Inside The Huskies

UW's McDuffie Earns Third-Team AP All-America Mention

The Husky cornerback keeps piling up the individual accolades in spite of a 4-8 team.

Dan Raley

To the victors, of course, always go the spoils, which is how the Associated Press All-America Team annually is drawn up. The better teams have the better players and the top players draw the accolades. 

There's no mystery here.

So when someone such as cornerback Trent McDuffie plays for a 4-8 team and draws AP third-team accolades it's all the more remarkable.

On Monday, the University of Washington defensive back from Westminster, California, someone likely headed to the NFL draft with two seasons of eligibility remaining, was deemed one of the top six corners in the nation.

Cincinnati junior Ahmad Gardner and Auburn senior Roger McCreary earned first-team honors at cornerback. 

Gardner's Bearcats teammate, senior Coby Bryant, and East Carolina junior Ja'Quan McMillian were the AP's second-team corners.

McDuffie and Iowa senior Riley Moss hold down the third-team slots. 

Cornerback Trent McDuffie shares a hug in what might have been his final game.
Trent McDuffie gets emotional at the Apple Cup, possibly his final UW outing.  / Dan Raley

Gardner and Bryant play for Cincy's unbeaten 13-0 team headed for the CFP semifinals. Moss's Iowa team is 10-3, McMillian's East Carolina entry is 7-5 and McCreary lined up for 6-6 Auburn.

While the Huskies suffered through their great falloff, losing their final four games and coach Jimmy Lake along the way, McDuffie maintained his level of excellence. Appearing in 11 games, he finished with 35 tackles, including 4 tackles for loss and a sack, and he had 6 pass defenses.

Over the past week, McDuffie and fellow Husky corner Kyler Gordon were named first-team All-Pac-12 by four different outlets. 

McDuffie was one of just five Pac-12 players to land on one of the AP's three All-America units. Others were junior edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux and sophomore safety Verone McKinley III, both first-team selections; Utah junior linebacker Devin Lloyd, also a first-teamer; and USC junior wide receiver Drake London, a third-teamer who has declared for the NFL draft. 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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