CEDAR CITY, Utah, Jan. 21 - Southern Utah University defensive lineman Cody Larsen has earned 2012 Fabulous Fifty All-American honors from the College Sporting News, it was announced today. Linebacker Zak Browning was one of two players named honorable mention freshman of the year.

Larsen, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior from Draper, Utah (Jordan HS) led the Thunderbirds with 14.0 tackles for loss and was second on the squad with 6.5 sacks in 2012. He ranked second in the Big Sky and 27th in the nation in TFLs, and sixth in the BSC and 45th in the country in sacks while regularly drawing double-teams from opposing offenses. He finished the season with 48 total tackles, including a career-high 11 at Montana. Larsen, a first-team all-Big Sky Conference performer, earned first-team All-America honors from The Associated Press and from the Sports Network this past season.

Browning, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound linebacker from Camas, Wash. (Union HS) - who was named the Newcomer of the Year in the Big Sky - led the nation's freshman in tackles this past season with 11.6 per game. He also led the Thunderbirds and the Big Sky with 116 total tackles. His per-game average ranked second in the Big Sky and seventh in the nation, overall. He had seven games with 10 or more tackles, including an 18-tackle performance at Montana and 15-tackle tallies against Montana State and Eastern Washington. The 18 tackles are the second-most in a game by an SUU freshman during its NCAA era. Browning was also a finalist for the 2012 Jerry Rice Award, which honors the top freshman in the country.

The duo mark Southern Utah's first representatives on the Fabulous Fifty squad since Tysson Poots was named to the squad for the second straight year in 2010.

-- SUU --