Moon Township, Pa. - Senior linebacker Brad Banas (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers Houston) and senior defensive lineman Nolan Nearhoof (Gibsonia, Pa. / Mars Area) of the Robert Morris University football team each earned their third-consecutive Capital One Academic All-District First Team honor in an announcement made by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Thursday afternoon.

As a result of their first-team selections, both Colonials will now advance to the Academic All-America ballot.

With these awards, Banas and Nearhoof become the first two student-athletes from any sport in RMU history to garner three First Team Academic All-District honors in a career.

These two accolades also give the Colonial football program at least one Academic All-District honoree in each of the past 10 seasons, a span in which Robert Morris has taken home 19 overall selections.

RMU was one of only two Northeast Conference (NEC) schools to have multiple student-athletes honored in 2012 and is the only league school to have multiple student-athletes recognized in each of the past three seasons.

Banas has a 3.95 cumulative grade point average as an engineering major and is also minoring in alternative energy and sustainability.

Banas has started each of the Colonials' first nine games at outside linebacker and has provided a career-high 55 tackles, including 24 of the solo variety. He has made a career-best 8.0 tackles for loss and added 3.0 sacks on the season. Banas also provided the team with one of its two defensive touchdowns on the year when he intercepted a pass at Bryant and returned it 55 yards to the end zone to tally his first-career score and become the 15th Colonial ever to notch a 'pick-six'. Banas registered 10 tackles, including a career-high 3.0 tackles for loss, in a surprise win over previously undefeated Lafayette Sept. 29 and also hit double digits in tackles against the NEC's top two teams, Albany and Wagner.

Banas has played in 37 career games, including earning 29 starts over the past three years. He has made 143 career stops and has added 17.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks. Banas has seven career passes defended, including two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble over the past four years.

Nearhoof has started every game at defensive end in 2012 and has tallied a career-high 68 tackles along with leading the team in both tackles for loss (10.0) and sacks (7.5). Nearhoof is tied for the NEC lead in sacks per game and also is currently tied for 13th nationally. He tied his career high with three sacks Oct. 13 at Bryant and has also threatened offenses with 10 quarterback hurries. Nearhoof has totaled 11 tackles in two of the past three weeks and has made at least one tackle for loss in each of the past four contests.

Nearhoof has competed in 38 career games, including 31 starting assignments. With his performance at Bryant earlier this season, Nearhoof became the Colonials' all-time leader in career sacks and currently tops the charts with 23.5. He also currently ranks sixth all-time at RMU in career tackles for loss with 33. Nearhoof has 205 career tackles, tops among all active Colonials, and has tallied six pass breakups, three fumble recoveries and one forced fumble in his illustrious career.

Nearhoof, who owns a 3.74 GPA as a biology major, is a two-time Academic All-American and also claimed the NEC's Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for both the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Additionally, Nearhoof was recently selected as one of 15 National Football Foundation (NFF) National Scholar-Athletes, and the only one from the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). As a result, he was granted an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship and is a finalist for the 2012 William V. Campbell Trophy that recognizes an individual as the absolute best scholar-athlete in the nation.

In all, a total of 14 student-athletes from the football program have earned All-District academic honors from CoSIDA, the most by any program at Robert Morris. These 14 student-athletes have combined for 24 overall selections.

Banas and Nearhoof also become the third and fourth Colonials, and the first two male student-athletes, to earn any type of Academic All-District honors three times in a career.

Robert Morris will seek to carry its success from last weekend's come-from-behind win over local rival Duquesne on the road this Saturday, Nov. 10, as it plays its road finale at Sacred Heart. The opening kickoff is set for Noon.