McDonald, Browne, Hobbs Honored By The Sporting News
12/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 24, 2002
Three TCU Horned Frogs were named as All-Americans by The Sporting News, the national magazine announced on Tuesday. Senior linebacker LaMarcus McDonald and junior placekicker Nick Browne earned fourth team status, while tailback Lonta Hobbs earned fourth team Freshman All-America honors.
McDonald led the Horned Frogs to the nation's No. 2 ranking in total defense. He led Conference USA with 28 tackles for loss while leading TCU with 113 tackles (73 solo). He led TCU in tackles in 10 of 11 games this season, helping the unit to the top national ranking in rushing defense (62.9 yards per game) en route to a share of the Conference USA championship and a berth in the 44th AXA Liberty Bowl.
McDonald was previously named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year by the league's coaches and media members, by The Sporting News and by Collegefootballnews.com. He was also the league's overall Player of the Year according to The Sporting News, Collegefootballnews.com and ESPN.com. Collegefootballnews.com named him to their first team All-American list.
Browne kicked a league-high 22 field goals while earning first team All-Conference USA honors. He leads the nation in field goals per game at 2.00 and is just the fifth player in school history to score 100 points in a season. He twice earned C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week honors and is also a member of the Horned Frogs men's soccer team.
A true freshman, Hobbs took his redshirt off for the Houston game on October 5 and proceeded to set new school freshman records for rushing yards (950) and touchdowns (12). Hobbs averaged a league-best 6.9 yards per carry and lost just 12 yards on 137 attempts. His yardage total ranks sixth in C-USA despite not playing in the first four games and he closed out the year with five straight 100-yard games.
