University of Utah senior offensive tackle Jordan Gross has been named a Football Writers' Association of America first-team All-American, and as reported in the Deseret News last week, he is one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy, the nation's third-oldest college-football award, which goes to the country's top interior lineman.
The 6-foot-5, 305-pounder from Fruitland, Idaho, who has started since he was a freshman, is the only player from a non-BCS conference to make the 25-man FWAA All-America team. Voted on by a panel of sports writers, FWAA is the second-oldest continuously published All-America list in the country.
Also, Utah senior Brooks Bahr of Bountiful was named to the second team of the Verizon Academic All-Americans on Monday. He has been a first-team academic all-district selection the last two years, but this is his first time on the national team.
Gross is joined by Washington State's Rien Long and Miami's Brett Romberg on both the FWAA All-America team and the Outland Trophy list of finalists.
Gross averaged 11.72 pancake blocks this season and has not given up a sack in the last two years. In those two years, he has graded out at 100 percent hustle in every game, according to the Utah sports information office. A tae kwon do black belt, Gross's footwork and speed belie his strength, which is among the best ever at Utah. He holds the school record in the hang clean at 416 pounds and bench presses 395.
Several NFL Draft rating services list Gross as a first-round pick, with ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. rating him the fourth- or fifth-best senior at any position this season. Gross can also play tackle, which is where NFL scouts are projecting him to play. A 2002 Verizon All-District second-team selection, Gross graduates this month with a communication degree.
The Outland Trophy winner will be announced Dec. 12 on the ESPN College Football Awards Show from Orlando, Fla., and will receive his trophy on Jan. 9 at a banquet held by the Omaha Sports Committee. The FWAA All-America team will be introduced at a Jan. 24 banquet in Orlando.
Bahr, one of A. Lee and Carol Ann Bahr's family of 15 children, is an MBA graduate student and has a 3.85 grade-point average. He had a 3.95 undergraduate GPA in biology and scored an extremely high 36 on his MCATS medical test, which was taken during fall training camp.
A former walk-on, Utah considers Bahr a candidate for postseason football honors with 59 tackles. He had 5.5 for loss, three sacks, four pass breakups and two fumble recoveries. He started every 2002 game and led Ute tacklers in the last two, including a career-best 12 at Wyoming.
2002 FWAA All-America Team
OFFENSE
QB Carson Palmer, So. California
RB Larry Johnson, Penn State
RB Willis McGahee, Miami, Fla.
TE Dallas Clark, Iowa
WR Reggie Williams, Washington
WR Charles Rogers, Michigan St.
OL Jordan Gross, Utah
OL Shawn Andrews, Arkansas
OL Brett Romberg, Miami, Fla.
OL Bruce Nelson, Iowa
OL Derrick Dockery, Texas
K Nate Kaeding, Iowa
KR Derek Abney, Kentucky
DEFENSE
DL Terrell Suggs, Arizona State
DL Rien Long, Washington State
DL David Pollack, Georgia
DL Michael Haynes, Penn State
LB E. J. Henderson, Maryland
LB Matt Wilhelm, Ohio State
LB Teddy Lehman, Oklahoma
DB Terence Newman, Kansas St.
DB Shane Walton, Notre Dame
DB Troy Polamalu, So. California
DB Mike Doss, Ohio State
P Andy Groom, Ohio State
E-MAIL: lham@desnews.com