SAN ANTONIO – Conference USA has put together its All-Conference team, voted by its 14 head coaches. The UTSA Roadrunners nailed six players on the team.
The Roadrunners went 6-5 during the regular season led by its NFL-hopefull defensive end Marcus Davenport.
It is the third time Davenport, from San Antonio Stevens High School, has been named to the all-conference team. With it, he becomes the third Roadrunner to earn first-team all-conference honors. The other two he is joining are Josiah Tauaefa (2016 C-USA) and Triston Wade (2012 WAC).
Davenport gathered 55 tackles and set school records with 17.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks in 2017. Davenport has accepted an invitation to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl on Jan. 27.
Roadrunner defensive lineman Kevin Strong Jr., also made the list on the second-team for the first time in his career. Strong Jr., made 27 tackles this year, seven of those for a loss and three sacks. His best game came against Texas State, when with 2.5 tackles for loss.
Three players, La’kel Bass, Nate Gaines and Jared Sackett, all received honorable mention.
Bass led UTSA with 68 tackles. The senior from St. Louis, Mo., had 56 of those, five TFLs and two fumble recoveries in conference play.
Gaines posted 41 tackles,and had a team-leading four interceptions, which tied the program’s single-season record. In Conference-USA play, he had three of those interceptions and 80 percent of his tackles.
Sackett, a walk-on, played admirably down the stretch. He helped UTSA in wins and even scored all of its points in a 9-7 win over Marshall.
The freshman was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award semifinalist and was also was voted to the C-USA All-Freshman Team. His 19 made field goals on 86.4 percent was a school-record.
No UTSA offensive players were chosen, not a surprise there but its defense was one of the best around. In 11 games, it allowed just 287.8 yards total and 17 points a game.
Longsnapper Matt Bayliss was also named to the second-team for the second time in his career. Last year, Bayliss was named to the honorable mention team. This year, he played more than 90 snaps and had no mistakes.
Below is the list of the teams. In bold are UTSA and other Texas school players.
2017 C-USA FOOTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
QB – Mason Fine, So., North Texas
RB – Devin Singletary, So., Florida Atlantic
RB – Ito Smith, Sr., Southern Miss
OL – Reggie Bain, R-Jr., Florida Atlantic
OL – Roman Fernandez, R-Sr., Florida Atlantic
OL – Antonyo Woods, Sr., Florida Atlantic
OL – Will Hernandez, Sr., UTEP
OL – Brandon Ray, R-Sr., WKU
TE – Ryan Yurachek, Sr., Marshall
WR – Thomas Owens, Sr., FIU
WR – Tyre Brady, R-Jr., Marshall
WR – Korey Robertson, Jr., Southern Miss
DEFENSE
DL – Jaylon Ferguson, Jr., Louisiana Tech
DL – Oshane Ximines, Jr., Old Dominion
DL – Brian Womac, Sr., Rice
DL – Marcus Davenport, Sr., UTSA
LB – Azeez Al-Shaair, Jr., Florida Atlantic
LB – Emmanuel Ellerbee, Sr., Rice
LB – Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Jr., WKU
DB – Jalen Young, Jr., Florida Atlantic
DB – Shelton Lewis, Jr., Florida Atlantic
DB – Secdrick Cooper, Sr., Louisiana Tech
DB – Darious Williams, R-Jr., UAB
SPECIAL TEAMS
K – Parker Shaunfield, Jr., Southern Miss
P – Kaare Vedvik, R-Sr., Marshall
KR – Isaiah Harper, Jr., Old Dominion
PR – Darrell Brown, So., Old Dominion
LS – Cameron Linck, GS, Louisiana Tech
SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
QB – Mike White, Gr-Sr., WKU
RB – Jeffery Wilson, Sr., North Texas
RB – Spencer Brown, Fr., UAB
OL – Jordan Budwig, Sr., FIU
OL – O’Shea Dugas, Jr., Louisiana Tech
OL – Levi Brown, R-So., Marshall
OL – Devin Farrior, Sr., Southern Miss
OL – Chris Schleuger, R-Sr., UAB
TE – Harrison Bryant, So., Florida Atlantic
WR – Teddy Veal, R-Jr., Louisiana Tech
WR – Ty Lee, So., Middle Tennessee
WR – Jalen Guyton, R-So., North Texas
DEFENSE
DL – Fermin Silva, Jr., FIU
DL – Ryan Bee, Sr., Marshall
DL – Xavier Thigpen, Sr., Southern Miss
DL – Kevin Strong Jr, Jr., UTSA
LB – Anthony Wint, Sr., FIU
LB – Chase Hancock, R-Jr., Marshall
LB – Khalil Brooks, R-So., Middle Tennessee
DB – Brad Muhammad, Sr., FIU
DB – Amik Robertson, Fr., LA Tech
DB – Malik Gant, R-So., Marshall
DB – Curtis Mikell, Sr., Southern Miss
SPECIAL TEAMS
K – Trevor Moore, Sr., North Texas
P – Jack Fox, Jr., Rice
KR – Keion Davis, R-Jr., Marshall
PR – Austin Trammell, Fr., Rice
LS – Matt Bayliss, Sr. UTSA
HONORABLE MENTION (UTSA players only)
DEFENSE
LB – La’Kel Bass, Sr., UTSA
DB – Nate Gaines, Sr., UTSA
SPECIAL TEAMS
K – Jared Sackett, Fr., UTSA
Gerald Tracy is an assistant editor of Texas football for TexasHSFootball, covering prep football in the San Antonio region. Follow Gerald on Twitter, @GTracySports, and read more of his content here.
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