HOUSTON --- For the first time since 1997, a University of Houston football standout was named a First-Team All-America, as junior quarterback Case Keenum added to his 2009 accolades by being selected to illustrious honor by College Football News.

Already selected as a Second-Team All-America pick by the Walter Camp Football Foundation last week, Keenum picks up the top honors this season from CFN. The Conference USA MVP also was named Second-Team All-America by Rivals.com, Phil Steele’s College Football and CBSSports.com. He also picked up Honorable Mention All-America accolades from Sports Illustrated.

The Sporting News also named Keenum its Conference USA Offensive MVP.

The reigning Football Bowl Subdivision leader in total offense, Keenum leads the nation again in the total offense (429.3 yards per game), as well as passing (419.2 ypg.) and touchdown passes (43), and has guided the Cougars to a national ranking in 2009 while setting several UH and C-USA records along the way.

A six-time recipient of the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week this season, the Abilene, Texas native was a finalist for both the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award and the Walter Camp Football Foundation National Player of the Year. He still remains a finalist for the Manning Award, which will be handed out after the bowl season.

Keenum­–who has thrown for more than 300 yards in 12 of 13 games this season, including four games with 500-plus yards–was named last week as the winner of the Sammy Baugh Award, which honors the nation’s top passing quarterback.

Keenum’s favorite target in 2009, junior wide receiver and C-USA Newcomer of the Year James Cleveland, was named Third-Team All-America by Phil Steele’s College Football, as well as a pair of Honorable Mention All-America honors by CFN and Sports Illustrated.

Cleveland, a junior from Baytown, Texas, led the Cougars with 101 receptions for 1,182 yards and 14 touchdowns despite missing the last two regular-season games against Memphis and Rice with an ankle injury. Cleveland posted five 100-yard receiving games and topped off the season with 19 catches for 241 yards and three scores in the C-USA Championship game at East Carolina.

Cleveland became just the sixth player in UH history to top the century mark in single-season receptions and the first since Sherman Smith had 103 in 1992. His receiving yards ranks eighth-best all-time, while his 19 receptions in the title game tied the school record set by Manny Hazard twice in 1989 against TCU and Texas.

A trio of sophomores also nabbed All-America honors, as wide receiver/kick returner Tyron Carrier, wide receiver Patrick Edwards and linebacker Marcus McGraw were tabbed by CFN as Honorable Mention All-America Sophomores. Carrier also was named Honorable Mention All-America as a kick returner by Sports Illustrated.

Carrier etched his name in the Houston record books and was named to the C-USA First Team in the process, as the sophomore from Houston returned three kickoffs for touchdowns and led the league in kickoff return average at 27.5 yards per return. Carrier had touchdown returns of 92 yards against SMU, 98 at Tulsa and 99 against Rice in the season finale.

He has a school-record four kickoff return touchdowns in his two-year career.

One of the comeback stories of the year, Edwards returned from the horrifying broken leg suffered on national television at Marshall last season and recorded a career-high 81 catches for 985 yards and five touchdowns. He posted 100-yard receiving games against both SMU and Tulsa and enters the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl ranked 26th in the nation with 6.23 receptions per game.

For the second straight season, McGraw leads the Cougars in tackles, racking up 133 total stops, including 65 unassisted and eight for losses. He also recorded four sacks, five pass breakups and a team-best three forced fumbles. McGraw’s average of 10.23 tackles per game ranks him 14th in the nation. With just seven tackles against Air Force in last year’s bowl game, McGraw will break into the UH top 10 for tackles in a season.

Finally, The Sporting News selected kicker Matt Hogan as a Freshman All-America. Hogan took over the kicking chores midway through the season and nailed all 10 of his field-goal attempts this season, including a 51-yarder as time expired in the Cougars’ improbable 46-45 win at Tulsa on Nov. 7. He enters the bowl game with Air Force tied for second on the team with 66 points.

The No. 25 Cougars travel to Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 31, to face Air Force in a rematch of last season’s Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.