John Talley

Position:
Cornerback
Height:
5-11
Weight:
180
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Duncan, S.C.
High School:
Byrnes

2006: Preseason first team All-America selection by The Sporting News ... also listed as the number one cornerback in the country by The Sporting News ... named the top cornerback in the ACC and the fifth best in the nation by Lindy’s ... preseason first team All-ACC choice by Athlon Sports, Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook, Lindy’s and The Sporting News ... Jim Thorpe Award candidate ... joins Darrell Revis of Pittsburgh, LaRon Landry of LSU and Daymeion Hughes of California as the only returning first team all-league defensive backs in the six BCS conferences ... enters the 2006 campaign as the nation’s active leader with 11 interceptions (tied with Utah’s Eric Weddle) while ranking first with 245 interception return yards ... also among active players nationally, stands tied for third with two interception returns for touchdowns (trailing Brandon Archer of Kansas State and Nick Hawthrone of Nevada; 3) ... has started 21 games in his career Â— second most among active cornerbacks in the ACC behind Kenny Scott of Georgia Tech (23) ... solid coverman with good speed and instincts ... Duke’s lone all-league selection in each of the past two seasons ... received second team all-conference honors in 2004 as a sophomore and first team accolades a season ago ... owns career totals of 141 tackles, 25 pass breakups and 11 interceptions in 34 games ... has been on the field for 1,961 career snaps, the highest total among current Blue Devils ... on Duke’s career charts, enters final season ranking fifth in interceptions, second in interception return yards and sixth in PBUs ... needs six interceptions, 39 interception return yards and seven PBUs to become Duke’s all-time leader in each respective category ... is fourth on the ACC’s all-time interception return yardage chart, trailing only Virginia’s Pat Chester (296), Maryland’s Tom Brown (275) and Georgia Tech’s Willie Clay (264) ... needs one interception to move into a tie for 22nd on the ACC’s career listing ... owns Duke’s single-season records for interception return yardage (172 in 2004), yards per interception return average (43.0 in 2004) and interceptions returned for touchdowns (2 in 2004; tied with three others) ... also is Duke’s career leader for average per interception return (22.3) ... looking to become the first player in Duke gridiron history to lead the Blue Devils in interceptions in four consecutive campaigns ... could join Ronnie Hamilton (1999-01) as the only players in program history to pace the squad in PBUs in three straight seasons ... with nine interceptions over the past two seasons, has posted the best two-year pick total at Duke since Rich Searl registered 12 interceptions in 1970-71 ... attempting to become Duke’s first two-time first team All-ACC pick since Chris Combs (1998-99) and the program’s first player to earn three all-league citations since Sims Lenhardt (1st team in 1997; 2nd team in 1998 & 1999) ... owns the fourth longest interception return in school history with an 85-yarder against Maryland in 2004.

2005: First team All-ACC selection ... only underclass defensive back named to the first team ... recipient of the Carmen Falcone Award as Duke’s MVP ... started all 11 games ... finished with 50 tackles, five interceptions and eight pass breakups ... ranked fifth on the team in tackles ... led Duke in both interceptions and PBUs ... ranked tied for second in the ACC and tied for ninth nationally with a 0.45 interceptions per game average ... also averaged 1.18 passes defended per contest Â— good for second best in the league ... picked up a season-high nine tackles including one for loss against Virginia ... had seven stops and a pair of PBUs in the Wake Forest tilt ... interceptions came versus Virginia Tech, VMI, Navy, Georgia Tech and Florida State ... blocked one field goal attempt at Clemson ... joined Mike Diminick (1986-88) and Alex Green (2001-03) as the only players in Duke football history to lead the team in interceptions for three straight seasons.

2004: Played in all 11 games with 10 starts ... second team All-ACC selection ... named Duke’s Outstanding Defensive Back and the recipient of the program’s Iron Devil Award for playing the most snaps on the season ... was on the field for a total of 799 plays including a career-high 111 against Maryland ... played 60 or more defensive snaps in nine of 11 contests ... finished the year with 59 tackles, four interceptions and 14 PBUs ... pass breakup total ranks as the second highest in school history behind Erwin Sampson’s record 15 set in 1989 ... returned two interceptions for touchdowns to match the Duke single-season record ... had 172 interception return yards to lead the ACC and set a new school standard ... returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown against Maryland, matching the fourth-longest return in school history ... also had a 62-yard interception return for a score at Connecticut ... finished second in the ACC and 33rd nationally in interceptions per game (0.36) and tied for first in the league in total passes defended per game (1.64) ... had a career-high 10 tackles against Virginia ... posted eight stops versus both Maryland and Wake Forest.

2003: Played in 12 games ... carded 32 total tackles while tying for the team lead with a pair of interceptions ... ACC All-Freshman Team pick by The Sporting News ... both interceptions came at Clemson ... had a season-high six tackles in the Rice game ... added five stops and one PBU versus Georgia Tech.

Prior to Duke: Charted as the fifth-best defensive back and 29th-top overall prospect in South Carolina by SuperPrep ... registered 62 tackles, three interceptions and eight pass breakups as a senior ... returned two of his three interceptions for touchdowns ... helped Byrnes High School to the 4A state title in 2002 ... played in the North-South All-Star Game, recording an interception ... also played basketball ... prep teammate of current Blue Devil Jomar Wright ... played for Bobby Bentley.

Personal: Son of Paul and Roaslyn Talley ... born March 14, 1984.