Adams named SEC Special Teams Player of the year

FAYETTEVILLE, AR. – University of Arkansas wide receiver/punt returner Joe Adams has been named SEC Special Teams Player of the Year, it was announced Wednesday.

One of the most versatile and dynamic players in college football, Adams leads the country with three punt return touchdowns and an average of 16.19 yards per punt return. In addition to Arkansas, only two other teams in the country have returned three punts for touchdowns this season. Adams is the only player in the NCAA with rushing, receiving and multiple punt return touchdowns in 2011.

His career total of four punt return touchdowns is tied for the lead among all active players nationally and tied for fourth all-time in the SEC. The Little Rock, Ark., native ranks tied for second on the SEC’s single-season punt return touchdown list, one behind the conference’s single-season record.

Adams is the second Razorback to be named SEC Special Teams Player of the Year, which was first awarded in 2004, after Felix Jones won the award in 2007. Adams, Jones and Darren McFadden, who was named SEC Offensive Player of the Year in 2006 and 2007, are the only three Razorbacks to be named player of the year in the SEC. Arkansas, Auburn and LSU are tied for the most Special Teams Player of the Year winners with two each.

Adams finishes his collegiate career Jan. 6 in the 76th AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic when the Razorbacks, who finished sixth in the BCS standings, take on Kansas State, which was eighth in the final BCS standings, inside Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The game will air on Fox beginning at 7 p.m.