June 21, 2011
NORFOLK, Va. -- Punter Jonathan Plisco (Newport News, Va.) was named a Second Team Preseason All-American while quarterback Thomas DeMarco (Palm Desert, Calif.) and kick returner Colby Goodwyn (Hampton, Va.) were bestowed honorable mention status by Consensus Draft Services, it was announced this week.
Plisco has already received a pair of preseason honors having been named to Lindy's 2011 Defense Second-Team All-FCS Preseason Team and recognized as one of the top FCS members of special teams by The Sports Network. Ranked second among FCS punters averaging 44.30 yards per punt in 2010, Plisco missed being the top FCS punter for the second straight year by .05 yards. He made 43 punts to total 1905 yards with 17 of his punts going a distance of 50-yards or more. He had a season-high 75 yard punt against #12/13 William & Mary and averaged over 50 yards a punt in games with Campbell, #12/13 William & Mary, and #14/16 Cal Poly. Of the left footer's punts, 13 were inside the opponent 20 and eight were for a touchback.
This preseason, DeMarco has been named one the Top 10 FCS quarterbacks heading into the 2011 season by The Sports Network and is among the signal callers on the Quarterback Watch List by the College Football Performance Awards. Last season, he was a member of the Walter Payton Watch List, averaging 250.5 yards passing per contest including passing for a career-high 407 yards at Monmouth. DeMarco also passed for over 300 yards against Jacksonville and #14/16 Cal-Poly and threw for a career-high four touchdowns in games at Campbell, at Monmouth, and vs. #14/16 Cal Poly. On the ground, the two-year starting Monarch QB ran for 423 yards and a team-leading eight touchdowns as the Monarchs' second leading rusher. He averaged 38.5 yards rushing per game, running for a pair of touchdowns at Hampton and versus Savannah State.
In his first season at Old Dominion, Goodwyn set the Division I record (FBS or FCS) for kickoff return yardage in a game with 333 yards in his nine returns against #14/16 Cal Poly. Goodwyn surpassed the old mark of 326 yards by Eastern Washington's Bashir Livingston set on Oct. 31, 1998 and ran his way 14 more yards than the FBS record of 319 set by Iowa State's Leonard Johnson on Nov. 1, 2008. The Hampton Roads product also helped Old Dominion set the record for most kickoff return yardage by a team (365 yards on 11 returns) against the nationally ranked Mustangs. In all, Goodwyn made 23 kick returns for a total of 686 yards and averaged 29.8 yards per return to rank fourth among all FCS kick returners. Among his returns was an 89-yard kickoff return against Cal Poly for the longest return by a Monarch to-date. Later in the same game, Goodwyn would have a 79-yard kick return for the third-longest kick return in the brief history of ODU football.
Click here to view the entire preseason list.