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Location: WholeHogSports > Story     |     TAGGED: SEC (8) , football (11)

UA center captures Rimington

Published: Friday, December 07, 2007 PRINT E-MAIL

ORLANDO, Fla. — Young Jonathan Luigs had lofty goals when he signed on with the Arkansas Razorbacks out of Pulaski Academy in 2004.

As an underpublicized offensive lineman, Luigs wanted to get his name out there on the level of a Shawn Andrews, the All-America tackle for the Razorbacks early this decade.

Mission accomplished.

The rosy-cheeked Luigs capped a remarkable two-day period Thursday by capturing the Rimington Trophy, given to the nation’s best college center.

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“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” Luigs said at the ESPN Club at the Disney Boardwalk prior to the College Football Awards presented by the Home Depot. “It’s a really humbling honor.

“ I went and grabbed it today. This is surreal.”

Luigs set his sights on the best offensive lineman awards available in college football from his first snap on the Arkansas campus.

“That’s been my goal ever since I got here,” Luigs said. “I knew there was a center’s award, and I wanted to win it.”

Luigs put the Rimington Trophy on top of the Jacobs Trophy, symbolizing the top blocker in the SEC, that he won Wednesday. Andrews won the same award in 2002 and 2003.

“To be in a category with Shawn and to be able to maybe be mentioned in the same sentence with him is just incredible,” Luigs said. “I never thought it would happen to me.”

Luigs’ credentials go handin-hand with the wrecking ball rushing attack Arkansas has sported the past couple of years. The 6-4, 307-pounder out of Little Rock helped pave the way for two 1, 000-yard rushers — Darren McFadden and Felix Jones — in back-to-back seasons.

“We had some huge games running the football, and Jonathan was a big part of it,” said Mike Markuson, Arkansas’ offensive line coach. “He’s a smart guy and a very exceptional athlete playing the center’s position, and he’s reaping the rewards from it. He’s reaping the hard work of a lot of other people, including himself.

“ It’s a great honor for him and for this school.”

Luis was quick to credit his teammates as well.

“It’s been kind of a group effort,” he said. “It’s great to be down here with Darren and Felix. It’s a reflection of the hard work we’ve put in since we’ve been here.”

Luigs said he’s still not sure where he’ll put the Rimington Award once it arrives in central Arkansas.

“I’ll probably give it to my parents and maybe they’ll put it in the living room,” Luigs said.

Luigs’ parents, Gary and Yvonne Luigs, were unable to travel to central Florida for the ESPN College Awards Show, but they talked on the phone with Jonathan on Thursday evening.

“They’re ecstatic,” Luigs said. “They sent everything through the phone they could.”

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Baseball America Poll

Updated May 20

1. UC Irvine 40-12

2. LSU 41-14

3. Arizona St 41-11

4. CS Fullerton 38-14

5. Texas 38-12

6. North Carolina 41-14

7. Ole Miss 40-15

8. Oklahoma 40-16

9. Florida 38-18

10. TCU 35-15

11. Rice 35-15

12. Florida St 40-14

13. Clemson 39-17

14. Georgia Tech 34-15

15. East Carolina 41-15

16. Virginia 39-12

17. Kansas St 39-15

18. Alabama 37-17

19. Cal Poly 35-17

20. Louisville 40-14

21. Minnesota 35-15

22. Elon 37-14

23. Miami Fl 35-18

24. Missouri 32-23

25. South Carolina 37-19

Who is the best defensive lineman in Arkansas' history?


Dave "Hawg" Hanner

Wayne Martin

Jimmy Walker

Dan Hampton

Loyd Phillips

Vote

Arkansas Razorbacks' 2009 Baseball Schedule

Feb. 20

Washington St. (DH)

W 7-5

Feb. 20

Washington St. (DH)

W 4-2

Feb. 22

Washington St.

W 4-3

Feb. 24

Kansas

L 3-9

Feb. 25

Kansas

W 9-8

Feb. 27

Western Illinois

W 8-7

Feb. 28

Western Illinois

     6:00 pm

Mar. 1

Western Illinois

     6:00 pm

Mar. 3

Valparaiso

W 7-3

Mar. 4

Valparaiso

W 9-6

Mar. 6

California

W 5-4

Mar. 7

California

L 6-12

Mar. 8

California

W 13-3

Mar. 10

@ Centenary

L 3-8

Mar. 11

@ Centenary

     6:00 pm

Mar. 13

Florida

W 11-4

Mar. 14

Florida

W 8-4

Mar. 15

Florida

W 4-2

Mar. 17

Nebraska

W 7-3

Mar. 18

Nebraska

L 4-7

Mar. 20

@ Auburn

W 3-2

Mar. 21

@ Auburn

W 10-6

Mar. 22

@ Auburn

W 12-6

Mar. 25

Missouri St.

W 10-0

Mar. 27

Mississippi St.

W 20-9

Mar. 28

Mississippi St.

W 5-1

Mar. 29

Mississippi St.

L 4-12

Mar. 31

@ Missouri St.

W 2-0

Apr. 3

@ South Carolina

W 6-4

Apr. 4

@ South Carolina

L 1-9

Apr. 5

@ South Carolina

W 7-4

Apr. 7

Arizona St.

W 7-3

Apr. 8

Arizona St.

W 8-7

Apr. 10

Vanderbilt

L 0-9

Apr. 11

Vanderbilt

L 6-13

Apr. 12

Vanderbilt

     1:05 pm

Apr. 14

La.-Monroe

L 2-3

Apr. 15

La.-Monroe

W 10-9

Apr. 17

@ Georgia

L 3-4

Apr. 18

@ Georgia

L 3-4

Apr. 19

@ Georgia

W 2-0

Apr. 21

@ Oral Roberts

W 9-6

Apr. 24

@ Tennessee

W 9-3

Apr. 25

@ Tennessee

L 4-5

Apr. 26

@ Tennessee

W 15-8

Apr. 28

Oklahoma

W 8-7

May. 1

LSU

W 11-4

May. 2

LSU

L 0-5

May. 3

LSU

L 3-4

May. 8

@ Alabama

L 1-2

May. 9

@ Alabama

L 6-8

May. 10

@ Alabama

L 5-6

May. 12

Oral Roberts

W 3-2

May. 14

Ole Miss

L 5-7

May. 15

Ole Miss

L 3-9

May. 16

Ole Miss

L 3-16