It was a season to remember for Venric Mark, and he has received national recognition as a result.
Mark, Northwestern's junior running back, was named to the All-America team by the Football Writers Association of America, honored as a punt returner. Mark is NU's 39th All-American and the only Big Ten representative.
On the season, Mark averaged 20.1 yards per punt return, ranking top in the nation. He returned to punts for touchdowns—coming against Syracuse and Penn State.
As a first-year starter at running back, Mark tallied 1,310 rushing yards, becoming Northwestern's first 1,000-yard rusher since Tyrell Sutton in 2006.
Listed below is the entire FWAA All-America Team.
2012 FWAA ALL-AMERICA TEAM
OFFENSE
QB Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M (6-1, 200, Fr., Kerrville, Texas)
RB Kenjon Barner, Oregon (5-11, 192, Sr., Riverside, Calif.)
RB Jonathan Franklin, UCLA (5-11, 195, Sr., Los Angeles, Calif.)
WR Stedman Bailey, West Virginia (5-10, 195, Jr., Miami, Fla.)
WR Marqise Lee, USC (6-0, 195, So., Inglewood, Calif.)
WR Terrance Williams, Baylor (6-2, 205, Sr., Dallas, Texas)
OL Jonathan Cooper, North Carolina (6-3, 295, Sr., Wilmington, N.C.)
OL Luke Joeckel, Texas A&M (6-6, 310, Jr., Arlington, Texas)
OL Jake Matthews, Texas A&M (6-5, 305, Jr., Missouri City, Texas)
OL Chance Warmack, Alabama (6-3, 320, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.)
C Barrett Jones, Alabama (6-5, 302, Sr., Germantown, Tenn.)
DEFENSE
DL Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina (6-6, 256, So., Rock Hill, S.C.)
DL Chris Jones, Bowling Green (6-1, 293, Sr., Brownsburg, Ind.)
DL Damontre Moore, Texas A&M (6-4, 250, Jr., Rowlett, Texas)
DL Bjoern Werner, Florida State (6-4, 255, Jr., Berlin, Germany)
LB Arthur Brown, Kansas State (6-1, 231, Sr., Wichita, Kan.)
LB Manti Te'o, Notre Dame (6-2, 255, Sr., Laie, Hawaii)
LB Jarvis Jones, Georgia (6-3, 241, Jr., Columbus, Ga.)
DB Johnthan Banks, Mississippi State (6-2, 185, Sr., Maben, Miss.)
DB Dee Milliner, Alabama (6-1, 199, Jr., Millbrook, Ala.)
DB Eric Reid, LSU (6-2, 212, Jr., Geismar, La.)
DB Phillip Thomas, Fresno State (6-1, 215, Sr., Bakersfield, Calif.)
SPECIAL TEAMS
K Cairo Santos, Tulane (5-8, 160, Jr., St. Augustine, Fla.)
P Ryan Allen, Louisiana Tech (6-2, 215, Sr., Salem, Ore.)
KR Dri Archer, Kent State (5-8, 175, Jr., Laurel, Fla.)
PR Venric Mark, Northwestern (5-8, 175, Jr., Tomball, Texas)