Dec. 13, 2006

South Carolina defensive end Eric Norwood has been selected to the first team Freshman All-America squad by collegefootballnews.com, it was announced today.

Norwood, a 6-2, 258-pound true freshman from Acworth, Ga., leads the team and is tied for seventh in the SEC with 7.0 sacks, figuring in on five solo and four assisted sacks. He also leads the Gamecocks with five quarterback hurries and is third on the squad with 9.0 tackles for loss among his 29 total stops.

Norwood was previously named to Freshman All-America and Freshman All-SEC teams as selected by The Sporting News.

Norwood and the Gamecocks (7-5) will wrap up their season on Friday, Dec. 29 when they travel to Memphis, Tenn. to face the Houston Cougars (10-3), champions of Conference USA, in the 48th annual AutoZone Liberty Bowl.