Three Lions earn Freshman All-American nods

* Courtesy of Penn State Sports Information

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; December 11, 2012 - Penn State defensive end Deion Barnes (Philadelphia) and tight end Kyle Carter (Bear, Del.) have earned a trio of first-team Freshman All-America honors.

Barnes and Carter have earned selections on the CBSSports.com, Sporting News and FoxSportsNext.com/Scout.com Freshman All-America teams. True freshman tight end Jesse James (Glassport) was an honorable mention Freshman All-American by CollegeFootballNews.com.

A standout at Northeast High School, Barnes was selected the Big Ten Thompson-Randel El Freshman of the Year. He also was the ESPN.com and BTN.com Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Barnes joined tailback Curtis Enis (1995) as Nittany Lions to be selected Freshman of the Year, which was first awarded in 1986.

Barnes led Penn State with six sacks (minus-30), tied for No. 5 in the Big Ten, and with 10.0 tackles for loss, good for No. 13 in the conference. He was tied for fourth in the Big Ten with three forced fumbles. Playing in every game, Barnes made 26 tackles (14 solo) and had one pass break-up. Barnes was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week after recording five tackles and a sack in Penn State's 34-7 win over Navy. He made a season-high six tackles (four solo) and 3.0 TFL for minus-13 yards Nov. 10 at Legends Division champion Nebraska.

Carter earned first-team All-Big Ten honors by the conference's media panel and ESPN.com. He was second on the team with 36 receptions for 453 yards (12.6) and two touchdowns. The nation's only freshman named to the John Mackey Award Mid-season Watch List, he had six catches for 20 yards or longer. Carter was selected Big Ten Freshman of the Week after making six catches for a season-high 85 yards in the 38-14 win at Iowa. The former William Penn High School standout missed three games due to injury.

James was second on the team with five touchdown catches this season. He made 15 receptions for 276 yards for a team-best 18.4 average. The former South Allegheny High School standout had a season-long 42-yard catch and run to give Penn State a 21-14 lead in the Nittany Lions overtime win over Wisconsin on Nov. 24.

Led by first-year coach Bill O'Brien, the AT&T ESPN National Coach of the Year, the Nittany Lions posted an 8-4 overall mark and finished second in the Big Ten Leaders Division with a 6-2 record. Penn State won eight of its final 10 games, with the only losses coming against division winners Ohio State and Nebraska. In the season finale, the Nittany Lions beat eventual Big Ten champion Wisconsin, 24-21, in overtime.