Thursday, August 30, 2007

Bowman Plays To A Higher Level


Many former Tennessee High School football players will open their college seasons this weekend with a lot of attention.

But none will be anymore in the spotlight than former Chattanooga Notre Dame player Adarius Bowman.

The Oklahoma State Cowboy could be one of the top 10 players selected in the 2008 NFL Draft. He’s developed into one of the nation’s top big-play receivers during his record-breaking junior season and was voted Big 12 offensive newcomer of the year and first-team all-league by the coaches and Associated Press.

When he was at Notre Dame he often appeared to be playing football at a level above the rest of the players on the field.

Bowman hopes to be able to play at that level when the Oklahoma State Cowboys invade Sanford Stadium to face the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.He was a 2006 semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top receiver.

The 6-4, 220-pounder has Terrell Owens size and speed and is athletic enough that he spent the spring semester as a member of Sean Sutton’s Cowboy basketball team.

Bowman finished the 2006 season 11th nationally and second in the Big 12 with 90.85 receiving yards per game and was fifth in the Big 12 with 4.6 catches per game. He caught 12 touchdown passes and set a Big 12 record with 300 receiving yards against Kansas in 2006.

That effort against the Jayhawks was the 11th best game in NCAA history and included 13 catches and four touchdowns.

Bowman finished the season with 1,181 receiving yards and in known for his long hauls. In 2006 he had scoring catches of 75, 69, 64, 55, 54 45 and 34 yards. The 75-yard grab at Houston was the 11th longest TD reception in OSU history. Adarius Bowman is a special athlete who will one day be a star on Sunday’s in the NFL if he remains healthy.

Saturday night he will keep the Georgia secondary glued to No. 12 wherever he goes.

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