USD Football 2000

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USD GTE/Academic All-Americans

CoSIDAJGTE Academic All-Americans The CoSIDA/GTE Academic All-America Football Team, selected annually by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America, honors the nation 's best student-athletes. Just as the balancing of football and academics is difficult, the standards for nomination and selection to the team are rigorous . To be nominated, a varsity starter or key reserve player must have a minimum 3.200 cumu lative grade-point average (on a 4.000 scale). The program began in the 1950s with honorees in footba ll ; later, basketball and baseball all -academic teams were added. Academic and athletics biographical data of nominees are prepared in ballot form and mailed to the CoSIDA membership, who vote in each ofeight districts. From the eight di strict teams comes a national ballot, distributed to the 1,400 members for the fina l all-academic team. "The ach ievements of these young men should truly be commended," said NBC sportscaster Dick Enberg, spokesperson for the GTE academic all-America team. " I often wonder where college students find the time and energy to play a demand ing sport like football, excel in the classroom and be active on campus and in their communities. To me, these are truly all-Americans." Below is a look at USD's football GTE Academic All-Americans: Dan Herbert Herbe11 was a four-year letterwi nner ( 1978-8 1) and in his senior campaign set a school record for interceptions in a season with 8 (still the cu1Tent mark) ... the I98 I squad finished 9- 1 ... besides earn ing GTE Academic All-America honors, Dan earned Kodak Coll ege Division II A ll-America honors, was selected to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame (San Diego Chapter) and participated in the 198 1 Blue-Gray All-Star game. Dan is an attorney in San Diego. Jeff Mansukhani Jeffplayed fo ur years between 1984-1987 as a wide receiver and kick returner ... he was selected 2nd Team GTE/Academic All-American after hi junior season when he hauled in a team-best 49 receptions for 8 11 yards ( 16.6 average) and 7 touchdowns .. . he also averaged 15.6 yards on 9 punt returns and 23.3 yards on 18 kickoff returns ... his sen ior year ( 1987) he caught 17 receptions for 338 yards ( 19.9 average) and 3 touchdowns ... he was a two-time US O Offensive Player of the Year. Jeff is an attorney at law. Bryan Day -------------------- Bryan played four years between 1985-88 as a defensive back ... he was the schoo l's first two-time First Team GTE Academic A ll -American ( 1987 & 1988) ... he lead the Toreros' in tackles both his junior and senior campaigns and was a two-time US O Defensive Player of the Year ... in 1988 he tallied 88 tackles to go with 3 quarterback sacks (-17 yards), 2 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 8 pass de fl ections and 2 interceptions ... in 1987 he totaled 9 1 tackles and 6 interceptions ... he can-ied a 3.78 grade point average in Business/ Economics. He currently resides in Las Vegas, evada where he is an attorney. John Gomez John played four years at USD ( 1985-88) and earned 2nd Team GTE/Academic All-America honors his sen ior year ( 1988) as a defensive lineman .. . he started hi s career at USO as a linebacker before moving to the line for his final two seasons ... he started 7 games in 1987 when the team recorded fo ur shutouts on their way to a 6-3- 1 season ... in 1988 he totaled 34 tackles in 9 sta11s with I quarterback sack and 8 quarterback hurri es. John resides in San Di ego where he is an attorney. Doug Popovich Doug became the school ' s second student-athl ete to be selected twice as a First Team GTE/Academ ic All-American ( 1994, 1995) ... a two-time USD Defensive Player of the Year, Doug lead the team in tackles both hi s j unior ( 142) and senior ( 125) campaigns ... three times he was selected the team's James B. O1wig Scholar Athlete of the Year ... he was named a $25,000 Burger King Scholar-Athlete of the Week (Oct. 7, 1996) and earned a $5,000 NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship ... an Ocean Studies major at USD with a 3.88 grade-point-average, Doug attended Yale University's Graduate School. Jeb Dougherty----------------- In 1996 Jeb was selected First Team GTE/Academic All-America after leading the Toreros in tackles ( I I3) and averaging 28.0 yards per kickoff return ... in addition, he was named Associated Press I– AA Third Team All-America; First Team All-PFL; PFL All-Academic; a $ I0,000 Burger King Scholar-Athlete of the Week; and the team's Defensive Pl ayer of the Year ... during his junior campaign he earned 2nd Team GTE/Academic All-America honors as a defensive back .. .a two-sport star, he was a Third Team GTE Academic All-America se lection in baseball his senior year in 1997 ... drafted in the 1997 June major league draft by the Anaheim Ange ls, he currentl y plays in their organization.

Dan Herbert Defensive Back 1981

Jeff Mansukhani Wide Receiver 1986

Bryan Day Defensive Back 1987, 1988

John Gomez Defensive Line 1988

Doug Popovich Defensive Back 1994, 1995

Jeb Dougherty Defensive Back 1995, 1996