Charles & Jones Named To AFCA All America Team

FOOTBALL

Georgia junior tight end Orson Charles and redshirt sophomore linebacker Jarvis Jones have both been named to the 2011 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FBS All-America Team.

The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions. The nation’s coaches choose this squad and nine of the 25 team members this season are from the Southeastern Conference.

Charles and Jones are the first Dawgs to be named AFCA All-Americans since punter Drew Butler earned the honor in 2009. This marks the first time two Georgia players have been named to the team in the same year since safety Greg Blue and offensive lineman Max Jean-Gilles accomplished the feat together in 2005.

The Dawgs have been represented 34 times by 29 different players on the AFCA All-America Team. Herschel Walker is the only three-time AFCA All-American (1980-82) in the 67-year history of the team.

A 6-3, 241-pound native of Tampa, Florida, Charles leads Georgia with a team-high 44 catches for 572 yards and five touchdowns and has started the last 23 games in a row. He is the school’s all-time leader at tight end with 1,368 yards receiving, is tied with former Bulldog Leonard Pope with 10 career touchdowns and is third in UGA history with 93 receptions.

Charles is a Mackey Award finalist who has served as one of the team’s captains four times during Georgia’s run to the SEC Eastern Division title. A member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll with a 3.51 GPA, Charles has also contributed on the kickoff team, PAT/field goal team and the punt return team in 2011, including blocking a punt at Vanderbilt.

A 6-3, 241-pound native of Columbus, Jones is the Dawgs’ leading tackler this season with 69 stops, including an SEC-leading 19.5 tackles for loss of 103 yards and 13.5 sacks. Jones surged to No. 2 on the school’s all-time single season sack list behind David Pollack, who had 14 in 2002. Jones is currently third on the national sack list.

The Butkus Award finalist also forced two fumbles to help develop Georgia into having one of the nation’s most stifling defenses. The Dawgs rank third nationally in Scoring Defense (19.6 ppg.), ninth in Rushing Defense (103.4 ypg.) and 17th in Scoring Defense (19.6 ppg.) through their run to the SEC Championship Game.

In just his first season playing on Georgia’s 3-4 defense after transferring from Southern California, Jones has been the only Dawg linebacker to start all 13 games this season. Versus the top-ranked Tigers in the SEC Championship, Jones had three tackles and helped hold LSU to just 12 total yards in the opening half with no first downs.