December 22, 2011: In this handout released by Texas A&M University, football player Joseph Villavisencio is shown in State College, Texas. Villavisencio, a senior offensive lineman, has been killed in a car accident, according to the university. (AP)
HOUSTON – Texas A&M University was Thursday mourning the loss of an Aggie football player, 22-year-old Joseph Villavisencio.
Villavisencio was killed in a head-on collision on Highway 39, south of Normangee -- about 115 miles north of Houston -- Thursday according to an A&M statement cited by myFOXhouston.com.
The senior offensive lineman was on his way home to Jacksonville, Texas, when according to witnesses, he swerved to avoid a buzzard on the roadway and went directly into the path of an oncoming 18-wheeler.
"Villavisencio played his freshman season in 2008 earning his first career start on the offensive line in a 49-35 A&M victory against Iowa State in Ames, Iowa," the A&M statement read.
During his Jacksonville High School years, he earned second team all-state honors from the Associated Press and the Texas Sports Writers Association.
A senior radiological health engineering major, Villavisencio is survived by his sister, mother and father.
The driver of the 18-wheeler was not hurt, KBTX-TV reported.
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