TicketsJune 13, 2008
CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati football team continued to receive preseason recognition as senior defensive end Terrill Byrd ( Cincinnati, OH/Colerain) and senior punter Kevin Huber ( Cincinnati, OH/McNicholas) both received first-team all-America honors from Blue Ribbon College Football and Huber was named to the Ray Guy Award's watch list for the nation's top punter.
Byrd and Huber's accolades make it three Bearcats to earn preseason all-America honors, joining senior cornerback Mike Mickens ( Huber Heights, OH/Wayne), who was named a Playboy Magazine Preseason all-American last month.
A product of Cincinnati, Byrd finished first on the team in tackles for loss (17) and second in sacks (8), both of which ranked in the BIG EAST Conference among the Top 10 in each category. Twice named an all-BIG EAST first-team defensive lineman, Byrd is UC's active leader with 32 career tackles for loss. After his third year as a starter last season, he earned the defense's John Pease Award, honored as the unit's most-outstanding lineman.
Huber broke UC's single-season record and led the country last year in punting with a 46.9 yards per kick average, earning consensus first-team all-America honors and the BIG EAST's Special Teams Player of the Year. He dropped 20 of his 57 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line, including four downed on the opposition's one-yard line. Huber is one of two returning Ray Guy Award finalists from 2007, along with Durant Brooks from Georgia Tech, last year's winner.
UC returns 16 starters and 44 letterwinners from the 2007 squad that proved to be one of the most successful in UC history. Cincinnati earned its first appearance in the final Associated Press Poll, finishing the year at No. 17. The Bearcats also posted 10 wins for the first time since 1951 and capped the year with a 31-21 victory in the Papajohns.com Bowl over Southern Mississippi.
Season tickets for the 2008 Cincinnati football season are available by logging on to www.CATSTIX.com or by contacting the UC Athletics Ticket Office toll-free at 1-877-CATS-TIX.