BLOG: Eagles land on all-CUSA team

Here's the full press release from the Southern Miss athletic department:

IRVING, Texas – Conference USA announced its 2016 All-Conference football teams Tuesday and Southern Miss had 12 players recognized in a vote conducted by the league’s 13 head coaches.

On the C-USA first team for the Golden Eagles included seniors Cameron Tom (Baton Rouge, La.), Dylan Bradley (Macon, Miss.) and D’Nerius Antoine (New Iberia, La.), while junior Ito Smith (Mobile, Ala.) and sophomore kicker Parker Shaunfield (Aledo, Texas) garnered second-team nods. Offensive lineman Ty Pollard (Hattiesburg, Miss.) received the squad’s only selection to the All-Freshman team.

Senior quarterback Nick Mullens (Hoover, Ala.), junior tight end Julian Allen (Sewell, N.J.), junior wide receiver Allenzae Staggers (Woodville, Miss.), junior defensive lineman Xavier Thigpen (Hebron, Miss.), senior linebacker Elijah Parker (Brandon, Miss.) and senior punter Tyler Sarrazin (Geismar, La.) all collected honorable mention honors.

Eleven of the 13 schools placed at least one player on the first team, with West Division Champion Louisiana Tech producing a league-high seven selections, followed by C-USA Champion WKU with six.  WKU had the most combined first and second-team members with 14, followed by Louisiana Tech with 13 and Middle Tennessee and Old Dominion with six.

Tom earned his second consecutive C-USA first-team honor on the offensive line by leading the offense to a hefty 472.1 yards per game and has started in a current team-best 47-straight games. After earning honorable mention accolades a season ago, Bradley posted the second-most tackles on the roster this season with 59 stops which included team highs of 14 tackles for loss and seven sacks to earn defensive line selection. Antoine, another honorable mention pick a year ago, leads the Golden Eagles in tackles for his second-straight season with 82 to go along with five pass breakups during the year in his selection at defensive back.

This is the second consecutive year Smith has earned second-team honors, rushing for over 1,000 yards for the second year in a row. Smith has 1,321 rushing yards in 2016 to go along with 15 rushing touchdowns at running back. Shaunfield, despite missing the last three games due to injury, registered a perfect 36-for-36 in extra-point tries, while also converting 12-of-13 field goal attempts this season.

Pollard started all 12 games at right tackle on the offensive line for the Golden Eagles this season.

The league’s individual awards will be released Wednesday, December 7.  Conference USA will conclude the 2016 season by sending a league-record seven teams to bowl games.

2016 C-USA FOOTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
FIRST TEAM

OFFENSE

QB – Ryan Higgins, Sr., Louisiana Tech

RB – I’Tavius Mathers, Sr., Middle Tennessee

RB – Aaron Jones, Jr., UTEP

OL – Darrell Brown, Sr., Louisiana Tech

OL – Cameron Tom, Sr., Southern Miss

OL – Will Hernandez, Jr., UTEP

OL – Max Halpin, Sr., WKU

OL – Forrest Lamp, Sr., WKU

TE – Hayden Plinke, Sr., UTEP

WR – Carlos Henderson, Jr., Louisiana Tech

WR – Trent Taylor, Sr., Louisiana Tech

WR – Richie James, So., Middle Tennessee

WR – Taywan Taylor, Sr., WKU

DEFENSE

DL – Larry Ogunjobi, Sr., Charlotte

DL – Trey Hendrickson, Sr., Florida Atlantic

DL – Jaylon Ferguson, So., Louisiana Tech

DL – Dylan Bradley, Sr., Southern Miss

LB – TJ Ricks, Sr., Old Dominion

LB – Emmanuel Ellerbee, Jr., Rice

LB – Josiah Tauaefa, Fr., UTSA

LB – Keith Brown, Sr., WKU

DB – Xavier Woods, Sr., Louisiana Tech

DB – Jeremy Cutrer, Sr., Middle Tennessee

DB – D’Nerius Antoine, Sr., Southern Miss

DB – Brandon Leston, Sr., WKU

SPECIAL TEAMS

K – Canon Roker, Jr., Middle Tennessee

P – Eric Keena, Sr., North Texas

KR – Carlos Henderson, Jr., Louisiana Tech

PR – Nacarius Fant, Jr., WKU

LS – William Eads, Sr., Middle Tennessee

SECOND TEAM

OFFENSE

QB – Mike White, Sr., WKU

RB – Ito Smith, Jr., Southern Miss

RB – Anthony Wales, Sr., WKU

OL – Joseph Brunson, Sr., Louisiana Tech

OL – O’Shea Dugas, So., Louisiana Tech

OL – Daniel Stephens, Sr., Middle Tennessee

OL – Troy Butler, Sr., Old Dominion

OL – Darrell Williams, Jr., Sr., WKU

TE – Jonnu Smith, Sr., FIU

WR – Zach Pascal, Sr., Old Dominion

WR – Nicolas Norris, Sr., WKU

DEFENSE

DL – Rashaad Coward, Sr., Old Dominion

DL – Oshane Ximines, So., Old Dominion

DL – Marcus Davenport, Jr., UTSA

DL – Omarius Bryant, Sr., WKU

LB – Anthony Wint, Jr., FIU

LB – Jordan Harris, Sr., Louisiana Tech

LB – Alvin Jones, Jr., UTEP

DB – Kishawn McClain, Jr., North Texas

DB – Brandon Addison, Jr., Old Dominion

DB – Michael Egwuagu, Sr., UTSA

DB – Joe Brown, Jr., WKU

SPECIAL TEAMS

K – Jonathan Barnes, Jr., Louisiana Tech

K – Parker Shaunfield, So., Southern Miss

P – Jake Collins, So., WKU

KR – Kylen Towner, Jr., WKU

PR – Trent Taylor, Sr., Louisiana Tech

LS – Darrell Travis, Sr., Louisiana Tech

HONORABLE MENTION

OFFENSE

QB – Brent Stockstill, So., Middle Tennessee

QB – David Washington, Sr., Old Dominion

QB – Nick Mullens, Sr., Southern Miss

RB – Kalif Phillips, So., Charlotte

RB – Alex Gardner, Jr., FIU

RB – Devin Singletary, Fr., Florida Atlantic

RB – Jarred Craft, Jr., Louisiana Tech

RB – Ray Lawry, Jr., Old Dominion

OL – Nate Davis, So., Charlotte

OL – Dieugot Joseph, Sr., FIU

OL – Michael Montero, Sr., FIU

OL – Dillon DeBoer, Sr., Florida Atlantic

OL – Antonyo Woods, Jr., Florida Atlantic

OL – Chandler Brewer, So., Middle Tennessee

OL – Josh Chester, Sr., Middle Tennessee

OL – Maurquice Shakir, Sr., Middle Tennessee

OL – Jordan Murray, So., North Texas

OL – Sam Rice, Sr., North Texas

OL – Calvin Anderson, So., Rice

OL – Trey Martin, Jr., Rice

OL – Jevonte Domond, Sr., UTSA

TE – Kam McKnight, So., Louisiana Tech

TE – Ryan Yurahek, Jr., Marshall

TE – Julian Allen, Jr., Southern Miss

WR – Austin Duke, Sr., Charlotte

WR – Thomas Owens, Jr., FIU

WR – Kalib Woods, Jr., Florida Atlantic

WR – Dennis Andrews, Sr., Middle Tennessee

WR – Ty Lee, Fr., Middle Tennessee

WR – Jonathan Duhart, Jr., Old Dominion

WR – Allenzae Staggers, Jr., Southern Miss

WR – Josh Stewart, Jr., UTSA

DEFENSE

DL – Brandon Banks, Sr., Charlotte

DL – Aaron Brown, Sr., Louisiana Tech

DL – Deldrick Canty, Jr., Louisiana Tech

DL – Ryan Bee, So., Marshall

DL – Gary Thompson, Sr., Marshall

DL – Chris Hale, Sr., Middle Tennessee

DL – Shaquille Huff, Sr., Middle Tennessee

DL – Jimal McBride, Sr., Middle Tennessee

DL – Steven Rhodes, Sr., Middle Tennessee

DL – Bunmi Rotimi, Jr., Old Dominion

DL – Xavier Thigpen, Jr., Southern Miss

DL – Chris Johnson, Jr., WKU

LB – Nick Cook, Sr., Charlotte

LB – Treyvon Williams, Jr., FIU

LB – Azeez Al-Shaair, So., Florida Atlantic

LB – Russell Farris, Jr., Louisiana Tech

LB – Chris Melton, So., Middle Tennessee

LB – D.J. Sanders, Jr.., Middle Tennessee

LB – Joshua Wheeler, Jr., North Texas

LB – Anthony Wilson, Sr., Old Dominion

LB – Alex Lyons, Sr., Rice

LB – Elijah Parker, Sr., Southern Miss

LB – Nick Usher, Sr., UTEP

LB – Joel Iyiegbuniwe, So., WKU

LB – T.J. McCollum, Jr., WKU

DB – Niko Gonzalez, Jr., FIU

DB – Raekwon Williams, Jr., Florida Atlantic

DB – Jalen Young, So., Florida Atlantic

DB – Secdrick Cooper, Jr., Louisiana Tech

DB – Prince Sam, Sr., Louisiana Tech

DB – Rodney Allen, Jr., Marshall

DB – Nate Brooks, So., North Texas

DB – Eric Jenkins, Jr., North Texas

DB – Tabari McGaskey, Sr., Rice

DB – Jordan Moore, Sr., UTSA

DB – Leverick Johnson, Jr., WKU

SPECIAL TEAMS

K – Austin Taylor, Sr., FIU

K – Greg Joseph, Jr., Florida Atlantic

K – Trevor Moore, Jr., North Texas

K – Skyler Simcox, So., WKU

P – Dalton Schomp, Sr., Florida Atlantic

P – Jack Fox, So., Rice

P – Tyler Sarrazin, Sr., Southern Miss

P – Alan Luna, Jr., UTEP

KR – Chris Montgomery, Jr., Charlotte

KR – Kerrith Whyte, Fr., Florida Atlantic

KR – Tyler Wilson, Fr., North Texas

PR – Terry Juniel, So., UTEP

LS – Keaston Sinicki, Sr., Charlotte

LS – Sam Medlock, Sr., FIU

LS – Reed Bruce, Jr., Old Dominion

LS – Matt Bayliss, Jr., UTSA

LS – Nolan Dowling, Sr., WKU

2016 C-USA FOOTBALL ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

OFFENSE

QB – Mason Fine, North Texas

RB – Devin Singletary, Florida Atlantic

RB – Quinton Baker, WKU

OL – Ethan Reed, Louisiana Tech

OL – Levi Brown, Marshall

OL – Devin Hannan, Old Dominion

OL – Ty Pollard, Southern Miss

OL – Greg Long, UTEP

TE – Harrison Bryant, Florida Atlantic

WR – Stantley Thomas, FIU

WR – Ty Lee, Middle Tennessee

DEFENSE

DL – Eric Kendzior, Louisiana Tech

DL – Ty Tyler, Marshall

DL – Tyshun Render, Middle Tennessee

DL – LaDarius Hamilton, North Texas

DL – Chris Richardson, UTEP

LB – Tyriq Harris, Charlotte

LB – Jayson VanHook, UTEP

LB – Josiah Tauaefa, UTSA

DB – Ben DeLuca, Charlotte

DB – Ephraim Kitchen, Louisiana Tech

DB – Chris Jackson, Marshall

DB – Justin Rogers, UTEP

SPECIAL TEAMS

K – Brad Davis, Old Dominion

P – Bailey Cate, Old Dominion

KR – Kerrith Whyte, Florida Atlantic

PR – Darrell Brown, Old Dominion

LS – Matt Beardall, Marshall