Sullivan At The Home Depot ESPNU 2007 College Football Awards Show
Walter Camp All-America Notebook
Dec. 6, 2007
University of New Mexico senior kicker John Sullivan has been named first team All-America by the Walter Camp Football Foundation. Sullivan and the rest of the All-America team will be introduced this evening during The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards show, which airs live on ESPN from 5:30-7:30 p.m. MT.
Sullivan is just the second New Mexico player named to the first team and invited to the national awards show. Brian Urlacher attended in 1999 when he was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s top defensive back. Cornerback Brandon Payne was a second team selection in 2004.
Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit will host tonight’s show, which will originate from from the Atlantic Dance Hall on Disney’s Boardwalk at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Sullivan will also attend the annual Walter Camp Football Foundation Awards Weekend scheduled for Jan. 12, 2008 in New Haven, Conn.
A recent first team all-Mountain West Conference honoree, Sullivan leads the nation in field goals, averaging 2.36 per game. He has set school and conference records with 26 field goals made this year in 11 games played. The fifth-year senior from Tehachapi, Calif., is 9-9 from 40 to 49 yards this year and his field goals have provided the winning margin in four games for the 8-4 Lobos in 2007.
A four-year walk-on, Sullivan was placed on scholarship in August of 2007 – four months after suffering a torn ACL in his left plant leg during a kickoff drill in spring practice. He played his first football game since 2002 in the Lobos’ season opener at UTEP, but began his career 2 of 4 on field goals in a four-point UNM loss. Since that game he has made 24 of 25 field goals – including a school record 18 straight – the second longest streak in the nation this year.
New Mexico will play Nevada in New Mexico Bowl II on Saturday, Dec. 22. The game will be televised live on ESPN at 2:30 p.m. as the only game in its time slot.