Dec. 15, 2009

Sporting News College Football All-American Teams: First | Second | Third

BERKELEY - Cal senior cornerback Syd'Quan Thompson was selected a third-team All-American by Sporting News on Tuesday. The honor was Thompson's second postseason national honor from the organization as he was also named to its 2006 All-Freshman squad.

The two-time first-team All-Pac-10 selection started all 12 contests this season to run his streak of starts to all 51 games possible over his four-year Golden Bear career. He regularly draws the assignment on opponents' top receivers and contributed 47 tackles, 4.0 TFL, one interception and a team-high eight pass breakups this season. Thompson is also Cal's active career leader in tackles (254), interceptions (7), passes defended (41) and pass breakups (34, No. 2 all-time at Cal).

Cal finished the 2009 regular season with an 8-4 overall record and a 5-4 Pac-10 mark to finish tied for fifth in the league standings. The Golden Bears will play Utah (9-3, 6-2 MWC) in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on Dec. 23 (5:00 p.m. PT). The Utes are ranked No. 23 in the final regular-season AP Top 25 and BCS Standings, as well as No. 24 by USA Today. Cal is unranked. The game will be televised live on ESPN.

For San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl tickets and information, visit the Cal Bowl Central page or call (800) GO BEARS.