... led the conference with 7.0 sacks and ranked third in the league with 12.5 tackles for loss on the season ... recorded at least one stop behind the line of scrimmage in eight of 11 games ... made multiple tackles in every contest and tallied at least four on nine occasions ... registered one sack each game and averaged more than five tackles per contest over the first three games of the season ... blocked a punt versus Eastern Kentucky ... turned in best stretch of the season versus three-straight top-five opponents, combining for 19 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks in wins over No. 2 Furman and No. 5 Wofford and a loss at No. 2 Georgia Southern ... had a sack, forced fumble and two quarterback hurries in thrilling 30-29 triumph over No. 2 Furman ... recorded a career-high 2.5 TFL and forced a fumble in 38-17 rout over Wofford ... forced another fumble in victory over Elon. 2003: Played in all 11 games, mostly on special teams ... accumulated 12 tackles, including four for loss ... tallied 1.5 sacks and forced a fumble against Chattanooga ... forced a fumble which led to a return for touchdown versus Western Carolina ... tallied his first quarterback sack at Hawaii. High School: Selected to play in the Oasis Shrine Bowl East-West All-Star Game after receiving first-team all-region honors ... registered 21 sacks over his final two seasons en route to back-to-back All-Mid-Southeastern Conference selections ... registered 120 tackles and seven sacks as a senior ... notched nine sacks and 15 tackles for loss as a junior ... coached by Richard Bailey. Personal: Full name is Marques Allen Murrell ... born March 20, 1985 (21 years old) ... son of Patricia and Angelo Murrell ... majoring in finance and banking ... brother, Adrian, played 10 seasons in the NFL with the New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys.
He sounds great as an OLB. What is his 40 time? Also when would you expect him to go in the draft? What round?
what position would he play. That is a dumb question, maybe QB? He could really only play OLB for us.
I'm not really sold on Division I-AA players, he seems like a good talent though and would need some work. The competition he played against was very weak.
Murrell may go much earlier in the draft than some people think. Strangley, he wasn't invited to the Hula bowl, a common all star game for Div II players. he has already played in a minir all star game, but he does have a combine invite. I've spoken to a couple of draft-niks I know, and they think he'll be drafted for sure, and one guy thinks he might even go in late round 3. Here is what one guy said: Murrell already played in a small school all star game. The Magnolia Bowl or something. I have my eye on him too. He is such a Parcells kind of pick. At least his value should be good and I think he has pretty good prospects. In tandem with Jason Hunter, Murrell and App State were just ridiculous two years ago. Hunter and Murrell looked like twins to me. Hunter went undrafted, bounced around a little and ended up with Packers and playing very solid with an ever increasing role in the last few weeks. He is a great special teamer and I would guess Murrell will give the same effort. Murrell should get drafted though. This class is much much weaker and sometime as early as the 3rd and surely by the 5th some 3-4 team will probably take Murrell. I think he and Hunter are both going to do well in the NFL. I am concerned he didn't play in the IntaJuice or Hula though. Seems a guy who led the nation in sacks a good part of the season, and who pretty much dominated for two straight years would have warranted a closer look. He does have a Combine invite, and he did spend Magnolia Week playing LB for the assistant scouting interns there. Pretty high praise from a guy who's opinion I respect.
That does sound impressive. Although maybe he wasn't invite because Appalacian St. is Div. I-AA. I'm not sure if that is the case or not thoughl.
Off topic, but I was wondering if there were any WV fans here. What do you think of Ovid Goulbourne? He went to my high school, and was a freak. He is an athletic freak, with amazing speed and strength. Not so sure if that translates to a good football player, and he never played LB in high school. Just wondering what you thinkl of him.
