Dec. 13, 2005
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State's Brent Hawkins, Cameron Siskowic and Ryan Hoffman were all named to The Sports Xchange 2005 All-America First Team, while junior Laurént Robinson garnered second team honors on Tuesday.
Hawkins, a 2005 Buck Buchanan Award finalist, finished the regular season leading all of Division I-AA in tackles for loss (26.5) and forced fumbles (7), while ranking second in sacks (17). His 17 quarterback sacks set the Illinois State and Gateway Conference single season records, while he also claimed the school mark for tackles for loss in a season with 26.5 and forced fumbles with seven. Hawkins was also named first team all-America by the Walter Camp Foundation and The Sports Network.
Siskowic, another 2005 Buck Buchanan Award candidate, was the conference tackle leader with 132 stops, 37 more than the league's runner-up. He ranked third in the conference in tackles for loss on the season with 14.5 and led the Redbirds in tackles in 10 of the team's 11 games. The junior ranks fourth nationally in tackles with 12 stops per game and also No. 15 nationally in tackles for loss. He also posted 55 solo stops, four sacks, three pass break ups, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.
Hoffman, the only I-AA punter to grace the 2005 Ray Guy Award Watch List, led the conference with a 42.2 yards per punt average, which also ranked No. 10 nationally. He has already accepted an invitation to punt in the 2006 Hula Bowl and owns Illinois State's best career punting average with 42.2 yards per kick. During the 2005 season, he placed 12 of his 41 punts inside the 20-yard line, including nine inside the 10 and had nine punts 50 or more yards in length.
Robinson, who finished 10th in the 2005 Walter Payton Award voting, ranks No. 1 nationally in yards per game (133.2) and No. 2 in catches per contest (7.8). He set league and school season marks with 1,465 receiving yards on a conference-tying best 86 catches. He posted six 100-yard receiving games, including two games of 200 yards or more, highlighted by his 292 receiving yards on 14 catches against Indiana State in the season finale. The Rockledge, Fla., native finished with 12 touchdown catches. To date, he was a first team all-America selection by both the Walter Camp Foundation and The Sports Network.
The four Redbirds join two other Gateway Football Conference players on the two all-America teams. Southern Illinois' Craig Turner (kick-off return) and Youngstown State's Codera Jackson (defensive back) were each second team selections.
