Gerald McRath

24

Class: RS Senior Hometown: Powder Springs, Ga. High School: McEachern HS

Height / Weight: 6-3 / 220 Position: LB Birthdate: 06/16/1986 Experience: 3vl

Named preseason C-USA Defensive Player of the Year by the league's coaches and Blue Ribbon Football Yearbook ... Picked as a first-team selection by preseason magazines - Athlon Sports, Phil Steele's Magazine and Lindy's...2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl: Tallied a game high eight total tackles, all of which were solo ... Had two tackles for losses ,one of which was a sack ... 2007 (r-So.): Named second-team sophomore All-American by CollegeFootballNews.com ... The Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year by both the coaches and media as the school won the award for the fourth times in the last five years and eighth time in the 12-year history of C-USA ... Ranked fourth in the league and 15th nationally in tackles per game ... Had 139 total tackles (72 solos, 67 assists) with 12 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two passes broken up and one force fumble ... Had double-digit tackles seven times, including a career-best 21 stops against UCF (10/28) ... Added a 17-tackle performance against Arkansas State (11/24), 15 versus Tennessee (9/8) and 14 at East Carolina (9/15), earning C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against the Pirates... Suffered knee injury against Memphis and did not start the following week at UTEP (11/17) but did tally three solo tackles in a reserve role ... Athletic Director's Honor Roll and C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member ... Received undergraduate degree in December ... 2007 Preseason Honors: Named All-Conference USA by Athlon Sports (first team), CollegeFootballNews.com (first team), Phil Steele's (first team) and The Sporting News (first team) ... Named No. 14 on top 53 inside linebackers in the nation by Phil Steele's ... 2007 GMAC Bowl: Tallied a game-high 13 total tackles, including eight solo stops ... Added three tackles for loss ... 2006 (r-Fr.): Named to the 2006 Freshman All-American team by The Sporting News, FWAA/Scripps and CollegeFootballNews.com ... Also selected to the Conference USA 2006 All-Freshman team and the All-Conference USA third team ... Named the Defensive Player of the Week by the coaching staff following his performances against Tulsa (10/3), UAB (11/18) and Houston (12/1) ... Played in all 14 games, including nine starts ... Participated in 601 total snaps, including 598 on defense and three on special teams ... Recorded a team-best 104 total tackles, including 59 unassisted, 11.0 tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles, and one pass breakup ... Notched six games with 10 or more stops ... Finished with a season-high 15 tackles against Houston ... Had 13 tackles against East Carolina (10/28), 12 against UAB (11/18), 11 against Memphis (11/5) and 10 against Tulsa ... Recorded a season-high three tackles for loss against UAB (11/18) and Ohio (1/7) ... Notched four games in which he tallied eight solo stops ... Averaged 11.3 tackles per game over the final four tilts ... 2005 (r-Fr.): Played and started two games, before injuring his knee in the McNeese State game (9/17) ... Scored the team's first touchdown of 2005, on a 32-yard interception return against Alabama ... Finished the season with six total tackles (five solos, one assist) ... Finished with five total tackles (four solos, one assist) against Alabama ... Also forced a fumble, had a rumble recovery, a pass breakup and 32-yard interception return for a touchdown ... Added an assist against McNeese State ... 2004 (Fr.): Redshirted ... Prep: Played for Coach Jim Dorsey at Powder Springs High School ... Team captain ... Finished with 85 tackles, including 59 solo tackles and three tackles for loss ... Recorded one interception, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and five quarterback hurries ... Named to the Marietta Daily Journal Dynamite Dozen ... Cobb County Super 11 by the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Georgia Top 50 ... Also lettered in wrestling ... Two-star (5.2) rating by rivals.com ... Listed as the 32nd-best player in Georgia by SuperPrep ... Three-star rating by TheInsiders.com ... Rated No. 69 nationally among linebackers by TheInsiders.com ...