Penn St.'s Posluszny, USC's Jarrett repeat

NEW YORK -- Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny and Southern California receiver Dwayne Jarrett overcame adversity to become two-time Associated Press All-Americans.

Posluszny and Jarrett were selected to the first-team for the second consecutive season Tuesday, joining Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and Arkansas running back Darren McFadden on the AP's honor roll.

Smith, the senior quarterback, is one of three Ohio State players on the first team, along with defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock and linebacker James Laurinaitis. Big Ten rival Michigan matched the Buckeyes for the most first-teamers with defensive end LaMarr Woodley, cornerback Leon Hall and offensive tackle Jake Long.

Smith and the top-ranked Buckeyes will play Florida in the national title game Jan. 8 in Arizona. The Gators were represented on the first-team by safety Reggie Nelson.

Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, who finished third behind Smith and McFadden in the Heisman voting, made the second-team.

Posluszny is the first Penn State linebacker to be a two-time AP All-American, quite a feat considering Linebacker U. has produced the likes of LaVar Arrington, Shane Conlan and Jack Ham.

Posluszny returned to Penn State for his senior season after injuring his knee in the Orange Bowl in January. Playing with a bulky brace and trying to adapt to a new position, Posluszny needed a few games to get comfortable in 2006.

In 2005, Posluszny was dominant while playing outside linebacker in a 4-3 defense. To make better use of their personnel, the Nittany Lions shifted to a 3-4 set this season and moved the 240-pound Posluszny inside.

The first few games, Posluszny was healthy but not playing as well as he did last season.

"The knee was fine except the first couple of games they made me wear this really immobile brace. So that was a problem, but we got that taken care of," he said recently. "It was the position switch. I felt so comfortable playing outside linebacker. It was a little bit harder to get used to everything mentally."

Once he started getting the hang of his new gig, Poz was his old self.

Posluszny finished the regular season with 108 tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles. He became the second two-time winner of the Chuck Bednarik Award as national defensive player.

Mississippi's Patrick Willis, the Butkus Award winner, is the other All-American linebacker.

Jarrett's season was complicated by an early season shoulder injury that forced him to miss a game and limited him in several others. But when the 6-foot-5 junior was at full strength, he was USC's best weapon. He caught 58 passes for 773 yards and 10 touchdowns.