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Avon Cobourne

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Avon Cobourne

Avon Cobourne (born March 6, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers from 1999 to 2002 before entering the NFL.

Cobourne became the Montreal Alouettes's starting running back in 2008, in which he finished the season with 1,557 all-purpose yards and was named a CFL East Division All-Star. He followed this up with an outstanding 2009 season where he rushed for 1,214 yards and 13 touchdowns, culminating in CFL All-Star recognition and being named the MVP of the 2009 Grey Cup.

Cobourne grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and attended Holy Cross High School in Delran Township, New Jersey, where he was a letterman in football. In football, he rushed for 1,400 yards and 32 touchdowns as a junior, but suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury early in his senior season.

Cobourne entered West Virginia right after Amos Zereoué, the star running back from 1996 to 1998, left early for the NFL. He immediately started the 1999 season. As a freshman, Cobourne ranked 13th in the NCAA in rushing with 1,139 yards first in the Big East, and was the leading freshman rusher in the nation. Cobourne also made 1st-team all-Big East and broke Zereoue's freshman rushing yardage record at West Virginia. Cobourne rushed for 142 yards in only three quarters against Miami (Ohio) and 141 yards against Rutgers. His best performances of the season though came against Virginia Tech, whose defense was ranked #1 in the nation against the run, when he ran for 133 yards; and against Pitt, when he rushed for a then Mountaineer Field record of 210 yards, which was the best single-game performance for a WVU freshman.

As a sophomore in 2000, Cobourne was Athlon magazine's third running back in the nation in the preseason. Cobourne again finished in the top 20 in the nation in rushing and earned second-team all-Big East honors. Cobourne only totaled 1,028 yards with 6 touchdowns that season, both lower than his freshman output, but he was plagued by injuries during the season. He rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown against Boston College, 166 yards against Syracuse, and then 117 yards against Rutgers before leaving the game with an irritated hip joint. His best performance was in coach Don Nehlen's final game as the Mountaineers' coach against Ole Miss in the Music City Bowl when he rushed for 125 yards in the win.

Cobourne was a pre-season second-team all-Big East selection. He finished the season 14th in the nation rushing with a career-high 1,298 yards and 9 touchdowns. The season was his third consecutive of gaining over 1,000 yards. Cobourne was also named team MVP and was the only player to rush for over 100 yards against the national champions, the Miami Hurricanes (132). Cobourne started the season out with a 173-yard performance against Ohio, followed by a 181-yard performance against Kent State. He then rushed for 128 yards against Maryland; totaled four touchdowns in two quarters against Rutgers along with 147 yards; and rushed for 169 yards against Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, highlighted with a career-long 60-yard run. He then finished the season with four consecutive 100-yard games. He earned second-team all-Big East honors.

Going into Cobourne's senior season, he was a candidate for the 2002 Heisman Trophy Race. Although Cobourne did not win the award, he set a school record of most rushing yards in a season with 1,710 yards. The record was broken in the Mountaineers' 2006 season by Steve Slaton. Cobourne also set a career-high scores with 17 touchdowns. He rushed for 260 yards and 2 touchdowns in a win against ECU early in the season, and then rushed for 175 yards and a score in a loss to Miami. His 260 yards against the Pirates was a career-high.

He ended his career with the all-time Big East Conference and WVU rushing record with 5,164 rushing yards, breaking Zereoue's previous record. In all of his four seasons, Cobourne rushed for over 1,000 yards, including his redshirt-freshman season.

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