University of Massachusets Athletics
Eight Minutemen Named All-Atlantic 10
November 26, 2002 | Football
Nov. 26, 2002
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Eight members of the University of Massachusetts football team have been selected to the 2002 All-Atlantic 10 Conference teams, it was announced this afternoon by the Atlantic 10 office. In addition, redshirt freshman tailback R.J. Cobbs (Parsippany Hills, N.J.) was honored as the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year.
Three Minutemen were selected to the first team: senior center Maikel Miret (Miami, Fla.), senior punter David Sanger (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) and senior wide receiver Adrian Zullo (Pompano Beach, Fla.). Cobbs was selected to the second team, along with junior defensive tackle Valdamar Brower (Florence, Mass.) and junior linebacker Jeremy Cain (Tamarac, Fla.), while senior strong safety Anton McKenzie (Medford, N.Y.) and senior placekicker Doug White (Claremont, Calif.) were both third team selections.
Brower earns All-Atlantic 10 honors for the second straight season, after being a first team selection in 2001. He totaled 53 tackles in 11 games on the season, while ranking second on the team in sacks (seven for 48 yards) and fifth in tackles for loss (14 for 61 yards). Brower also recorded team-highs of three blocked kicks and 16 quarterback hurries, to go along with two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. He recorded a career-best four sacks against American International College on Sept. 14, while making 10 tackles with three tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry at James Madison on Oct. 26. During his three-year UMass career, Brower now has 167 total tackles, including 22 sacks and 49 tackles for loss.
Cain led the team with 133 total tackles on the year, the second-highest total in the Atlantic 10 this season, while his 97 solo tackles are the fifth-highest single season total in UMass history. He also led the team in tackles for loss (18 for 72 yards), and tied for second on the squad in sacks (seven for 43 yards). In addition, Cain totaled six quarterback hurries, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one blocked kick on the year. He led the team in tackles three times on the season, while reaching double-figures in tackles eight times. Over the course of his three-year UMass career, Cain has now totaled 256 tackles, including 179 solo stops, 30 tackles for loss and 11 sacks.
Cobbs led the team and ranked second in the Atlantic 10 in rushing with 1,067 yards and 14 touchdowns on 192 carries. He set a UMass freshman record for rushing yards, in addition to posting the third-highest rushing total by a freshman in Atlantic 10 history. Cobbs also caught 21 passes for 140 yards and a score, while returning four kickoffs for 61 yards. His 90 points scored led the team and the Atlantic 10, in addition to being a UMass freshman record, while his 1,268 all-purpose yards led the Minutemen and ranked third in the conference. Cobbs rushed for a career-high 187 yards and five touchdowns at Rhode Island on Nov. 23, tying the school single game scoring record. He is the first UMass player to be named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year since Zullo in 1998.
McKenzie ranked second on the team with 117 total tackles on the season, including 85 solo stops. He also totaled nine tackles for loss, seven pass breakups, four forced fumbles, a blocked kick and an interception, which he returned 96 yards for a touchdown. McKenzie reached double figures in tackles five times on the season, while leading the team in tackles on three occasions. He recorded a career-best 18 total tackles and a game-winning blocked field goal against Villanova, while also posting 16 tackles and an interception at New Hampshire. Over the course of his UMass career, McKenzie has now totaled 214 total tackles, with 155 solo stops, 20 tackles for loss, three interceptions and 13 pass breakups.
Miret started at center in all 12 of UMass' games this season, to extend his school-record streak of consecutive games started to 47. He also tied the school record for career games started with 47 (tying the mark Jerard White set from 1996-1999), and became the first Minuteman since Vaughn Williams (1988-1991) to start every one of the team's games during his four-year career. This year, Miret led the way for the UMass offense to average 166.1 rushing yards per game, while supplying pass protection to let the Minutemen throw for 203.9 yards per contest. Following the win over Maine on Oct. 12, Miret was named National Offensive Lineman of the Week by Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette.
Sanger earns All-Atlantic 10 honors for the second straight season, after also being a first team all-conference selection in 2001. He punted 68 times on the season for 2,750 yards, with his average of 40.4 yards per punt ranking as the fourth-best single-season mark in school history. Sanger also placed 24 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line, and helped UMass to a net punting average of 35.5 yards per kick. In addition, Sanger recorded a season-best 68 yard punt at Richmond on Oct. 5, the 10th longest punt in school history. For his career, Sanger punted 236 times for 9,574 yards and a 40.6 yard average, with 77 kicks inside the opponent's 20-yard line. He set a new school record for highest career punting average, while ranking second all-time in career punts and career punting yards.
White ranked second on the team in scoring this season with 63 points, hitting eight of 10 field goal attempts and 39 of 44 extra points. He tied the school single season record for extra points made with 39, while placing second on the UMass single-season lists for field goal percentage (.800) and field goals made (eight). A two-time Academic All-Atlantic 10 selection, White has also been named to the American Football Coaches Good Works team and the Verizon Academic All-District I team this season. Over the course of his UMass career, White made 27 of 35 field goal attempts and 97 of 108 extra points, for a total of 178 points scored. He is the all-time UMass record holder in career field goal percentage (.771), while ranking second in extra points made (97), third in field goals made (27) and second in points scored by kickers (178).
Zullo earns All-Atlantic 10 honors for the second time in his career, after also being a first team selection in 1999. He led the team with 52 receptions this year for 762 yards and nine touchdowns. With that performance, Zullo placed third on the UMass single season list for touchdown catches, seventh for receptions and eight for receiving yards. He also rushed nine times for 56 yards, returned 15 punts for 61 yards and brought back 13 kickoffs for 232 yards, while ranking second on the team with 1,111 all-purpose yards. Over the course of his career, Zullo caught 187 passes for 2,862 yards and 32 touchdowns, to set new UMass career records in all three categories. In addition, he ranks fourth all-time at UMass in both career all-purpose yards (4,371) and career kickoff return yards (1,123).
UMass finished the 2002 season with an overall record of 8-4, and placed third in the Atlantic 10 with a 6-3 record.
For a complete list of the 2002 All-Atlantic 10 Conference teams, click here.
