MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Senior safety Karl Joseph was recently named to CBS Sports All-American Second Team as announced by the organization.
The CBS Sports All-American team was selected by a panel of college football writers, analysts and experts across the nation.
Joseph, who played in only four games in 2015, was having an outstanding year when he sustained a season-ending knee injury the first week of October. He was playing at an All-American level, leading the nation in interceptions (5), No. 23 in passes defended and No. 27 in fumbles recovered. He was No. 2 on the Mountaineer defense in tackles with 20, including 15 solo stops. He also had a sack, two tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery.
One of the greatest Mountaineers to ever wear the Gold and Blue, Joseph started all 42 games of his career and logged an incredible 3,388 plays, including 2,980 on defense. He produced 284 tackles, including 209 solo stops, 16.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, nine interceptions, 14 pass breakups, eight forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries.
“Karl Joseph is a young man who has given everything he has to our football program and University over the past four years and who elected to return to WVU for his senior season to earn his degree and to be a part of something special with this team,” Holgorsen said earlier this season. “He exemplifies what it means to be a Mountaineer. Karl is an All-American, a fierce competitor, a leader and I know he will have a full recovery, and I can’t wait to watch him on Sundays next fall.”
Joseph, an All-Big 12 first team performer in 2014, is known nationally for his hard-hitting and aggressive defensive ability. Joseph was named National Player of the Week by the Football Writers Association of America, Jim Thorpe Defensive Back of the Week and the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in game one against Georgia Southern on Sept. 5. He was awarded the game ball by Holgorsen after putting up eight tackles, had three interceptions in the third quarter and recovered a fumble.
He finished second the team with 92 tackles as a junior and led WVU as a sophomore with four fumble recoveries, ranking No. 2 nationally. He also had 68 tackles, five pass breakups and three tackles for loss. Joseph was named a freshman All-American and WVU’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2012 after leading the Mountaineers in tackles (104), solo tackles (76) and tied for the team lead in forced fumbles (3) and interceptions (2).
