Sievers, Huston Add to Nebraska?s Academic All-America Tradition

Nebraska seniors Chad Sievers and Kellen Huston were both named on Wednesday to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America Football Team (University Division) as selected by CoSIDA. Sievers, a native of Valley, Neb., was a first-team defensive selection, while Huston, who hails from Ankeny, Iowa, was named to the second-team defense.

 

Sievers, who owns a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in business administration, is one of six players on the two teams who carried perfect grade-point averages. Sievers will pick up his undergraduate degree later this month. He finished his senior season as Nebraska’s fifth-leading tackler with 54 total tackles, including three tackles for loss. Sievers is the first Husker to earn first-team honors since tight end Tracey Wistrom in 2001, and gives Nebraska a first-team Academic All-America selection for the 17th time in the last 19 years.

 

Huston is also on track to graduate in December with a degree in exercise science, where he carries a 3.90 cumulative grade-point average. Huston had a breakout season on the field in 2004, finishing with 38 tackles and ranking second on the team with 12 pass breakups. Huston also served as Nebraska’s holder for place-kicks each of the past two seasons.

 

Sievers and Huston are two of three Big 12 players named to either the first or second-team Academic All-America squads, joining Oklahoma State tight end Billy Bajema, who was a first-team selection.

 

The selection of Sievers and Huston to the Academic All-America team continues Nebraska’s unmatched tradition of academic awards. Sievers becomes Nebraska’s 60th first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America selection, 22 more than second-place Notre Dame. The Huskers now boast a nation-leading 83 football all-teams certificates and 219 overall Academic All-Americans across all teams and all sports.