Dec. 3, 2003
WACO, Texas - Baylor placed four student-athletes on the 2003 Big 12 football coaches' all-conference team, announced Wednesday by the league office. Senior linebacker John Garrett and sophomore punter Daniel Sepulveda earned second-team honors, while senior running back Rashad Armstrong and senior kickoff return specialist Robert Quiroga received third-team nods.
With four all-conference honorees, the 2003 Baylor squad matched the 1998 and 2001 teams with the most all-Big 12 selections.
Garrett, a product of Mart [Texas] High School, finished the season with 52 tackles, including 17.5 stops behind the line and 10.0 sacks. His sack total ranks second in school history, just one half-sack shy of Matthew Pearson's 1998 record. Garrett, a freshman all-America selection in 2000, registered eight quarterback hurries, forced two fumbles and broke up two passes.
Sepulveda, a graduate of Highland Park High School in Dallas, ranks third in the Big 12 and 23rd nationally, averaging 43.1 yards per punt. He established school several school punting records, including total punting yards (3,750) and punts of 50-plus yards (24). Sepulveda, a linebacker who began punting last spring, also pinned four punts inside the 5 yard line with two coffins.
Armstrong, who transferred to Baylor last season from Mesa [Ariz.] Community College, became Baylor's sixth 1,000-yard rusher and the program's first since 1995. A native of Miami, Fla., Armstrong tallied 1,074 rushing yards on the season with six touchdowns. He ranks fifth in the Big 12 and 40th nationally in rushing yards per game. Armstrong was also valuable as a receiver; he snagged 19 passes for 216 yards and one touchdown on the season.
Quiroga, a three-year starter at wide receiver, made a splash late in the season when he began returning kickoffs. Against Kansas State, his first game returning kickoffs, Quiroga established a school record with 183 yards on five returns, including a 98-yard return for a touchdown. The following week, he joined Kalief Muhammad as the only players in school history with a 100-yard kickoff return. Quiroga became only the second player in Big 12 history with two kickoff returns for touchdown in the same season.
Quiroga also earned first-team all-Big 12 honors from the Dallas Morning News at the utility position. Garrett was named second-team all-conference by the publication.
