USAfootball

Upper Deck Team USA Alumni Report: Irish eyes are smiling

With top-ranked Notre Dame’s 22-13 win over Southern Cal on Saturday night, the U.S. Under-19 National Team will be well represented in the BCS National Championship Game.

George Atkinson III, Josh Atkinson, Matt Hegarty, Anthony Rabasa and Stephon Tuitt all played for Team USA in 2011 and will be suiting up the Fighting Irish when they play in January for college football’s ultimate prize.

Against the Trojans, Atkinson III (2011) had two carries for 15 yards and returned four kickoffs for 87 yards, including a 39-yarder. Tuitt (2011) also had two tackles for the Irish. 

Tuitt leads Notre Dame with 12 sacks and 13 tackles for loss. He also has a 77-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Atkinson is averaging 20.7 yards per kick return and has scored five total touchdowns.

Notre Dame awaits the winner of the SEC Championship Game between No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia this weekend.

Hogan leads Stanford to Pac-12 Championship Game

For the first time in school history, No. 8 Stanford will make an appearance in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Hogan (2011) completed 15-of-22 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown in Stanford’s 35-17 victory Saturday over No. 17 UCLA. He added 12 yards rushing as well. 

Hogan and the Cardinal take on UCLA again Friday – this time at Stanford Stadium. The winner earns a trip to the Rose Bowl, where Stanford last went in 2000.

 “I expect them to give us everything,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said. “I expect this to be a very tough, physical game. It's going to be 10 times harder than this game was. We're going to get their best shot.”

Also for Stanford, A.J. Tarpley (2010) had a team-high seven tackles, including a sack. Alex Carter (2012) made two tackles, Wayne Lyons (2011) one tackle and Devon Cajuste (2011) started at wide receiver for the Cardinal.

Elsewhere:

• Todd Gurley (2012) ran 12 times for a game-high 97 yards and a touchdown as the true freshman helped No. 3 Georgia beat Georgia Tech, 42-10. 
• Josh Huff (2010) led No. 5 Oregon in receiving with five catches for 62 yards as the Ducks beat No. 15 Oregon State, 48-24. Jordan Poyer (2009) had six tackles and a pass breakup for the Beavers. Kevin Cummings (2009) also caught two passes for 12 yards for Oregon State.
• Quinton Dunbar (2010) caught four passes for 25 yards and a touchdown to help No. 4 Florida beat No. 10 Florida State, 37-26.
• Adam Shead (2010) started at left guard for No. 13 Oklahoma as the Sooners beat No. 21 Oklahoma State, 51-48, in overtime. Ryan Simmons (2010) had three tackles and a forced fumble for the Cowboys.
• Corey Cooper (2010) had two tackles for No. 14 Nebraska in a 13-7 win over Iowa. Greg Garmon (2012) rushed five times for 19 yards for the Hawkeyes.
• Jaxon Shipley (2011) caught six passes for 80 yards in No. 16 Texas’ 20-13 loss to TCU. Also for the Longhorns, Joe Bergeron (2011) ran five times for 12 yards, Daje Johnson (2012) had two carries for 14 yards and Josh Turner (2012) made four tackles.
• Savon Huggins (2011) ran for 18 yards on eight carries as No. 18 Rutgers lost to Pitt, 27-6.
• Jack Mewhort (2009) started at left tackle and Michael Bennett (2011) had two tackles, including one for loss, in Ohio State’s 26-21 win over No. 21 Michigan. Royce Jenkins-Stone (2012) had one tackle for Michigan.
• Brian Winters (2009) started at left tackle for No. 23 Kent State during a 28-6 win over Ohio.
• Jack Konopka (2011) started at right tackle for Northwestern in a 50-14 win over Illinois.
• A.J. Ferguson (2009) had two tackles for North Carolina State in a 27-10 win over Boston College. Steele Divitto (2010) had eight tackles, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup for Eagles.
• Tevin Reese (2009) caught four passes for 38 yards in Baylor’s 52-46 overtime win over Texas Tech. Kenny Williams (2011) ran for 89 yards and a touchdown for the Red Raiders. He also caught an 11-yard pass.
• Shamarko Thomas (2009) had six tackles and Brandon Sharpe (2009) had one tackle for Syracuse during a 38-20 win over Temple.
• Tariq Edwards (2009) had one tackle in Virginia Tech’s 17-14 win over Virginia. Oday Aboushi (2009) started at left tackle for the Cavaliers.
• Josh Allen started at center for Louisiana-Monroe in its 23-17 overtime win over Florida International.
• Noel Grigsby (2009) caught seven passes for 127 yards for San Jose State in the Spartans’ 52-43 win over Louisiana Tech.
• Evan Swindall started at center for Mississippi in a 41-24 win over Mississippi State.
• Keiwone Malone (2010) had six rushing yards for Memphis in the Tigers’ 42-24 victory over Southern Mississippi.
• Mike Hull (2010) made five tackles for Penn State as the Nittany Lions held off Wisconsin in overtime, 24-21. Tyler Dippel (2009) had one tackle for the Badgers.
• Manoa Pikula (2011) recorded one tackle for BYU as the Cougars beat New Mexico State, 50-14.
• Micajah Reynolds (2009) had a sack and a forced fumble for Michigan State in the Spartans’ 26-10 win at Minnesota. Andre McDonald (2012) led the Golden Gophers with 36 yards receiving on three catches in the loss.
• Robert Bell (2009) had nine tackles in Toledo’s 35-23 win over Akron.
• Pat Hinkel (2009) had four tackles, including two for loss, for Miami (Ohio) in a 31-24 loss to Ball State.
• Jordan Lynch (2009) completed 16-of-25 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown to help Northern Illinois beat Eastern Michigan, 49-7. Lynch also carried 20 times for 107 yards.
• Jordon Roussos (2009) started at right tackle and Kendall Montgomery (2010) started at tight end for Bowling Green in a 21-7 win over Buffalo.
• Aaron Dobson (2009) caught four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown in Marshall’s 65-59 overtime loss to East Carolina.
• Josh Reese (2010) caught one pass for 6 yards for Central Florida in a 49-24 win over Alabama-Birmingham.
• Mike Loftus (2009) punted eight times for a 39.8-yard average for SMU in a 35-27 win over Tulsa. Jake Alexander (2010) started at left guard for Tulsa. 

Upper Deck has been the official trading card partner of USA Football and Team USA since 2011. Each year, Upper Deck produces a USA Football trading card set which features players from USA Football’s Under-19 National Team. Click hereto learn more.