Seven Football Players Earn All-BIG EAST Honors
11/29/2000 9:21:16 PM | Football
Seniors Duke Pettijohn (Mattapan, MA), Rickie Simpkins (Middle Village, NY) and Eric Downing (Paterson, NJ) were three of the four defensive linemen named to the All-BIG EAST second team.
The seven honored individuals led the Orange defense that ranked 18th nationally and was 13th in pass defense, 24th in scoring defense and 42nd in rushing defense.
Freeney's 13 sacks tied for fifth on the BIG EAST single-season sacks record list and his 4.5 sacks against Virginia Tech set a new single-game standard for Syracuse and the BIG EAST. Freeney also led SU and was tied for second in the league with 18 tackles for a loss. His 18 stops behind the line of scrimmage ties for fourth on the BIG EAST single-season record list.
Allen, a Thorpe Award semifinalist, led the Orange defense with 17 passes defended led SU and ranked third in the BIG EAST. He had two interceptions against West Virginia. Allen also paced the Orange in kickoff returns. His average of 24.1 yards per return ranked 23rd nationally and was second in the BIG EAST.
Smith and Greenwood, who led SU with 108 and 98 tackles, respectively, started every game at linebacker for the Orange. Greenwood was in SU's starting lineup for all 48 games in his SU career. In addition to his team-leading tackles total, Smith forced three fumbles and blocked one PAT attempt.
Pettijohn, Simpkins and Downing joined Freeney on the best defensive line in the BIG EAST. Pettijohn finished the season with 7.5 sacks and ranks second in SU history with 24.5 in his career. Simpkins, who was fourth on the team with 69 tackles, was SU's leader in quarterback hurries with 22, while Downing rushed the quarterback 21 times. Downing was SU's fifth-leading tackler with 62 stops.
