ASU football notebook: Nixon is Academic All-Pac-10 again

Mike Nixon has displayed a lot of brawn for the Arizona State football team this year, as the linebacker leads the Sun Devils in tackles and the Pac-10 in interceptions.

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On Tuesday, the 25-year-old junior was honored for his brains, as he was named a first-team Academic All-Pac-10 selection for the second straight season.

“I take a lot of pride in my classes, on and off the field,” said Nixon, who carries a 4.05 grade-point average in political science. “It’s nice to get rewarded for it.”

Nixon was ASU’s only first-teamer. Linebackers Colin Parker (3.28 GPA, business) and Anthony Reyes (3.32 GPA, interdisciplinary studies) and kicker Thomas Weber (3.10 GPA, kinesiology) were second-team choices. Weber was a first-team honoree in 2007.

“It’s nice to see guys who can get it done on and off the field,” Nixon said. “Hopefully, I can keep it up for another year.”

According to the Pac-10, to be eligible for selection to the academic team, a player must carry a minimum 3.0 GPA and be either a starter or “significant” substitute.

HAPPY RETURN

Kyle Williams figures to take over as the primary punt returner against Arizona after ceding those duties to Nate Kimbrough after suffering a concussion against Oregon on Oct. 25.

He is averaging 17.8 yards a punt return, fourth in the nation. Last week against UCLA, Williams got a chance and brought a punt back 64 yards, ASU’s longest such return in three years.

“I was happy to get another shot at it,” Williams said. “I think I proved myself last week and have proven myself over the years, really. If we can get a big return against Arizona, that will be huge. The more things we can beat them in, it will be the more, the merrier, because we don’t like them.”

MOVIE TIME

Nixon said the defensive film session of the UCLA game, in which the Sun Devils tied a major college record by scoring four defensive touchdowns, was “pretty awesome.”

Said Nixon: “We had our normal bad plays and mess-ups here and there, but you can’t fathom all of the scores. I’m still thinking about that game, about how the crowd was into it and motivating us. It gets me excited to play another week.”

Research after the game indicated that Houston scored four TDs on defense in a 1987 game against Texas. This week, the NCAA discovered another instance: Florida, against Louisiana-Lafayette in 1996.

Despite the history-making effort against UCLA, Nixon said defensive coordinator Craig Bray was his critical self during the film study.

“He’s never satisfied,” Nixon said, smiling. “Otherwise, he’d be out of a job.”