Northwestern University Athletics
Football: All-America Teams Round Up
12/28/2020 11:00:00 AM | Football
EVANSTON, Ill. — The NCAA recognizes five designated selectors to determine unanimous and consensus All-Americans, including the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), The Associated Press, The Sporting News and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. See below for Northwestern's All-America representatives:
SAF | RS FIRST YEAR | BRANDON JOSEPH - (AP - 1st; Sporting News - 1st, AFCA - 1st; Walter Camp - 1st; Phil Steele - 3rd)
Northwestern rookie safety Brandon Joseph was named to the Associated Press All-America first team, the outlet announced Monday, Dec. 28, 2020. He was the only rookie to earn AP, Walter Camp and Sporting News first team honors in 2020. Joseph is the first Northwestern player to earn first team recognition in a debut season since Tom Myers in 1962. The last Northwestern defensive player to receive the distinction was former linebacker and current Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald in 1996, while kicker Jeff Budzien was the most recent Wildcat on the first team list in 2013. The College Station, Texas, native has an FBS-best six interceptions this season, the most by a Northwestern player in a single season since Willie Lindsey had a program-record seven in 1991. Joseph ranks fourth on the team with 52 tackles. He was named the Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year by the Big Ten Conference, NU's first rookie to receive the honor since Tyrell Sutton in 2005, in addition to being named to the league's first team all-conference list. Prior to the 2020 Big Ten Conference championship game, Pro Football Focus graded Joseph as the best strong safety in all of college football for the 2020 season.
With the Joseph earning first team honors from the AFCA, he became the first defensive rookie in Big Ten history to become a consensus All-American and NU's 14th in program history. The last Northwestern consensus All-American was Damien Anderson in 2000. Pat Fitzgerald is the only other defensive player in program history to earn the consensus tag.
CB | JUNIOR | GREG NEWSOME II - (AP - 3rd; FWAA - 2nd; Phil Steele - 2nd)
Newsome II, who earned consensus first team all-conference honors in addition to being named the Associated Press' Big Ten first team, was named to the third team for the national list. Newsome II suffered a lower body injury in the Big Ten Conference championship game and declared for the 2021 NFL Draft. He led the Big Ten in 2020 with 10 passes defended, recording nine pass-breakups and an interception. His performance this season was headlined by his match-up against Purdue's star receiver: David Bell, who led the Big Ten in receptions. Newsome held Bell to just 78 yards; the first time Bell had notched less than 100 yards in five-consecutive games. The Chicago, Illinois, native played in five games this season did not allow a third-down completion (0-for-9) during the regular season and ranked first among Big Ten cornerbacks for completion percentage allowed (12-of-38 targets; 31.6%).
LB | SENIOR | PADDY FISHER - (AFCA - 2nd; Phil Steele - 4th)
A three-year team captain, Fisher is the NCAA active career leader in both tackles (404) and forced fumbles (11). This is Fisher's first All-America honor since being named to the AP's third team in 2018. The Katy, Texas, native, was named the Big Ten's Fitzgerald-Butkus Linebacker of the Year. Fisher ranked second on the team in 2020 with 86 tackles. He has posted five double-digit tackling performances this season with an interception, forced fumble and fumble recovery.
OL | FIRST YEAR | PETER SKORONSKI - (247SPORTS TRUE FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICAN TEAM)
Skoronski has started all eight games for the Wildcats as a true first-year and quickly emerged as one of the top offensive line talents in the nation. Throughout the season, Pro Football Focus has rated Skoronski as the highest-graded true-first year in the Big Ten among all positions. Following the Illinois win, PFF rated Skoronski the highest-rated offensive lineman in the nation following the Wildcats 28-10 victory over Illinois on December 12. As a unit, the Wildcats offensive line allowed the fourth fewest sacks among Power Five programs that have played at least seven games. Skoronski was the first Northwestern first-year to be named Second Team All-Big Ten since Paddy Fisher did so in 2017. The last NU offensive lineman to receive a First or Second Team All-Big Ten was Zach Strief in 2005.
LB | SENIOR | BLAKE GALLAGHER - (Phil Steele - 3rd)
Gallagher led Northwestern in tackles during the 2020 season with 87 stops and was tied for the team lead with 9.5 TFLs. Gallagher posted five games with double-digit tackles, he led the Wildcats in two of those games (Nebraska and Wisconsin) and tied his career high of 14 tackles. After his performance against Wisconsin, he was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the week. He wrapped up his career with 332 career tackles, the second most for an active Big Ten player - trailing only teammate Paddy Fisher.
No. 14 Northwestern plays Auburn in the 75th edition of the VRBO Citrus Bowl on Friday, Jan. 1, 2021.
