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ACC-High Eight Duke Players Named To All-Academic Football Squad
DURHAM, N.C. - Headlined by repeat selections Brendan Dewan, Eli Nichols and Andy Roland, Duke placed a league-high eight student-athletes on the 2005 ACC All-Academic Football Team, announced on Thursday by the conference office. Other Blue Devils named to the unit included Patrick Bailey, Lavdrim Bauta, Mike Dowling, Tyler Krieg and Matt Rumsey.
To be eligible for consideration, a player must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career. Duke paced the league with eight total selections followed by Miami (5), Virginia Tech (5), North Carolina (4), Virginia (4), Georgia Tech (3), Florida State (3), Wake Forest (3), Maryland (2), N.C. State (2) and Boston College (1).
Bailey started the first eight games before suffering a season-ending injury against Georgia Tech. He finished the year ranked fourth on the team in tackles with 52. Bauta, Krieg and Rumsey each started all 11 games as members of Duke's offensive line.
Dewan, co-winner of the ACC's Tatum Award as the league's top football-playing senior student-athlete, registered 69 tackles in 2005 with 9.5 tackles for loss and a pair of quarterback sacks. Dowling, who boasts a 3.94 cumulative grade point average, was a key special teams member and reserve running back.
A Second Team Academic All-America choice in 2005, Nichols led the Blue Devils in sacks with three and added 48 tackles and eight tackles for loss. Roland had 13 pass receptions for 176 yards and a touchdown in 2005 and finished his career with 69 grabs for 1,031 yards and seven touchdowns.
