Matt Forte, Graham Harrell, Jeremy Maclin, Chris Wells Announced as Week Twelve Nominees for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week Award

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Four nominees for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week award have been announced after the twelfth week of college football action, and now it’s up to the fans to determine the winner. Tulane running back Matt Forté, Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell, Missouri wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and Ohio State running back Chris Wells have been selected by ESPN as this week’s top candidates based on their outstanding performances. Fans can determine the winner by sending the text message VOTE to 87654 from a wireless phone.

“AT&T is proud to recognize them for their achievements on the field and wishes each of them the best of luck throughout the season. Now it’s up to the fans to decide who the best college football player is this week.”

Forté ran for 194 yards and tied his own school and league record with five touchdowns in Tulane’s win over Rice. Harrell threw for 420 yards and two touchdowns in Texas Tech’s upset over Oklahoma. Maclin scored three touchdowns with 194 kickoff return yards to set the single-season freshmen record for all-purpose yardage in Missouri’s win over Kansas State. Wells rushed for a career-high of 222 yards on a career-high 39 carries and scored two touchdowns in Ohio State’s win at Michigan.

“Each of these athletes had tremendous performances for their team this week,” said Dave Garver, executive director of Business Development and Wireless Sponsorships for AT&T’s wireless unit. “AT&T is proud to recognize them for their achievements on the field and wishes each of them the best of luck throughout the season. Now it’s up to the fans to decide who the best college football player is this week.”

Fans have until 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday to submit their votes. The winner will be announced Nov. 22 at halftime during Thursday’s ESPN College Football Primetime Presented by Applebee’s college football game between University of Southern California and Arizona State. There is no limit on fan voting, and each vote counts as one entry into a sweepstakes to win a trip to the 2008 BCS National Championship game in New Orleans.

The AT&T All-America Player of the Week program will continue throughout the season, with the nominees being revealed each Sunday on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” at 9 a.m. ET and on the Web at http://www.espnallamerica.com. AT&T customers can visit AT&T’s wireless NCAA^® Football Portal on their handsets to view video highlights of each week’s candidates, retrieve photos, check scores, track their favorite teams and download school ringtones.

In December, four finalists for the AT&T All-America Player of the Year award will be announced during a one-hour special on ABC Sports, when the Football Writers Association of America All-America team will also be announced. Fans will then get a chance to say who the best player in the nation is by voting for the AT&T All-America Player of the Year up until the Bowl Championship Series. Voting ends Jan. 4, and the winner will be announced during the BCS National Championship game on FOX Jan. 8.

Last year, University of Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn was crowned as the AT&T All-America Player of the Year after beating out Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith — the Heisman Trophy winner — Rutgers running back Ray Rice and Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan. Voting for the AT&T All-America Player of the Year was the highest total in the three-year history of the award.

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