Texas State defensive end Michael Ebbitt was named the College Sports Madness Defensive Player of the Year and earned an All-Independent First Team selection after recording 15½ tackles for loss and 11½ quarterback sacks this season. He ended the year with 35 total tackles, one forced fumble and two recovered fumbles. (Photo courtesy of Texas State University)
From STAFF REPORTS
Texas State senior defensive end Michael Ebbitt was named the College Sports Madness NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Independent Defensive Player of the Year and headlines a group of seven Bobcats who earned All-Independent First Team honors as well.
Ebbitt was named the Defensive Player of the Year and All-Independent First Team selection after recording 15½ tackles for loss and 11½ quarterback sacks this season. He ended the year with 35 total tackles, one forced fumble and two recovered fumbles. He returned one of his two recoveries 63 yards for a touchdown at Central Arkansas. In addition, he broke up two passes and had two quarterback hurries in 2011. Ebbitt also recorded four sacks in a game against Nicholls and had three sacks against Lamar.
Texas State also had two other defensive players, a punter and four offensive players chosen as All-Independent First Team selections. The defensive players were Xavier Daniels and Jordan Norfleet, while the punter was Ben Follis.
Daniels led the Bobcats in tackles with 77 and interceptions with three. He also broke up five other passes and had 1½ tackles for losses of five yards.
Norfleet registered 32 total tackles and 5 ½ tackles for losses of 31 yards. He also had 2 ½ quarterback sacks for losses of 23 yards, six quarterback hurries and one pass breakup. Norfleet also forced a fumble.
Follis averaged 41.3 yards on 53 punts after recording eight kicks over 50 yards. He had 13 punts land inside the 20 and forced opponents to fair catch 22 of his punts. His longest punt this season was a 71 kick at Wyoming. He had 68-yard and 55-yard punts at Texas Tech, and a 53-yard punt against Tarleton State.
The four offensive players included wide receiver Isaiah Battle, running back Terrence Franks and offensive linemen D.J. Hall and Jon Vernon.
Battle caught 27 passes for 368 yards and led the Bobcats with five touchdown receptions. His best performance this season came at Stephen F. Austin when he caught a 50-yard touchdown pass and recorded a 27-yard TD catch. He ended the game with five catches for 131 yards. He also had a game-winning 11-yard TD reception at McNeese State.
Franks ran for 863 yards and nine touchdowns on 146 carries while splitting time with Marcus Curry as Texas State’s running back this season. He also caught eight passes for 21 yards. He became the first Bobcat to rush over 200 yards in a game since 2003 when he gained 234 yards at Southeastern Louisiana. His yardage total also is the eighth highest single-game total in school history.
Hall and Vernon helped anchor an offensive line that paved the way for Texas State’s rushing attack that averaged 195.3 yards per game and an offensive attack that netted 345.2 yards per game. It marks the fourth straight year that Hall has earned All-Conference honors and the third straight year that he has earned First-Team honors.
