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Rice University Athletics
Ozougwu, Long and Martens Honored by C-USA Coaches
12/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 7, 2010
Senior defensive end Cheta Ozougwu and deep snapper Brandon Long, along with junior punter Kyle Martens have been named to the 2010 All Conference USA Football first team, as determined in a vote of the league's head football coaches.
Junior safety Travis Bradshaw was named to the second team, while juniors John Gioffre and Jake Hicks and sophomores Sam McGuffie and Vance McDonald received honorable mention recognition.
Despite additional focus due to the loss of preseason All-CUSA pick Scott Solomon, Ozougwu finished the year with 54 tackles, and ranked among the league leaders with three forced fumbles. He totaled three sacks on the season, but lost two others when fumbles he forced while stripping the ball from the quarterback were recovered without a loss of yardage. He was also credited with 11 quarterback hurries.
Martens, who earned All America honors from the American Football Coaches Association, led C-USA and is fourth in the nation with a school-record 46.0 average on 52 punts. He placed 42% of his punts inside the opponents' 20 this year (22/52), and half of those (11 of 22) landed at or inside the 10. Seven of his 11 punts inside the 10 were downed at or inside the opposition 3-yard line. Martens also averaged 51 yards per punt on five kicks from inside the Rice 18. He closed out his junior season with a career average of 42.7 yards per punt, which is 1.3 yards per punt better than Jared Scruggs school career mark of 41.4.
Long has been a consistent trigger on all the Owls special teams snaps for the last four years. He successfully executed 489 snaps over that stretch (246 punts, 54 field goals, 189 PATs) while also chipping in seven career special teams tackles and forcing a pair of fumbles on punt coverage.
Bradshaw was second on the team with 75 tackles and led the squad with a pair of interceptions. He will enter his senior year second on the NCAA career active solo tackles list with 214.
McGuffie lead the Owls in rushing (883 yards), receiving (39 catches) and all purpose yards (1,277). McDonald finished with 28 catches for 396 yards and eight touchdowns, the sixth best total for touchdown receptions in school history. Hicks started all 12 games on the offensive line and both at guard and tackle, including the last five at left tackle after preseason All C-USA selection Scott Mitchell was lost with an injury. Gioffre started all 12 games for the Owls at defensive tackle and finished the year with a career-best 30 tackles.
