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Olson Nominated for the Award for the First Time This Season ATLANTA, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The national player of the week nominations are in and the polls are open. Bruins fans can cast their votes for UCLA quarterback Drew Olson for the Cingular Wireless/ABC Sports All- America Player of the Week, the only major college football honor determined exclusively by fans. Olson was nominated after setting a school record with 6 passing touchdowns in the Bruins' 51-28 victory over Oregon State. Olson is one of four candidates for the All-America Player of the Week, who are selected by a panel of ABC Sports and ESPN college football analysts. The other finalists are: Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, who was nominated for the award for the second time this season with 467 total yards, recording a school record of six touchdowns and a single-season touchdown record of 20 in the Irish's 49-23 win over BYU; University of Missouri quarterback Brad Smith, who was nominated for the first time in his career after passing for 234 yards and one touchdown and rushing for 246 yards and three touchdowns -- making him only the sixth player in NCAA history to rush and pass for over 200 yards in a game -- in the Tigers' 41-24 win over Nebraska; and University of Memphis running back DeAngelo Williams, who had a career-high of 39 carries, 226 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers' 27-24 win over East Carolina. Previous Cingular/All-America Player of the Week winners this season include Georgia quarterback D.J. Shockley, Texas quarterback Vince Young, Texas A&M quarterback Reggie McNeal, Minnesota running back Laurence Maroney, Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, and UCLA running back Maurice Drew. Who will be this week's winner now rests solely in the hands of college football fans nationwide. Fans have until Wednesday, October 26 at 11:59 p.m. EDT to submit their votes via wireless text messaging.* The winner will be announced October 27 in the first half of the ESPN Thursday Night College Football Game between Boston College and Virginia Tech. Fans can learn more about this week's nominees online at http://www.abcsportsallamerica.com/ or at http://www.cingularallamerica.com/ . Here's how fans can register to vote for the Cingular/ABC Sports All- America Player of the Week this week and every week throughout the 2005 season: * Text "VOTE" to "87654" on your wireless phone * Follow the prompt to vote for your All-America selection * Cingular/ABC Sports Player of the Week candidates will be automatically sent out via text messaging each week Each time fans vote, they are entered into a sweepstakes to win a trip to the Bowl Championship Series game of their choice. Fans can vote as often as they like. In December, fans will get a chance to say who the best player in the nation is by voting for the Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Year. The selection process will culminate in December in a one-hour special on ABC Sports when the Cingular/ABC Sports Player of the Year and the Football Writers Association of America All-America team will be announced. Last year, Texas running back and Chicago Bears first round draft pick Cedric Benson was selected by fans as the Player of the Year. *Other wireless carriers must opt-in for their subscribers to participate ABOUT CINGULAR WIRELESS Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving 51.6 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation -- the ALLOVER(SM) network -- and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(R), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/ . Get Cingular Wireless press releases e-mailed to you automatically. Sign up at http://cingular.mediaroom.com/ . DATASOURCE: Cingular Wireless CONTACT: Sarah Didier of Career Sports & Entertainment, +1-770-226-5550, +1-770-617-8737, ; or Clay Owen of Cingular Wireless, +1-404-236-6153, Web site: http://www.cingular.com/ http://www.abcsportsallamerica.com/ http://www.cingularallamerica.com/

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