Football players earn Fall academic honors

The Penn State football team produced another outstanding academic performance during the Fall 2005 semester, with 47 squad members earning at least a 3.0 grade point average.

Among the 47 Nittany Lions, 14 earned Dean's List recognition by posting a 3.50 GPA or higher last semester.

The academic performance raised the number of Nittany Lion football student-athletes to 42 who have a cumulative 3.0 GPA. Among the high achievers are junior linebacker Paul Posluszny, who was selected a first team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American and junior safety Nolan McCready, who joined Posluszny on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team.

Among the other Nittany Lions who earned Dean's List recognition were junior guard Mark Farris, freshman wide receiver Justin King, junior linerbacker Andy Kubic, junior linebacker Tim Shaw, senior tight end Isaac Smolko and sophomore cornerback Brent Wise.

Posluszny became the 24th Nittany Lion under Coach Joe Paterno to earn first team Academic All-America honors. Penn State's total of 34 Academic All-American football players ranks fourth among all Division I-A institutions. The Lions had 18 Academic All-Big Ten football honorees last fall.