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University of Minnesota Athletics
Blog: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
1/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Wide receiver Eric Decker and the rest of his Golden Gopher teammates received some recognition, both to wrap up 2008 and looking ahead to 2009, recently.
Decker was named Honorable Mention All-America for his performance this past season by CollegeFootballNews.com. The junior wide receiver pulled down a school-record 84 catches for 1,074 yards in 2008. Decker became just the fourth Gopher ever to log 1,000 receiving yards in a single season and the first since 2000. Ron Johnson was the last Minnesota player to hit the 1,000-yard receiving mark.
In addition to naming their All-America teams, CollegeFootballNews.com also ranked each of their All-America performers by position. Decker was ranked as the 14th-best wide receiver in the nation last season. Click here to see the entire CollegeFootballNews.com All-America team.
As for looking forward to 2009, the Gophers are receiving some preseason consideration for Top 25 rankings. Tony Barnhart, who was honored with the Football Writers Association Bert McGrane Award earlier this season, has an early look at his 2009 Top 25 posted on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website. Barnhart has Minnesota ranked No. 23, noting that the Gophers have 10 returning starters on offense and nine on defense.
Meanwhile, the website nationalchamps.net has its 2009 Early Bird College Football Preview. While the Gophers aren’t in the Top 25 on nationalchamps.net, they are among a list of 18 other teams “receiving consideration.” Nationalchamps.net has a breakdown with more of its thoughts about the Gophers’ chances next season.
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