Tribe Places Four on CAA Football All-Conference Squad

W&M QB Phillips Earns First All-Conference Honor

11/20/07 1:27PM

Richmond, Va. - The College of William and Mary’s football program placed four student-athletes on the inaugural Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) All-Conference squad released on Monday afternoon.

The Tribe, which finished the year with a 4-7 record (2-6 in CAA), had three offensive players, QB Jake Phillips (Warm Springs, Va.), WR Elliott Mack (Irvington, N.J.) and OT Brad Stewart (Bethel Park, Pa.), and one defensive player, CB Derek Cox (Greenville, NC), earn third-team recognition. The selection stands as the first post-season honors for each of the four student-athletes.

Phillips, a junior, finished the season with 2,801 passing yards, which matches the eighth-best single-season mark in school history, set by Stan Yagiello in 1984. Phillips’ 336 pass attempts is the ninth-best single-season total. His averages of 272.1 yards of total offense and 254.6 passing yards a game each ranked third in the conference, as did his 19 touchdown connections. Phillips ended the season tied for the team lead in rushing touchdowns (five), while his 191 net rushing yards was the third-highest total in the program. He threw for 200-yards, or more, and accounted for two, or more, TDs in eight of the 11 games on the year. While the honor is Phillips’ first, it marks the 11th time in the 15 years since the College joined the conference that a Tribe quarterback has earned post-season accolades.

Elliott Mack emerged as the program's big-play threat over the course of the season. His average of 77.2 receiving yards/game was the fourth-best figure in the league. Mack's season total of 849 yards was the third highest figure in the league, while his average of 18.5 yards/reception was the highest among the conference receivers listed in the top 10 for either receptions or receiving yards a game. The junior went over the 100-yard receiving mark three times on the year, saving his best for last in ringing up 201 yards on 10 catches in the season-ending contest at Richmond. His effort vs. the Spiders ranks as the sixth-best single-game performance in school history, while his 849 receiving yards left him 62 yards shy of the College's single-season top 10.

Senior team captain Brad Stewart ended his Tribe career on a solid note, by helping the offense average 29.0 points and over 396 yards of total offense a game in 2007. He started the first 10 games of the season at right tackle, and 32-straight overall, before missing the season finale with an injured ankle. Clearly one of the team’s leaders since being elected as a team captain last spring, Stewart also was the team’s most consistent player along the offensive front. Stewart’s award is the 19th all-conference recognition earned by a Tribe lineman since the 1996 season, when current Tribe Assistant Head Coach Bob Solderitch began to oversee the position.

Fellow captain, junior cornerback Derek Cox ended the year tied for second in the league with three total interceptions. He also finished in the top 10 in pass breakups with eight. Not just an asset on pass defense, Cox also contributed 51 total tackles (35 solo) and 3.5 tackles for losses over his 11 starts on the year. He has now started the last 23-straight games at cornerback and will be one of nine returning starters on the Tribe defense for the 2008 season.