Rainey and Sturgis Named First Team All-SEC Performers by Conference Coaches
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 | Football
A pair of Gator football players, redshirt junior kicker Caleb Sturgis (St. Augustine, Fla.) and redshirt senior running back Chris Rainey (Lakeland, Fla.), have been named First Team All-SEC performers by the conference's coaches, the SEC announced today.
Sturgis, a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, takes home First Team honors after he led the SEC, and ranked third in the nation, with 21 made field goals (1.9 per game). Additionally, Sturgis connected on all 28 of his extra point attempts and is one of only two kickers in FBS to have made three field goals of 50-or-more yards this season. After his strong regular season campaign, Sturgis now has 45 made field goals in his career, good for second most in UF history. With the honor, Sturgis, who was named a First Team All-SEC selection by the AP on Monday, becomes the first Gator kicker to earn First Team All-SEC honors from both the AP and coaches since Jeff Chandler in 1999.
Rainey, who was selected to the First Team as an all-purpose performer, had an impressive senior campaign where he led the Gators in rushing (790), receiving (350) and punt return (75) yards. Rainey also placed his name in the UF record books with several impressive performances. He blocked punts against both Tennessee and FAU, to become UF's career leader in blocked kicks with five. Against Tennessee, he rushed for 108 yards and caught two passes for 104 yards including an 83-yard touchdown pass from John Brantley; the pass was the fifth longest pass at Florida Field in school history. With his performance vs. Tennessee, he became just the second player in UF history to tally a 100-yard rushing and receiving performance joining Percy Harvin (2007 vs. Vanderbilt: 113 rushing, 110 receiving). Additionally, against FAU, he scored a 14-yard rushing TD, had a 14-yard TD reception and returned a blocked punt 22 yards for a TD to become the first Florida player in school history to score a rushing, receiving and return TD in a single game.
Sturgis, Rainey and the rest of the Gators return to action when they face Big Ten foe Ohio State in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl on Jan. 2, 2012, at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Fla. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. The Gators will be making their 21st-straight bowl appearance, which ranks first in the SEC and second nationally. This will also be Florida's 18th January Bowl game since 1993, the highest total in the country.
